COL Anthony Elias Freude

Colonel Anthony Elias Freude is a native of Akron, Ohio, and began his distinguished military career in 1998, enlisting as a Cavalry Scout in the Ohio Army National Guard. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Science from Kent State University in 2002 and was commissioned as an Aviation Officer through Kent State ROTC, graduating as a Distinguished Military Graduate.

Col. Freude’s initial assignment was with 2-2 Aviation Regiment, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade in Seoul, Republic of Korea, where he served as a Flight and III/V Platoon Leader from 2004 to 2006. He served as the Avionics Platoon Leader with B Company, 603d Aviation Support Battalion, 3rd CAB, deploying to Iraq in 2007. He then commanded D Company, 4-3 Assault Helicopter Battalion in 2008, and C Company, 4-3 AHB, with a deployment to Afghanistan in 2009.

He served as Incentive Pay Branch Chief at US Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky (2012); command of B Company, 209th ASB, 25th CAB, Hawaii (2014); and Operations Officer (S3) for Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 25th Infantry Division (2016). In 2017, he commanded Aviation Company, Task Force Sinai, Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in Egypt. He later contributed to the Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team, US Army Futures Command, at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (2018), as the G-3 Plans/Requirements Officer and Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft Integration Lead. He served as the Commander for 122nd ASB, 82nd CAB, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (2021) and served as the Platforms Branch Chief for Force Development–Aviation, Deputy Chief of Staff G-8 at the Pentagon, Washington DC (2024). Previously, he was the Assistant Program Manager and Aviation Program Manager for the Office of the Program Manager – Saudi Arabian National Guard (OPM-SANG) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Col. Freude holds master’s degrees for Applied Aviation Safety from Florida Institute of Technology and National Security Strategy from National Defense University’s National War College. He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, Aviation Captains Career Course, Aviation Officer Basic Course, UH-60M Maintenance Test Pilot Course, Aviation Maintenance Managers Course, and numerous other professional military education programs. He is a rated UH-60A/L/M Black Hawk helicopter pilot.

His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with five Oak Leaf Clusters), Air Medal, and multiple Army Commendation and Achievement Medals, as well as the Senior Aviator Badge and Parachutist Badge.