Lieutenant General
Charles W. Eifler

Lieutenant General Charles W. Eifler was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania on December 1, 1914 and graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1936. His contributions to Ordnance were many and varied.

For more than 20 years, he was closely involved in the Army’s missile development program. Many of the weapons systems now deployed throughout the Army became operational during this time as a direct result of his efforts. Among these systems are the Pershing and Sergeant ballistic missiles, the Hawk, Nike-Hercules, and Redeye air defense guided missiles, and the Shilelagh and TOW antitank missiles.

Other weapons still in the engineering production phase, which were under study during his assignments in the Army’s missile development program, include the Sam-D air defense system and such land combat systems as Lance and Dragon. General Eifler retired in 1973 and resides in Huntsville, Alabama.