After decades of distinguished service in the U.S. Air Force, Eries founded The Freedom To Serve Solutions to empower rising Americans to pursue and thrive in both public and private service.
She believes that when everyone has the opportunity to serve — whether in the military or in their chosen profession — and clear pathways to share their talents, our Armed Forces and our nation are strengthened. As a principled leader, motivational speaker and trusted adviser, she empowers organizations with strategies to remove barriers to success and unlock human potential.
Passionate about service beyond the uniform, Eries serves on a Congressional Military Service Academy Selection Panel, as well as the boards of the Truman Library Institute — educating and inspiring current and future leaders through President Truman’s legacy and Operation Lifeline, which supports housing security for displaced veterans.
Eries has been featured on NPR, in the National World War II Museum’s film Our War Too: Women in Service, as a commencement speaker, and on TEDx. She co-hosts the Red Tape, Real Talk podcast to demystify government, build public trust, and inspire more Americans to serve.
Her military career includes roles as a Congressional Liaison, a Commander in the Middle East honoring fallen warriors, an Executive Officer and Speechwriter to the Air Force Chief of Staff, and a Joint Staff Officer preparing top military leaders in The Tank to advise the President and National Security Council on employing U.S. forces during the War on Terror and the Ebola crisis.
She also served as the Air Force Commander of Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., supporting critical presidential communication and transportation missions; as an Air Force Special Operations Command Director, where she launched the Air Commando Development Center to train and certify warfighters for Pacific crisis and conflict; and as Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Fellow, where her research reformed decades-old Air Force structures, retaining top executive military talent for critical commands.
Eries made history as the first Black woman to command Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, where she launched the first Toptracer–Topgolf on a military base, transformed underutilized base land into the $75 million Montgomery Whitewater Park, empowered FEMA’s Southeast Region hurricane and tornado relief, and honored Rosa Parks’ World War II service with the “Opening Eyes” Sculpture on the base where her activism first took root.
A distinguished graduate of the University of Nebraska, she holds advanced degrees from the University of Oklahoma and George Washington University.
