Colonel Jerry L. Crigger is the Commander of the 582d Helicopter Group, Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. He commands all of Air Force Global Strike Command’s rotary-wing forces in defense of America’s strategic, land-based arsenal of 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles. He oversees four squadrons and over 450 personnel dispersed across three northern-tier installations conducting combined-arms, full-spectrum nuclear security operations over three dispersed missile complexes spanning five states and 33,800 square miles.
Colonel Crigger received his commission through ROTC at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1997. Following pilot training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, he served in three flying assignments in the UH-1/Mi-17 deployed multiple times in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He is a graduate of the Defense Language Institute. He is a command pilot with more than 2,900 flying hours.
EDUCATION
1997 Business Administration, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
2002 Squadron Officer’s School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2004 Defense Language Institute - Korean, Presidio of Monterey, Calif.
2006 Air Command & Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
2006 Master of Military Studies-SO/LIC, American Military University
2010 U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
2012 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1997 - January 1998, Casual Student, Scott AFB, Ill.
2. February 1998 - September 1998, Student Pilot, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Vance AFB, Okla.
3. October 1998 - February 2000, Student Pilot, Undergraduate Pilot Training-Helicopter, Ft Rucker, Ala.
4. March 2000 - December 2002, UH-1N Evaluator Pilot, 54th Helicopter Flight, Minot AFB, N.D.
5. January 2003 - May 2004, Student, Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, Calif.
6. June 2004 - December 2009, Combat Aviation Advisor, 6th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
7. January 2010 - December 2010, Student, Command and General Staff College, Ft Leavenworth, Kan.
8. January 2011 – October 2012, Action Officer, Special Operations Command, MacDill AFB, Fla.
9. October 2012 – June 2016 Commander/Operations Officer, 23rd Flying Training Squadron, Ft Rucker, Ala.
10. June 2016 – June 2018, Commander, AFROTC Det 295, University of Louisville, Ky.
11. July 2018 – June 2019, Commander, 12 AF Det 1, Miami, Fla.
12. July 2019 – Present, Commander, 582d Helicopter Group, Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyo.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
January 2011 - October 2012, Action Officer, Special Operations Command, MacDill AFB, Fla., as a lieutenant colonel
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command Pilot
Flight Hours: More than 2900
Aircraft Flown: T-37, TH-1H, UH-1H/N, Mi-17
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Joint Service Achievement Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal
EFFECTIVE DATE OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 28, 1997
First Lieutenant May 28, 1999
Captain May 28, 2001
Major February 1, 2007
Lieutenant Colonel April 1, 2012
Colonel October 1, 2018
(Current as of July 2019)