Colonel CRAIG R. ANDRLE

Colonel Craig R. Andrle is the Commander, 388th Fighter Wing, Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The wing's mission is to maintain combat readiness to deploy, employ, and sustain F-35s worldwide, in order to fly, fight and win any conflict. Colonel Andrle is responsible for the readiness, training, morale, and welfare of more than 2,000 personnel who maintain and operate F-35A aircraft across 10 squadrons. Additionally, he provides operational oversight and direction for nearly 450 reserve maintainers and operators in the 419th Fighter Wing. He is also responsible for the Utah Test and Training Range, a 3.2 million acre jewel in Utah’s west desert that provides operational test and evaluation of weapons requiring a large safety footprint.

Colonel Andrle entered the United States Air Force after graduating from the University of Iowa in 2000. Colonel Andrle has served as a unit deployment officer, chief of training, flight commander, chief of standardization and evaluation, assistant director of operations, combat operations supervisor, director of operations and fighter squadron commander. He is a distinguished graduate of both Undergraduate Pilot Training and the F-16 Basic Qualification Course. He most recently served as the vice commander, of the 388th Fighter Wing and prior to that was the Political and Military Planner for the Middle East, Joint Staff, Washington D.C.

He is a command pilot with more than 3,500 flying hours, including more than 1,000 combat hours over Iraq and Afghanistan.

EDUCATION
2000 Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
2005 Squadron Officer’s School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2008 Masters of Business Administration and Management, Touro University, Calif.
2009 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence.
2018 Masters of Science in National Resource Strategy, National Defense University, Washington D.C.
                                                                       
ASSIGNMENTS
1. July 2000 – June 2001, commander’s executive, 338th Combat Training Squadron, Offutt AFB, Neb.
2. June 2001 – July 2002, student, Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, Vance AFB, Okla.
3. July 2002 – January 2003, student, T-38 Pilot Instructor Course, Randolph AFB, Texas
4. January 2003 – February 2006, T-38 instructor pilot, check flight pilot, and assistant flight commander, 25th Flying Training Squadron, Vance AFB, Okla.
5. February 2006 – April 2006, student, Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals, Moody AFB, Ga.
6. April 2006 – March 2007, student, F-16 Basic Course, Luke AFB, Ariz.
7. March 2007 – April 2010, assistant director of operations, flight commander, and unit deployment officer, 23d Fighter Squadron, Spangdahlem AB, Germany
8. April 2010 – March 2013, F-16 instructor pilot, assistant director of operations, Chief of Standardization/ Evaluation, and Chief of Training, 62d Fighter Squadron, Luke AFB, Ariz.
9. March 2013 – May 2014, Chief, Senior Leader Management, Headquarters Air Combat Command, JB Langley-Eustis, Va.
10. July 2014 – Mar 2015, Director of Operations, 55th Fighter Squadron, Shaw AFB, S.C.
11. March 2015 – May 2017, Commander, 79th Fighter Squadron, Shaw AFB, S.C.
12. June 2017 – June 2018, student, National Defense University, Washington D.C. 
13. June 2018 – July 2020, Political and Military Planner for the Middle East, Joint Staff, Washington D.C.
14. July 2020 – June 2021, Vice Commander, 388th Fighter Wing, Hill AFB, Utah
15. June 2021- Present, Commander, 388th Fighter Wing, Hill AFB, Utah

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: command pilot
Flight hours: more than 3,700
Combat hours: 1,071
Aircraft flown: T-37, T-38A/C, F-16C/D, F-35A

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Bronze Star Medal
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with eleven oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Achievement Medal

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant June 8, 2000
First Lieutenant June 8, 2002
Captain June 8, 2004
Major April 1, 2010
Lieutenant Colonel December 1, 2013
Colonel February 1, 2020

(Current as of January 2022)