Minnesota National Guard appoints first Air Guard leader to senior enlisted position

In her first official act as the senior enlisted leader in the Minnesota National Guard, Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. Lisa Erikson instructed the more than 100 Guard members, family and friends gathered for Thursday's change of responsibility ceremony to turn around, look into a camera livestreaming on Facebook and applaud deployed soldiers and airmen watching from overseas.

That was the message Erikson imparted at the Cedar Street Armory on the Minnesota State Capitol Complex as she became the first Minnesota Air National Guard leader to assume the senior enlisted position in the Minnesota National Guard's 166-year history.

"First and foremost, my priority will be our soldiers and airmen," Erikson said. "I give you my word I will continue to advocate for the enlisted corps at the highest level. … To the entire enlisted corps of the Minnesota National Guard: I have your back. … I won't ask anything of you that I'm not willing to do myself."

Erikson started her military career when she enlisted with the Air Force in 1988. She was in the Air Force for nearly five years before enlisting with the Minnesota Air National Guard in 1993. She deployed to Afghanistan in 2012, and before becoming the state command chief of the Minnesota Air National Guard, she served as command chief for the 148th Fighter Wing. She is the second woman to serve in the senior enlisted position in the Guard; Army Command Sgt. Maj. Cynthia Kallberg served in the role starting in 2011.

The Guard's command senior enlisted leader serves as an adviser to the adjutant general and delivers the commander's directives to enlisted service members while also communicating the views and concerns of enlisted service members to Guard leadership.

Erikson began her career as a jet engine mechanic and "succeeded in this tremendously male-dominated field at a time when only 5 to 6 percent of the Air Force was women," said Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke, state adjutant general and commander of the Minnesota National Guard. "Diversity makes for a stronger fighting force."

The senior enlisted position had most recently been held by Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Soper, who presided over some of the busiest times in the Minnesota National Guard's history. During Soper's tenure, the Guard assisted in the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd, which saw the Guard's biggest deployment since World War II.

The Guard maintains a force of about 13,000 soldiers and airmen across the state.