Lieutenant General TED F. BOWLDS

Lt. Gen. Ted F. Bowlds is Commander, Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. The center's mission is to acquire command and control systems for the Air Force. The organization comprises more than 12,000 people located at six sites throughout the United States. The men and women of the ESC manage more than $5 billion in programs annually in support of the Air Force, and joint and coalition forces. 

General Bowlds entered the Air Force in 1975 through the ROTC program. In earlier assignments, he served as an engineer in an Air Force laboratory and as a flight test engineer on the F-117. He has worked as avionics program manager on the B-2, bomber branch chief at the Pentagon, Chief of Advance Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile development in the AMRAAM System Program Office, and as Commander of the Rome Laboratory in Rome, N.Y.

General Bowlds also served as the Deputy Director of Global Power Programs with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. Prior to assuming his current position, he was assigned as Commander, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He was responsible for managing the Air Force's $2 billion science and technology program as well as additional customer funded research and development of $1.7 billion.

EDUCATION
1975 Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering, Mississippi State University
1979 Master of Science degree in electrical engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
1980 Flight Test Engineers Course, U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards AFB, Calif.
1983 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1985 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
1985 Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va.
1992 Master of Science degree in engineering management, University of Dayton, Ohio
1993 Air War College, by correspondence
1994 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2000 Advanced Management Program, University of Michigan Business School
2002 National Security Management Course, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. May 1975 - June 1978, computer systems analyst, Aeronautical Systems Division, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
2. July 1978 - December 1979, project engineer and Global Positioning System evaluator, Air Force Avionics Laboratory, Aeronautical Systems Division, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
3. January 1980 - December 1980, student, U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards AFB, Calif.
4. January 1981 - December 1984, F-117 Test Program Manager, Air Force Flight Test Center, Detachment 3, Air Force Systems Command, Edwards AFB, Calif.
5. January 1985 - June 1985, student, Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va.
6. July 1985 - June 1989, Chief, B-2 Avionics Branch, B-2 System Program Office, Aeronautical Systems Division, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
7. July 1989 - June 1993, Chief, Bomber Branch, Directorate of Long-Range Power Projection, Special Operations Forces, Airlift and Training Programs, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Washington, D.C.
8. July 1993 - June 1994, student, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
9. July 1994 - August 1995, Chief, Advance Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile Development Integrated Process Team, AMRAAM System Program Office, Aeronautical Systems Center, Eglin AFB, Fla.
10. September 1995 - July 1997, Commander, Air Force Rome Laboratory, Air Force Materiel Command, Rome, N.Y.
11. July 1997 - February 1999 Deputy Director, Global Power Programs, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Washington, D.C.
12. March 1999 - September 2001, Program Director, C-17 System Program Office, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
13. September 2001 - January 2004, Program Executive Officer for Airlift and Trainers, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
14. February 2004 - January 2006, Deputy for Acquisition, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
15. January 2006 - November 2007, Commander, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
16. November 2007 - present, Commander Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom AFB, Mass.

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant June 4, 1975
First Lieutenant July 31, 1977
Captain July 31, 1979
Major Dec. 1, 1986
Lieutenant Colonel April 1, 1990
Colonel July 1, 1996
Brigadier General July 1, 2002
Major General Nov. 1, 2005
Lieutenant General  Nov. 7, 2007

(Current as of August 2011)