LTG Charles W. Eifler, Jr.
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Editor's Note: The US Army Aviation and Missile Command noted the passing of LTG Eifler on 20 September 2005.
Born on 1 December 1914 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, MG Charles W. Eifler graduated from Pennsylvania State College (now University) in 1936 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. In 1948, he received a master's degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (Constructive Credit) in 1946 and graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1956.
General Eifler began his military career in 1936, when he received his commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve. He entered active duty in 1940 and during World War II served with various echelons of the Army Ground Forces in Europe. General Eifler became Ordnance Officer of the XVIII Corps (Airborne) in the Spring of 1944 and later, in 1945, held the same position with the VII Corps. In 1946, he was assigned as Ordnance Officer of the 6th Army, Presidio, San Francisco, California.
General Eifler's assignments in the Army missile program began in 1948 at White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico, where he served as Executive Officer and Technical Operations Officer from June 1948 until August 1951. While the Army was activating its first operational missile units in the early 1950s, General Eifler was Chief of the Guided Missile Section and Chief of the Rocket Branch in the Research and Development Division of the Office1 Chief of Ordnance. His tour there lasted from August 1951 to July 1955. After graduating from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in June 1956, General Eifler became Group Commander of the 57th Ordnance Group in Europe, a position he held until June 1959.
General Eifler's career included three tours at Redstone Arsenal. From July 1959 until August 1961, he was Commandant of the U.S. Army Ordnance Guided Missile School. He left to become the Commanding Officer of Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a position he held from September 1961 to April 1963. General Eifler then returned to Redstone Arsenal as Deputy Commanding General, Land Combat Systems, U.S. Army Missile Command (MICOM), until December 1965. Prior to his third tour at Redstone, General Eifler commanded the 1st Logistical Command in South Vietnam from January 1966 until May 1967. He then served as the MICOM Commanding General from 14 July 1967 until 19 September 1969. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and was assigned as Deputy Commanding General for the U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR). He retired in 1973.
General Eifler was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Bronze Star Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Air Medal, the Vietnamese National Order Medal Fifth Class, the Korean Order of Military Merit, Chung Mu, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Defense and American Campaign Medals, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. General Eifler was inducted into the U.S. Army Ordnance Hall of Fame in 1974.
He died on 20 September 2005.
