Col. Erik Davis entered the U.S. Army on May 3, 2003, after graduating from Michigan State University on an ROTC scholarship. His first assignment was at Camp Hovey, Korea, where he served as a mechanized platoon leader assigned to the 1st of the 9th Infantry Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. After deploying from Korea to Ar Ramadi, Iraq, Davis was assigned as the executive officer of C Troop, 3rd (RSTA) Battalion, 61st Cavalry Regiment, at Fort Carson, Colorado.
Following his completion of the Infantry Captain’s Career Course, Davis graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course. All his tactical Special Forces assignments were with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), where he has served as an advanced operations base executive officer; commander of Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha, Group AS3; AOB commander; battalion executive officer; and GRP S3. While assigned to 1st SFG (Airborne), he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and completed multiple deployments throughout the Pacific Command.
Later, Davis served as the Special Forces major’s assignment officer at Human Resources Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He served as the chief of operations, or CHOPS, for the Special Operations Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve in the fight against ISIS before moving on to command 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, in Okinawa, Japan. He has also served in the headquarters of United States Army Special Operations Command.
Davis’ military schooling includes the Airborne School, Military Freefall School and Ranger School. His awards and decorations include the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Naval Unit Citation, and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. He is a Downing Scholar with master’s degrees in terrorism from King’s College London and diplomacy and international strategy from the London School of Economics.
Davis married his wife, Dr. Kathryn Davis, a speech language pathologist with an educational doctorate, in 2011. They have a son, Killean, born in 2013, and a daughter, Koraline, born in 2015.