Chief Master Sergeant Matthew Crawford is the Senior Enlisted Leader of the Texas Air National Guard, Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas. He is the principal enlisted advisor to the Deputy Adjutant General - Air for more than 2800 assigned enlisted personnel. His responsibilities include advising the Deputy Adjutant General on all matters related to readiness, training, professional development and effective utilization of assigned TXANG personnel and coordinating with the headquarters staff members, commanders, and senior personnel on administration and implementation of command policy.
Chief Crawford began his military career in 1988 in the U.S. Air Force as a personnel craftsman serving at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., and later overseas assignments in the United Kingdom at Royal Air Force Greenham Common, and RAF Chicksands. In 1994, he joined the Arkansas Air National Guard with the 223rd Combat Communications Squadron as a communication systems technical controller. In 2007, Chief Crawford transferred to the 221 CBCS Texas Air National Guard where he worked in several positions within the CBCS community. Chief Crawford traveled and supported numerous operations throughout his career including Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, BRIGHT STAR, FREEDOM SENTINEL, as well as served as the C4I Planner for the European Deterrence Initiative.
During his ANG tenure as a Drill Status Guardsman, the chief gained 25 years of experience in civilian information technology fields within the airline, defense, and telecommunications industries serving in roles as Senior Field Manager and program management. His current civilian role for a Defense Contracting firm is Senior Field Manager for the Distributed Common Ground Systems (DCGS) Sustainment programs supported by on-site system administrators and system engineers. In this position, Chief Crawford provides factory oversight and technical support to multiple field team engineers that maintain and operate U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard DCGS network hardware and software capabilities within the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance community supporting 15 locations while managing 94 personnel. Prior to assuming his current position, Chief Crawford served as the Chief Enlisted Manager for the 221st Combat Communications Squadron, Hensley Field, 136th Airlift Wing, Grand Prairie, Texas.