William Bowers

Brigadier General, U.S. Marine Corps; President, Marine Corps University
Brigadier General Bowers was commissioned in 1990 after graduating with distinction from Virginia Military Institute with a B.A. in History. After completing The Basic School and Marine Corps Engineer School, he served in a variety of assignments in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade on Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii from 1991-1994, deploying to Southwest Asia and locations in the Pacific. In June 1994, he reported to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego and served as a Series Commander, Company Commander, and Regimental S-3A. After graduation from the U.S. Army's Engineer Officer Advanced Course in May 1997, he reported to 7th Engineer Support Battalion at Camp Pendleton, California and served as S-3A, Charlie Company Commanding Officer, Operations Officer, and Executive Officer.

In June 2000, he reported to Recruiting Station Lansing, Michigan and served as Commanding Officer until July 2003. In August 2003, he reported to the Naval Command and Staff College in Newport, Rhode Island, then attended the School of Advanced Warfighting at Quantico, Virginia. He checked into III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan in 2005 and served as the Operational Planning Team Branch Head for G-3, Future Operations. From Okinawa, He deployed to Iraq and served as a Plans Team Leader for Multi-National Force Iraq.

He assumed command of Marine Wing Support Squadron 273 in Beaufort, South Carolina in May 2007. He relinquished command in May 2009 and reported as a student to the National War College in Washington, D.C. In June 2010 he reported to the Joint Staff, J-5 Directorate as the Strategy Concepts Branch Chief.

From 2012-2015, he commanded the 6th Marine Corps District at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. From 2015-2017, he served as the Military Assistant to the 33rd and 34th Assistant Commandants of the Marine Corps.

Brigadier General Bowers' personal decorations include the Legion of Merit (with gold star), the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (with oak leaf cluster), the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (with two gold stars), the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal. He was named “Combat Engineer Officer of the Year” in 1998 and has received several writing awards.