Air
National Guard Special Assistant to the Director, Air National Guard
Brigadier General Jim C. Chow is Air National Guard Special Assistant to the Director, Air National Guard. He provides support as directed to the Chief in his duties concerning all matters involving the Air National Guard. Prior to this assignment, General Chow served as Air National Guard Assistant to the United States Air Force Surgeon General for Operations/Policy (SG3). He was the adviser to the Surgeon General for Operations/Policy on Air National Guard medical matters. His responsibilities included liaison for medical policies, plans and programs for the Air National Guard to various Offices of Secretary of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
General Chow began his military career in 1984 as a medical student in the South Carolina Air National Guard by receiving a direct commission. He completed medical school and internship training at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. General Chow continued his Dermatology Residency and a Wound Healing Fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Following completion of Mohs Micrographic Surgery Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution, he returned to South Carolina as a traditional Physician/Flight Surgeon in the South Carolina Air National Guard. He served as Flight Surgeon for the 157th Fighter Squadron Medical Element and later became the Chief of Aerospace Medicine for the 169th Medical squadron. General Chow became the Joint Force Headquarters Surgeon for the South Carolina National Guard after serving as the State Air Surgeon for the South Carolina Air National Guard. In 2007, General Chow was assigned as the Air National Guard Assistant to the Air Combat Command Surgeon General. He serves as a liaison and advisor for health readiness for Air Combat Command and Air Combat Command-gained Air National Guard units. General Chow is also the Air National Guard Medical Assistant to the Medical Force Provider supporting Homeland Defense for wartime tasking and crisis response.
During his military career, General Chow has been lauded for organizing multiple humanitarian civil-military relief missions to developing countries. General Chow was also instrumental in establishing the National Strategic Pharmaceutical Stockpile program at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, which was subsequently used as a template for other Guard bases nationwide. In addition, General Chow also organized and led the Senior Visiting Physician and Surgeon Program consisting of civilian critical specialists treating wounded warriors at downrange medical facilities.
1980 University of South Carolina, Bachelor of Science, Biology, Columbia,
South Carolina
1985 University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Doctor of Medicine,
Columbia, South Carolina
1986 University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Transitional Internship,
Greenville Hospital System, Greenville, South Carolina
1987 Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Wound Healing Fellowship, Nashville,
Tennessee
1990 Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dermatology Residency, Nashville,
Tennessee
1991 Johns Hopkins Medical Institution, Dermatologic Surgery/Mohs Micrographics
Surgery Fellowship, Baltimore, Maryland
2002 Air War College, by correspondence
2008 Medical Healthcare Systems Capstone Symposium, Arlington Virginia
2012 Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, Senior Executives in National
and International Security, Cambridge, Massachusetts
2014 Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, Senior Executives in South
Asia Study, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1. December 1984 - May 1985, Assistant Health Services Administrator, 169th
Tactical Air Command Clinic, South Carolina Air National Guard, Eastover, South
Carolina
2. May 1985 - December 1987, Aerospace Medicine Physician, 169th Tactical Air
Command Clinic, South Carolina Air National Guard, Eastover, South Carolina
3. December 1985 - June 1992, Aerospace Medicine Physician, 118th Tactical Air
Command Hospital, Tennessee Air National Guard, Nashville, Tennessee
4. June 1992 - August 2001, Chief of Aerospace Medicine, 169th Medical Squadron,
South Carolina Air National Guard, Eastover, South Carolina
5. August 2001 - June 2005, State Air Surgeon, South Carolina Air National Guard
Headquarters, Eastover, South Carolina
6. June 2005 - March 2007, Joint Surgeon, Joint Forces Headquarters-South
Carolina, Eastover, South Carolina
7. March 2007 - March 2010, Air National Guard Assistant to the Air Surgeon, Air
Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia
8. April 2010 - November 2011, Air National Guard Assistant to the United States
Air Force Surgeon General for Operations/Policy (SG3), Pentagon, Washington,
District of Columbia
9. December 2011 - June 2012, Air National Guard Assistant to the Command
Surgeon, Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia
10. July 2012 - Present, Air National Guard Special Assistant to the Director,
Air National Guard, the Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia
Rating: Chief Flight Surgeon
Flight Hours: More than 400
Aircraft flown: AH-64, C-130, C-131, C-141, C-17, C-12, F-16, KC-135, MH-60,
OH-58, T-37, UH-1
Flight Surgeon Wings: Brooks Air Force Base, Texas
Legion of Merit
Meritorious Service Medal (with 1 Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster)
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal
Air Force Organization Excellence Award
National Defense Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
Air Force Longevity Award (with 3 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters)
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon (with 1 Service Star)
Air Force Training Ribbon
South Carolina Palmetto Service Ribbon
Associate Director of Dermatology/Dermatologic Surgery, Clinical Associate
Professor of Surgery, University of South Carolina School of Medicine
Partner, Columbia Skin Clinic, LLC.
Elected Board Member, South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners
American Medical Association
South Carolina Medical Association
American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology
American Society of Dermatologic Surgery
2002-2004 President, Alliance of Air National Guard Flight Surgeons
1991 Air National Guard 'Top Knife' Fighter Flight Surgeon School, Klamath
Falls, Oregon
1995 and 2002 Air National Guard Medical Officer of the Year
1998 American Medical Association Distinguished Young Physician
2000 University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Alumni of the Year
2005 South Carolina Physician of the Year
2005 Order of the Palmetto presented by the Governor of South Carolina
2007 Garde Nationale Trophy, National Guard Association
2007 South Carolina Dermatologist of the Year
2007 Palmetto Cross presented by the Adjutant General of South Carolina
2010 Algernon Sidney Sullivan Award for Humanitarian Service
2011 & 2012 President Award, Federal Asian Pacific American Council
Second Lieutenant 20 December 1984
Captain 18 May 1985
Major 03 May 1989
Lieutenant Colonel 09 April 1994
Colonel 01 May 2003
Brigadier General 28 June 2007
(Current as of August 2014)