Colonel MICHAEL J. BORDERS JR.

Colonel Michael J. Borders Jr. is the Commander, Detachment 3, Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, Hurlburt Field, Florida. He is responsible for providing responsive installation and mission support services for Air Force Special Operations Command. Additionally, he manages financial services and resources, engineering, force protection and security for over 18,000 AFSOC personnel and $7.4 billion in command infrastructure. 

Colonel Borders earned his commission from Officer Training School in 1998. He has commanded five lauded security forces squadrons, both at home station and deployed locations. As the commander of the 96th Security Forces Squadron, he led the 600-person unit to the Best Large Security Forces Squadron in Air Force Materiel Command. Colonel Borders deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as the Operations Officer for the 822nd Security Forces Squadron, conducting over 300 combat patrols and capturing over 100 insurgents. He also served as the Chief, Operations Division, 820th Security Force Group, and readied 682 combat Airmen for this one-of-a-kind, first-in force protection ground combat unit. 

Colonel Borders previously served as the 355th Mission Support Group Commander, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. As commander, he led a group of six squadrons and 2,000 personnel, maintaining more than 1,100 facilities, 10 dormitories on 10,663 acres, and $77 million in command, control, communications, computers and intelligence assets. Earlier in his career, he served as the Country Director for Thailand and Burma at United States Pacific Command, overseeing military engagements with a pre- and post-coup Thailand and a burgeoning relationship with Burma focused on human rights initiatives. 

EDUCATION 
1997 Bachelor of Arts, Criminal Justice, Thomas More College, Crestview Hills, Ky. 
1997 Bachelor of Arts, Sociology, Thomas More College, Crestview Hills, Ky. 
2004 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. 
2009 Masters of Military Operational Art and Science, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 
2009 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., Correspondence 
2010 FBI National Academy, Quantico, Va. 
2010 Certificate of Law Enforcement, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. 
2012 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 
2013 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., Correspondence 
2016 The Eisenhower School, Fort McNair, Washington D.C.

ASSIGNMENTS 
1. March 1998 – August 2001, Flight Commander and Convoy Commander, 2nd Security Forces Squadron, Barksdale AFB, La. 
2. September 2001 – June 2004, Combat Operations Flight Commander, 421st Combat Training Squadron, Fort Dix, N.J. 
3. July 2004 – January 2007, Operations Officer, 822nd Security Forces Squadron (SAFESIDE), Moody AFB, Ga. 
4. July 2007 – January 2008, Chief, Operations Division, 820th Security Forces Group, Moody AFB, Ga. 
5. January 2008 – June 2008, Director of Wing Plans and Programs, 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing, Moody AFB, Ga. 
6. Aug 2008 – January 2009, Commander, 823rd Security Forces Squadron, Moody AFB, Ga. (Commander, 887th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, Camp Bucca, Iraq) 
7. June 2008 – June 2010, Commander, 56th Security Forces Squadron, Luke AFB, Ariz. 
8. June 2010 – September 2010, Student, FBI National Academy Quantico, Va. 
9. September 2010 – July 2011, Commander, 96th Security Forces Squadron, Eglin AFB, Fla. 
10. August 2011 – June 2012, Student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell, Ala. 
11. June 2012 – August 2015, Thailand/Burma Country Director, U.S. Pacific Command, Camp Smith, Hawaii 
12. August 2015 – June 2016, Student, Eisenhower School, Fort McNair, Washington D.C. 
13. June 2016 – June 2017, Commander, 379th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, Al Udeid, Qatar 
14. July 2017 – February 2018, Deputy Director, Global Antiterrorism Policy, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Defense Continuity and Mission Assurance, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
15. February 2018 – June 2020, Director, Domestic Counterterrorism & Global Antiterrorism for the ASD for Homeland Defense & Global Security Affairs Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
16. June 2020 – July 2022, Commander, 355th Mission Support Group, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. 
17. August 2022 – Present, Commander, Detachment 3, Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, Hurlburt Field, Fla. 

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS 
Bronze Star Medal 
Legion of Merit 
Meritorious Service Medal 
U.S. Army Parachutist Badge 
German Parachutist Wings 
Royal Thai Armed Forces Parachutist Wings 
Egyptian Parachutist Wings 
Yemen Parachutist Wings 
U.S. Army Pathfinder Badge 
U.S. Army Jumpmaster School 

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION 
Second Lieutenant Feb. 20, 1998 
First Lieutenant Feb. 20, 2000 
Captain Feb. 20, 2002 
Major Aug. 1, 2007 
Lieutenant Colonel Sept. 1, 2012 
Colonel Jan. 1, 2019

(Current as of August 2022)