Colonel Michael A. Blowers is the Commander, 59th Training Group, Joint Base San Antonio - Fort Sam Houston, Texas. As commander, he has the responsibility of providing medical service and medical readiness training for 15,000 students annually at Fort Sam Houston, three geographically separated operating locations and 17 non-resident sites throughout the United States. Col Blowers leads 450 Air Force staff who are responsible for training 165 resident, mobile courses and symposia. He oversees the national accreditation and certification of 14 Group courses.
Prior to arriving at Joint Base San Antonio - Fort Sam Houston, Col Blowers was the Commander of the 88th Operational Medicine Readiness Squadron, 88th Medical Group, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Leading a 260-member team comprised of ten specialties in eight flights: aerospace operational medicine, warrior operational medicine, mental health, bioenvironmental engineering, public health, optometry, physical medicine and health promotion. Executing squadron’s mission is to provide a medically ready force to line commanders and the squadron is focused on proactively treating total force Airmen and improving their availability to support the warfighting mission.
Colonel Blowers is originally from Ticonderoga, New York and entered the Air Force in 1997 as a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Utica College of Syracuse University. He is a licensed physical therapist, who has led several Air Force clinical services in his specialty, as well as, provided leadership to both surgical and primary care clinics.
Colonel Blowers has served in a number of career-broadening positions, including an additional duty tasking as a Medical Readiness Officer while deployed to Qatar Air Base in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Along with successfully standing up the group’s medical readiness office, he oversaw group training and successfully led the medical group through eight wing exercises. While deployed, Colonel Blowers was chosen to serve as the Wing’s inaugural Fitness Program Manager in which he instituted a fitness testing profile process that served as the benchmark standard for the AOR.
EDUCATION
1996 Bachelor of Science Degree, Physical Therapy, Utica College of Syracuse University, Utica, NY
2002 Squadron Officer School, Non-Resident Program, Correspondence
2006 Doctorate of Physical Therapy, Regis University, Denver, CO
2009 Air Command and Staff College, Non-Resident Program, Correspondence
2014 Air War College, Non-Resident Program, Correspondence
ASSIGNMENTS
1. October 1997-February 1999, Physical Therapist, Little Rock AFB, AR
2. February 1999-August 2002, Physical Therapist, Luke AFB, AZ
3. August 2002-August 2004, Staff Physical Therapist, Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland AFB, TX
4. August 2004-June 2006, AFIT Student/Graduate School, Regis University, CO
5. June 2006-July 2007, Chief, Physical Therapy Clinic, Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea
6. July 2007-August 2012, Surgical Services Flight Commander, Luke AFB, AZ
7. August 2012-June 2015, Surgical Services and Maternal Child Flight Commander, Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ
8. June 2015-June 2017, Commander, 72d Medical Operations Squadron, Tinker AFB, OK
9. July 2017-June 2019, Commander, 81st Aero Space Medicine Squadron, Keesler AFB, MS
10. June 2019 to June 2021, Biomedical Sciences Corps Executive, 56th Medical Group, Luke AFB, AZ
11. June 2021 to September 2022, Commander, 88th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron, 88th Medical Group, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH
AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Meritorious Service Medal with five oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Air Force Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Unit Award
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters
National Defense Service Medal
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Korean Defense Service Medal
Air Force Overseas Ribbon Short with one oak leaf cluster
Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with Gold Border
Air Force Longevity Ribbon with five oak leaf clusters
Air Force Training Ribbon
As of August 2022