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Aerospace Studies (Air Force ROTC)

Commander of Air Force ROTC

Lieutenant Colonel Erin M. Tedesco, Det 780 Commander

Lt Col Erin Tedesco official photo

Lieutenant Colonel Erin Tedesco is the Commander of Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 780 and Professor of Aerospace Studies at South Dakota State University. She leads a cadre of personnel who recruit, train, educate, and motivate officer candidates from three universities for commissions in the US Air Force or US Space Force.

Lt Col Tedesco grew up largely overseas at US military installations. She earned a commission from the Air Force in 2004 through Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base.

Lt Col Tedesco is a senior navigator and weapons systems officer with over 1,300 flying hours in the B-52H, F-15E, T-38, T-36 and T-6. She has deployed numerous times to the Indo-Pacific theater as a bomber aircrew member and has spent well over two years over the course of three deployments as an Air Advisor on the ground in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and Operation FREEDOM’S SENTINEL.

Education

  • 1998 - Bachelor of Science, Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Fla
  • 2010 - Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
  • 2012 - Master of Arts, International Relations, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas
  • 2017 - Master of Science, Strategic Security Studies, National Defense University, Washington, D.C.
  • 2018 - Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, by correspondence

Assignments

  1. May 2004 - December 2006, Student Navigator, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
  2. January 2007 - September 2007, Student Weapons System Officer, 333rdFighter Training Squadron, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.
  3. October 2007 - March 2008, Student Navigator, 11th Bomb Squadron, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
  4. April 2008 - December 2010, Radar Navigator, 20th Bomb Squadron, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
  5. January 2011 - April 2014, Chief of Current Operations, 2nd Operations Support Squadron, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
  6. May 2014 - December 2014, Instructor Weapons System Officer, 11th Bomb Squadron, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
  7. January 2015 - July 2019, Afghanistan-Pakistan Hand, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
  8. August 2019 - July 2022, Senior Air Operations and Plans Advisor, Allied Joint Force Command, Naples, Italy
  9. August 2022 - Present, Commander, AFROTC Det 780, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota

Flight Information

  • Rating: Senior Navigator
  • Flight hours: More than 1,300
  • Aircraft flown: B-52H, F-15E, T-38, T-36, T-6

Major Awards and Decorations

  • Bronze Star Medal
  • Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
  • Air Force Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters
  • Joint Service Achievement Medal
  • Afghanistan Campaign Medal
  • Humanitarian Service Medal
  • Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal
  • NATO Medal

Effective Dates of Promotion

  • Second Lieutenant - 2004
  • First Lieutenant - 2006
  • Captain - 2008
  • Major - 2014
  • Lieutenant Colonel - 2019