Operations officer takes charge in wing and community

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Matt Moorman
  • 916 ARW
Seymour Johnson AFB, NC --  "If you're not devoted to the country, it'll fail," said Lt. Col. Crawford Moore about his military and civilian jobs. As the 77th Operations Support Flight commander, Colonel Moore knows what it means to be devoted to his country.

But his military career isn't the only place he's devoted to serving.

On June 3, 2006, Colonel Moore won the Chesterfield County Council primary election against a 12-year incumbent. Chesterfield County is in South Carolina where this 916th Air Refueling Wing reservist resides. A retired businessman, Colonel Moore wants to promote the economic development of his rural home county. He sees need to expand industry and create more jobs in order to cut the county's unemployment rate which is above the national average.

"I was on the county's economic development board and I was looking at the recruiting the county was doing and just thought that we could do more," he said. "I felt like I could make a difference for the county economically."

Through a door-to-door, grassroots campaign, in which he focused on community and interpersonal relationships, Colonel Moore—a first-time candidate—was able to gain enough support to win the county's democratic primary. With campaign contributions that paled in comparison to larger state and national elections, Colonel Moore made the most of his $7,500 and won the election by just 16 votes. He will go on to run uncontested in the November general election and will fill one of nine council seats for a four-year term.

Colonel Moore continuously encouraged people to vote throughout his campaign. "Good people have died so that we can vote," he said. He stated that his district has roughly 2,500 registered voters, but his constituency is between 7,000-8,000 people.
As a county councilman he will meet once a month with the other council members to run the business of the county, everything from law enforcement to public service. "My job is going to be to represent the people in my district."

Apprehensive about campaigning at first, Colonel Moore now reflects on the experience as a positive one. Surrounded by 40 friends and family on election night, he reflected on the joy and emotions of his family and even the outpouring from strangers. "The encouragement I received from people was great."

With regards to his patriotic duty, Colonel Moore said, "It has to do with responsibility to people," he said. "Making sure that people are taken care of, whether it's for the county or the military."

"Something that we have to understand, whether in politics or whether in this business [the Air Force Reserve], is that everybody plays a role." Needless to say, Colonel Moore's favorite part about serving in the Air Force Reserve is the people. The same can be said about his political career.

"You knock on the front door, and the greatest people in the world come to the door. You never know who you're going to meet, and you never know what they're going to mean to you."