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DISTINGUISHED
HONOR FOR NORWELL GRAD — Lt. Col. Craig Plummer, a Wells County native
and 1981 Norwell High School graduate with 20 years of service in the
U.S. Air Force, is shown escorting Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor and her husband, John, right, to the center of the field for
pre-game ceremonies at the Rose Bowl game Jan. 4 in Pasadena, Calif.,
between Texas and Southern Cal.By JOE SMEKENS
In the aftermath of last week’s epic Rose Bowl football game between Texas and Southern Cal, it has been learned that Wells County had a strong presence in the historic event, which has been regarded as one of the greatest college games ever played.
Retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor served as the game’s grand marshal and flipped the commemorative coin in pre-game ceremonies at the center of the field.
And escorting Justice O’Connor onto the field was Wells County native Lt. Col. Craig Plummer of the United States Air Force.
Lt. Col. Plummer is a 1981 graduate of Norwell High School and the son of Tom Plummer of Bluffton.
A 20-year veteran of the Air Force, Lt. Col. Plummer is currently stationed in Los Angeles as the commander of the 369th Air Force Recruiting Squadron.
He is in command of the largest geographically separated squadron in the Air Force with 126 airmen located in Southern California, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Guam, American Samoa and Hawaii.
His squadron is responsible for all recruiting production programs in six southern California counties, all of Hawaii and the entire Pacific Rim, encompassing 30 Islands and 8 time zones.
Contacted Monday by the News-Banner, Lt. Col. Plummer said it was quite a thrill for him to escort Justice O’Connor onto the field.
Lt. Col. Plummer said that he had been informed the day before the game, that there was a chance that he might be chosen for the honor. But it was not until just two hours before kickoff that he received the official word.
Lt. Col. Plummer had to be cleared through tight security and background checks before assuming the escort role.
His father in Bluffton learned the big news just 30 minutes before kickoff when Lt. Col. Plummer’s wife, Sandra, placed a call to Bluffton from her seat 30 rows up at the Rose Bowl.
Tom Plummer told the News-Banner it was a proud moment for him to see his son in the nationally-acclaimed event. Tom Plummer was able to record the event on his VCR.
Following the pre-game ceremonies, Lt. Col. Plummer joined his family in the stands for the championship contest, which was won by Texas.
In recent years, the 369th AF Recruiting Squadron has been in charge of providing honor guards for Rose Bowl festivities, including the Tournament of Roses Parade, which was held New Year’s Day, and the game on Jan. 4 pitting No. 1 USC against No. 2 Texas.
While the Texas-USC game pitted two undefeated teams against one another, Lt. Col. Plummer also has some “unbeaten” status on his resume.
Plummer was a wide receiver on the 1980 Norwell football team which went through its regular season undefeated. He was named to the 1980 ACAC all-conference football team. His father here in Bluffton also knows something about undefeated football teams as he was a member of the 1955 Tiger squad which went through its season undefeated.
Following graduation from Norwell in 1981, Craig Plummer went off to Purdue, where he graduated in 1985 with a degree in industrial technology. He has been with the Air Force since graduation at Purdue.
Plummer lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, and two children, Shelby and Nicholas.
His mother, Judy Hunt, and a brother, Trent Plummer, live in Portland, Oregon.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1985. He is a distinguished graduate of Squadron Officer School and B-52 Combat Crew Training, a recipient of the James Forestall Award for Excellence in Force Planning from the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, and in 2003, he completed the Air War College through seminar. Plummer holds Master of Arts degrees in Counseling from Louisiana State University, and National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.
He entered undergraduate navigator training at Mather AFB, Calif., in May 1986 where he earned his wings and was awarded the Commander’s Award of Merit. Following training he reported to his first operational unit, the 441st Bombardment Squadron, Mather AFB where he served as Navigator, Instructor Navigator and Evaluator Navigator. His next assignment was to the 62nd Bombardment Squadron, Barksdale AFB, La.
While assigned with the 62nd, he participated in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, flying 26 combat missions. Following Desert Storm, Plummer was assigned to the 49th Test Squadron where he was responsible for all B-1, B-2 and B-52 gravity weapons testing.
In May 1998, Plummer was assigned to the Directorate of Test and Evaluation, Headquarters Air Force, Washington, D.C., as Chief of the Foreign Materiel Exploitation Branch. As the chief of the FME branch, he managed the $250 million foreign materiel and Special Access programs for the Air Force.
After graduating from the Naval War College in 2000, Plummer was assigned to the 53d Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla., where he served as Chief, Bomber Test Division, Assistant Director of Operations, in February 2003, he became the Director of Operations, 16th Electronic Warfare Squadron. While at Eglin AFB, Plummer deployed in direct support of operations Enduring Freedom, Northern Watch and Southern Watch.
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