Upon graduation from West Point, Edens was commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Army. He became an Army helicopter pilot, and later was an instructor pilot at the Fort Rucker Apache Course. As a major, Edens served as the Regimental Operations and Training Officer for the 4th squadron
9th Cavalry Regiment in
Fort Wainwright, Alaska. In August 2006, Colonel Edens took command of the newly restructured
12th Combat Aviation Brigade. He commanded the 12th CAB as Task Force XII while the brigade was deployed to
Balad Air Base and
Camp Taji, Iraq. Upon his return, Colonel Edens was award the Legion of Merit by Army General
Carter Ham for his successful leadership of Task Force XII in OIF 07–09. Following his assignment commanding 12th CAB, Edens became the Deputy Commanding General for Support,
2nd Infantry Division in Korea. Edens was promoted to brigadier general by Maj. Gen.
Anthony G. Crutchfield in March 2011, and thereafter served as assistant division commander for support and the senior ranking aviator of the division. General Edens subsequently was assigned as Deputy Commander of the
United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence at
Fort Rucker. Edens was also openly critical of military budget cuts in and how it could potentially effect the safety of soldiers. At his retirement ceremony, he was awarded the Order of St. Michael Gold Award for serving the Army Aviation community with distinction. ==Post-retirement==