Eric Wilson

PT, DSc, OCS, SCS, CSCS, FAAOMPT

Sports

Bio

Eric is the Assistant Program Director for the USAF Physical Therapy Operational Readiness Fellowship and the founding Program Director of its precursor, the USAF Tactical Sports & Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy Fellowship – BOTH training pipelines preparing USAF PTs to become embedded in Special Warfare units. Prior to retiring from the USAF in 2016, Lieutenant Colonel Wilson served as the USAF Academy’s Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine and the USAF’s PT consultant for Special Warfare PT. He stepped down to the Deputy Program Director position in 2019.

Eric enlisted in the US Army after high school and served over 4 ½ years as an Airborne Infantryman, earning the rank of Sergeant and fighting in the first Gulf War with the 82nd Airborne Division as a Rifle Fire Team Leader. While stationed in the Army’s Airborne Battalion Combat Team in Italy, Eric was able to travel across Europe and Africa, which gave him a permanent aversion to foreign food and riding on unimproved roads. After the Army, he earned a master’s degree in physical therapy from the Medical College of Virginia in 1998 and worked for three years as a civilian PT prior to accepting a USAF direct commission in 2001. He was Rocky Mountain University of Health Profession’s first terminal doctorate graduate, earning his Doctor of Science in Orthopedic Physical Therapy in 2001.  Eric graduated from Regis University’s Post-Professional Fellowship in Manual Therapy in 2008 and earned his FAAOMPT credential at that time. He also completed his Transitional DPT from MGH Institute of Health Professions in 2010. He holds dual board certifications in Orthopedic and Sports physical therapy. Eric developed and taught the USAF’s first dry needling course in 2013.  He was also one of the USAF’s original seven embedded PTs, serving as the 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing’s Director of Human Performance from 2012-2015, working with over 2,800 Special Warfare Airmen at almost two dozen bases across the USA. He also served as the medical director for the Phase 2 Tactical Air Control Party – Officer’s Aptitude Assessment course. He is the only USAF PT to have graduated from the US Army’s Flight Surgeon course as well as NOAA’s Dive Medical Officer course.  Eric has taught continuing education courses since 1999 and has presented at numerous state and national meetings and has published in both peer-reviewed journals and medical texts.  He has taught in Residency and Fellowship programs and has been a full-time Fellowship instructor since 2016.  He has also earned two grants: a 2005 TRICARE Venture Capital Initiative of $778,000 for manning and equipment that earned $6.3 million in two years as well as a 2013 $1.8 million facility, equipment, and staffing upgrade.