WASHINGTON — Lancaster and Potosi native Eric Flesch was promoted to colonel by the U.S. Army at Joint Forces Headquarters – National Capital Region.
Flesch is an active duty Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army. Very few officers make it to colonel, the highest promotion one can achieve before considered for Brigadier General.
Flesch was born in Lancaster and grew up in Potosi, where he graduated from Potosi High School in 1991. His mother Mary Ann still resides in Potosi and his brother Cory lives in Platteville. Flesch’s aunts and uncles as well as many cousins from the Flesch and Brandt families live in the area.
While still in high school Flesch started his military career at age 17, as part of the Army Reserve delayed entry program. He earned his commission as an Army officer from Kemper Military College, graduating as the Cadet Corps Commander. He later finished his bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri before returning to active duty. In 2008 he also earned a master’s degree from Webster University while completing the Army’s Command and General Staff College in Kansas.
Throughout his career Flesch led and commanded soldiers at platoon, company, and battalion levels. He has served with some of the most elite Airborne, Ranger, and Joint Special Operations units. Flesch deployed multiple times for peace enforcement, humanitarian assistance, and combat missions. This included Bosnia, Haiti, the Horn of Africa, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He completed overseas tours in both Germany and South Korea.
Flesch is currently a student at the Army War College in Pennsylvania, where senior military officers and government officials complete a Master’s degree in strategic studies.
Family and friends traveled from across the country to help Flesch celebrate this promotion. This included members of his Kemper commissioning class. He is the first of his classmates to be promoted to this rank.
Flesch and his family attempt to visit Wisconsin annually, and he hopes to attend his high school 25-year reunion this summer.
Flesch is thankful for the great work ethic and patriotic foundation he received from family, friends, teachers and coaches growing up in “small-town” Wisconsin.
