I wonder if there is some silly ssetting in blender that I'm forgetting? When I can access my computer in a couple hours I'll browse around blender's options and report back.

yep. made sure to install correctly and check the box on the addon list. sorry for the late reply, real life gets distracting sometimes, amiright??

When I go into user preferences>addons>install from file, I install the blender_source_tools2.5.2.zip and it shows up in the list of installed addons, but I cannot use any of it's functions. I am currently using blender 2.7.4. No error messages, I just do not have the import/export "studiomdl Data" option, or the interface that is supposed to be added to the menu on the right... also, the folder in the zip is called io_scene_valvesource instead of the io_smd_tools python script file I see in this tutorial: HellJumper's Blender 2.5 Modeling Tutorial for TF2
however, I used this vid to actually try to install blender source tools
SFM - Installing Blender Source Tools(2.74)