An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Colonel Patrick R. "PL" Lowe

Col Patrick R. Lowe serves as the Deputy Commander, Second Air Force, Keesler Air Force Base (AFB), Miss.  Second Air Force oversees all operational aspects of basic military training and technical training in Air Education and Training Command, instilling technical and warfighter skills in 150,000 graduates annually in more than 265 Air Force specialties.  Second Air Force includes five training wings located at Keesler AFB; Sheppard and Goodfellow AFBs, Texas; Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas; and a network of field training units around the world.  Second Air Force also oversees all Airmen throughout the joint expeditionary tasking and individual augmentee training pipelines at several Army training sites across the country. 

Col Lowe graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2001, earning a degree in Civil Engineering.  Upon commissioning, he served four years as a Civil Engineer and retrained as a Combat Rescue Officer in 2007. Since then, Colonel Lowe has deployed numerous times in support of Overseas Contingency Operations and has been stationed at the forward edge of U.S. forces abroad.  He has led all variations of Air Force Special Warfare Airmen and Joint Special Operations forces across AFRICOM, CENTCOM and INDOPACOM. Additionally, he led ACC Combat Rescue modernization across Personnel Recovery teams, aircraft, C2, and Isolated Personnel.  Finally, Col Lowe served on the Joint Special Operations Command Staff as an operational planner refining advanced special operations’ tactics, techniques and procedures to address threats outside the designated theater of active armed conflict.

 

EDUCATION

2001 Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.

2013 Master of Science, Terrorism and Counterterrorism, Henley-Putnam University, Calif.

 

ASSIGNMENTS

  1. August 2001 – July 2004, Civil Engineer, 47th Civil Engineer Squadron, Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas
  2. July 2004 – January 2006, Maintenance Engineer, 341st Civil Engineer Squadron, Malmstrom AFB, Mont.
  3. January 2006 – March 2007, Combat Rescue Officer training pipeline, Kirtland AFB, N.M.
  4. March 2007 – April 2010, Flight Commander, 38th Rescue Squadron, Moody AFB, Ga.
  5. April 2010 – August 2012, Flight Commander, 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Airfield, N.C.
  6. September 2012 – March 2013, Staff Officer, Joint Special Operations Command, Ft. Bragg, N.C.
  7. March 2013 – June 2014, Flight Commander, 724th Operational Support Squadron, Pope Airfield, N.C.
  8. June 2014 – July 2015, Detachment 1, 724th Special Tactics Group, Pope Airfield, N.C.
  9. July 2015 – April 2017, Director of Operations, 31st Rescue Squadron, Kadena AB, Japan
  10.  April 2017 – July 2019, Commander, 31st Rescue Squadron, Kadena AB, Japan
  11.  August 2019 – August 2021, Deputy Commander, Special Warfare Training Group, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas
  12.  August 2021 – May 2022, Chief, Personnel Recovery Training Branch, ACC/A3, JBLE, Va.
  13. May 2022 – June 2023, Chief, Personnel Recovery Requirements Division, ACC/A589, JBLE, Va.
  14. June 2023 – June 2025, Commander, 607th Air Support Operations Group, Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea
  15. July 2025 – Present, Deputy Commander, Second Air Force, Keesler AFB, Miss.

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

Bronze Star

Defense Meritorious Service Medal

Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters

Air Medal

Joint Service Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster

Air & Space Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters

Air Force Achievement Medal

 

OCCUPATIONAL BADGES

Basic Civil Engineer

Basic Aircrew Officer

Basic Parachutist

Basic Military Free-fall Parachutist

Combat Diver

 

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION

Second Lieutenant May 30, 2001

First Lieutenant May 30, 2003

Captain May 30, 2005

Major April 1, 2011

Lieutenant Colonel June 1, 2016

Colonel December 1, 2022

 

(Current as of Jul 2025)