Craig Eaton Campbell (born March 24, 1952) is an American politician and businessman who served as the president and CEO of the Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC). He joined the corporation as chief operating officer in February 2011, and was appointed president and CEO by the board of directors in October 2012. Prior to his position at AAC, Campbell was the tenth

lieutenant governor of Alaska The lieutenant governor of Alaska is the deputy elected official to the governor of the U.S. state of Alaska. Unlike most lieutenant governors in the U.S., the office also maintains the duties of a secretary of state, and indeed was named suc ...

, holding the office from August 10, 2009, through December 6, 2010. Pending his confirmation by the State Legislature, he was "temporary substitute" lieutenant governor for several weeks. Campbell left office in December 2010, after having withdrawn from the Republican primary race for lieutenant governor, which was eventually won by

Mead Treadwell Louis Mead Treadwell II (born March 21, 1956) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 11th lieutenant governor of Alaska from 2010 to 2014. Treadwell also served as chair of the United States Arctic Research Commission from 2 ...

. Before serving as lieutenant governor, Campbell was the commissioner of the

Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs The Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs manages military and veterans affairs for the U.S. state of Alaska. It comprises a number of subdepartments, including the Alaska National Guard, Veterans Affairs, the Division of Homeland Sec ...

. In that role, he was head of the state's National Guard, with the rank of lieutenant general. On July 3, 2009, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced that she would resign effective July 26. Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell would become governor, and Campbell would replace Parnell as lieutenant governor. In 2010, Campbell opted to not seek election as lieutenant governor, preferring to return to the business sector and joining AAC in February 2011. Campbell was appointed the state chair for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Alaska State Committee in October 2012

He is married to wife Anne Marie and has two children: Amanda and Melanie (deceased), and four grandchildren: Faith, Ellie, Kimberly and Emma.

"Commissioner Campbell Biography"
, dmva.alaska.gov. March 12, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2009.

Early life and education

Campbell was born in 1952.Inklebarger, Timothy. "Murkowski names Campbell military chief", ''Juneau Empire''. December 30, 2002. State and Regional section. He was raised in

Longmeadow, Massachusetts Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The population was 15,853 at the 2020 census. History Longmeadow was first settled in 1644, and officially incorporated October 17, 1783. The town was originally farm ...

, and attended the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma on a Reserve Officer's Training Corp. ( ROTC) scholarship, and graduated in 1974 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. In 1999, he earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in national security and strategic studies from the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associ ...

at Newport, Rhode Island. During his stay at Vandenberg, he attended classes and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from

Golden Gate University Golden Gate University (GGU or Golden Gate) is a private university in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1901, GGU specializes in educating professionals through its schools of law, business, taxation, and accounting. The university offers s ...

in nearby

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Career

In 1974, Campbell was commissioned a second lieutenant that year and was assigned to the Air Traffic Control Officers Training Course at Keesler Air Force Base in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. After being certified as an

air traffic controller Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCS, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control ...

, he was assigned to

Travis Air Force Base Travis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command (AMC), located three miles (5 km) east of the central business district of the city of Fairfield, in Solano County, California ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, then to

K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force (USAF) installation in Marquette County, Michigan, south of the city of Marquette. Near the center of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the base operated for nearly forty years ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Each assignment brought a promotion, and he left Sawyer in 1979 as a captain. From Sawyer, he moved to

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg Sp ...

, where he served as chief of air traffic control operations until 1981. In 1981, he was assigned to Alaska for the first time when he was named the chief of air traffic control operations with the 1930th Communications Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. He left active-duty U.S. Air Force, joined the

California Air National Guard The California Air National Guard (CA ANG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Air Force, and part of the National Guard of the United States. As militia units, the units in the California ...

, and was assigned duties at Hayward Air National Guard Base in that state in 1984. In addition, he worked extensively in the private sector, with over 15 years of aviation consulting experience including airport master planning, environmental planning, economic feasibility studies, and facilities location planning—both in the U.S. and internationally. Campbell has been active in Alaskan politics since the 1980s. He ran for mayor of Anchorage in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. He was first elected to the

Anchorage Assembly The Anchorage Assembly is the governing body of Anchorage, Alaska. The Assembly has eleven members elected to three-year terms from six districts. It is responsible for creating and approving the city's annual budget, appropriating municipal fun ...

1986, representing the

Chugiak Chugiak is an unincorporated community in the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska, situated approximately northeast of downtown Anchorage. Geography Chugiak is located between Eagle River to the south and Eklutna to the nort ...

, Eagle River, Birchwood, Peters Creek, Eklutna, and Mountain View sections of Anchorage. The district also included Elmendorf and the other major military base in Anchorage, Fort Richardson (the two have since been combined as

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

). He subsequently was re-elected in 1989 and 1992, serving twice as Chairman of the Assembly. In 1991, he joined the Alaska National Guard and became commander of the 168th Resource Management Squadron at

Eielson Air Force Base Eielson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska and just southeast of Moose Creek, Alaska. It was established in 1943 as Mile 26 Satellite Field and redes ...

in Alaska. He later was made commander of the 168th Logistics Squadron at the base and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, Campbell again unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Anchorage, coming in third out of a field of fourteen candidates in the non-partisan, municipality-wide election. He later served on the Matanuska Electric Association Board of Directors from 1996 to 2000, and as an adjunct professor for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University from 1990 to 2000. In 1997, he moved into a staff position with the Alaska Air National Guard in Anchorage. In 2000, he was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and named vice commander of the 168th Air Refueling Wing at Eielson. While there, he helped command the wing's operations in support of the American war effort in Afghanistan. The same year that he was named vice-commander, he became executive director of Anchorage's Office of Planning, Development and Public Works. In 2003, he was selected by then-Alaska governor

Frank Murkowski Frank Hughes Murkowski (born March 28, 1933) is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was a United States Senator from Alaska from 1981 until 2002 and the eighth governor of Alaska from 2002 until 2006. In his 2006 re ...

to serve as the state's adjutant general—the commander of the Alaska National Guard—and commissioner of the

. Following Palin's election in 2006, he was reconfirmed in his office. Campbell has 35 years of aerospace experience in the USAF and

Alaska National Guard The Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs manages military and veterans affairs for the U.S. state of Alaska. It comprises a number of subdepartments, including the Alaska National Guard, Veterans Affairs, the Division of Homeland Sec ...

, during which he oversaw the Alaska Army National Guard development of missile defense operations and security missions at Ft. Greely, AK; the relocation of Kulis Air National Guard Base to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson; the formation of an associate flying unit between the USAF and Alaska Air National Guard for operations of the C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlift transport; and establishment of a state partnership between the Alaska National Guard and the country of Mongolia.

Lieutenant governor

On July 26, 2009, halfway through her term as governor, Palin resigned. Under the Alaska state constitution, a governor's selection of a new lieutenant governor is subject to confirmation by the State Legislature. The same Constitution, however, gives the governor the power to make "recess appointments", and the Legislature was not in session when Parnell succeeded as governor on July 26. Following Palin's announcement, conflicting statements issued from Alaska legal authorities as to whether Parnell had the authority to appoint a lieutenant governor without approval from the state legislature. The state attorney general stated that while Palin could name Campbell lieutenant governor, it would be preferable to have him sworn in as acting or temporary lieutenant governor, taking the permanent post only upon approval of the legislature. On July 26, after then-Lieutenant Governor Parnell was sworn in as governor, Campbell was given the oath as "temporary substitute" lieutenant governor. The oath was administered by

Alaska Supreme Court The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court for the U.S. state of Alaska. Its decisions are binding on all other Alaska state courts, and the only court its decisions may be appealed to is the Supreme Court of the United States. The Alas ...

Justice

Daniel Winfree Daniel Edward Winfree (born February 1953) is an American lawyer who served as chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court from 2021 to 2023. He was appointed to the Alaska Supreme Court by Governor Sarah Palin in 2008. He was sworn in on February ...

. After coming back into session on August 10, the Legislature confirmed Campbell as lieutenant governor by a vote of 55–4. Campbell was promoted to lieutenant (three-star) general within the state National Guard by Palin on September 7, 2008. He retained his federal National Guard rank of major (two-star) general until he retired August 31, 2009., www.ngb.mil. Retrieved December 1, 2010. Campbell became the president and chief executive officer for Alaska Aerospace Corporation in 2012, retiring in 2020. Campbell served as the state chair for the Alaska Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) from 2012 until 2017. In 2019, Governor Mike Dunleavy appointed Campbell to the Alaska Railroad Board of Directors. Campbell currently serves as the RNC National Committeeman for the Alaska Republican Party. He previously served as the ARP Vice Chair.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Craig 1952 births Alaska Republicans Anchorage Assembly members Golden Gate University alumni Lieutenant Governors of Alaska Living people National Guard (United States) generals Naval War College alumni Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Recipients of the Legion of Merit State cabinet secretaries of Alaska United States Air Force generals University of Tulsa alumni American chief operating officers American chief executives Air traffic controllers People from Longmeadow, Massachusetts Military personnel from Massachusetts