Dustin Blum

Lieutenant Colonel Dustin D. Blum was born and raised in Le Center, Minnesota. He enlisted in the Army in 1999 and was commissioned as a field artillery officer and a Distinguished Military Graduate from North Dakota State University in 2005. Blum most recently served as the chief of staff for the Joint Readiness Training Center, Operations Group in Fort Polk, Louisiana.​​

Previously, he commanded Bravo Battery, 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment and the Headquarters Company in the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He has had operational assignments in the 1st Infantry Division, 10th Mountain Division, 10th Special Forces Group and 7th Infantry Division.

He commanded a towed field artillery cannon battery from 10th Mountain Division, during the surge of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2010. Blum has deployed once to Iraq, and three times to Afghanistan, most recently in 2016-2017.​

Blum is also a school-trained Joint Terminal Attack Controller where he performed the duties during his time serving as a fire support officer for 10th Special Forces Group, Fort Carson, Colorado, including a deployment to Afghanistan in 2014. He also previously served as an observer/controller/trainer, artillery task force team senior, and executive officer at Fort Polk, Louisiana, where he trained artillery battalions in combined arms maneuver.​

Blum has an undergraduate degree in Political Science and a master's degree in Military Operational Art, Science, from the Air Command and Staff College, Montgomery, Alabama.​​

His hobbies include youth sports coaching, weight lifting, board games (chess, checkers, competitive UNO, and more recently, Throw, Throw Burrito), and avidly supporting the Minnesota Vikings, Twins, Wild, and Timberwolves.