General Ralph E. “Ed” Eberhart, USAF (Ret.) currently serves as the Chair of The Armed Forces Benefit Association (AFBA) and its related enterprise, 5Star Life Insurance Company. The AFBA Board of Directors appointed Ed Eberhart as President of AFBA December 1, 2004, and as Chairman of AFBA February 19, 2009. He retired as President of AFBA on March 6, 2020. In 1987, Ed Eberhart became a member of AFBA and then served on AFBA’s Board of Directors beginning in 1997.
A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, Ed Eberhart’s active duty military career spanned 36 years with his last assignment as Commander, U.S. Northern Command, and Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. He is also a command pilot with more than 5,000 flight hours.
Ed Eberhart has been praised for bringing together the five military branches of service, including the National Guard and Reserve forces to ensure the security of our nation in the aftermath of the tragic September 11, 2001 attacks.
Ed Eberhart serves on the boards of several privately and publicly held companies, including TERMA, Jacobs, Triumph Group, and VSE, and non-profit organizations such as Segs4Vets and the American Air Museum in Britain (AAMB). Additionally, he serves as the Chair of AAMB, VSE, and Triumph Group. He has previously served on the U.S. Air Force Academy Association of Graduates Board of Directors. He is currently a Trustee for the Falcon Foundation and serves on the board of the USAFA Endowment.
Ed Eberhart is the recipient of the Pacific Air Forces Able Aeronaut Award (1971); the Air Force Association General Jimmy Doolittle Award (1997); the National Football Foundation’s Tom Lombardo Leadership Award (2001); the General Thomas D. White United States Air Force Space Trophy (2001); the General James V. Hartinger Award (2002); the El Pomar Foundation Award for Excellence (2004); the General Bernard A. Schriever Award (2007); the Jim Otis “Hustle” Award (2008), the Kent Leadership Award (2008); the Air Force Order of the Sword, Air Force Space Command (2008); the United States Air Force Academy Distinguished Graduate Award (2011); the American College Soldier-Citizen Award (2015); and, the Segs4Vets Battle Flag Award (2018). He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ed Eberhart, and his wife Karen, reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado.