Capt. Erin Paige Pennell ’17

Capt. Erin Paige Pennell of Reidville earned bachelor’s degrees from Clemson in 2017 in both political science and economics. She also has a 2025 master’s degree in security studies from Kansas State University.

Now an instructor in Clemson’s Air Force ROTC program, Erin began her Air Force career by graduating as the top student in a nine-month intelligence training course. Since then, she has served in active duty assignments in Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina, and deployed to the Middle East. Among her assignments she commanded a global intelligence operations center that managed more than 17,000 missions and 150 coalition air strikes.

Erin assumed her current role with AFROTC in 2023. Her efforts helped Detachment 770 grow from 135 to 190 cadets and earn distinction as the leading AFROTC unit in South Carolina. In 2025, she was recognized as one of the best AFROTC instructors in the nation and the #1 Captain in the Southeast Region. She advises multiple military-affiliated student groups. Among these is i5 Space, the national Space Force student organization that she helped establish at Clemson, underscoring the university’s status as one of only 14 Space Force partner schools.

Wherever she has lived, Erin has been active in community service. In Virginia and Texas, she worked at local food banks to fight food insecurity. In Clemson, she mentors students and advises Silver Wings, a national service organization that conducts food drives, works in soup kitchens and visits senior citizens.

She is most passionate about inspiring young women to build confidence and step into leadership. She co-created and led a mentorship event for more than 50 college women, sharing lessons of leadership as a woman in uniform. She also mentors 38 girls from an Upstate Title-1 elementary school, empowering the next generation of female leaders.