The Georgia Air National Guard has made history with the newest commander to lead the militia. Brig. Gen. Konata Crumbly will become the first African-American commander of the Guard. Crumbly greeted his appointment with the noble statement: “What identifies a person should be their character or work ethic rather than race or color.”
Crumbly eloquently articulated his priorities. “My number one priority is to ensure our Airmen are properly trained and equipped to fight our nation’s wars.” Crumbly elaborated in his statement: “Second is to ensure we take care of families by providing them with proper health, dental, and mental care.”
As reported, Crumbly, takes over the position from Maj. Gen. Thomas Grabowski. He will command almost 3,000 Airmen in the two wings at the Combat Readiness Training Center. Crumbly’s passion for the military and flying planes began in his youth, “inspired by family members who served before him.”
Details of the evolution of his career were provided. “I applied for the Army and Air ROTC scholarship and the Army was giving me a full ride,” Crumbly said. FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team provided additional background information on his career’s advancement. Crumbly “attended Army Aviation Flight School at Fort Rucker, Ala. and earned his wings as a UH-60 A/L Black Hawk pilot. After serving in the Army, Crumbly became part of the Georgia Air National Guard as an E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) pilot in 2004.”
Crumbly commanded the Warner Robins-based 116th Air Control Wing from August 2018 to January 2020, becoming its first African-American leader. Crumbly offered wisdom and guidance for enriching one’s life and career. “If you do the harder thing it sets you up for certain jobs and certain jobs set you up for certain opportunities.” Most poignantly, Crumbly expressed his hope that society will “eventually to get to the point where there are no more firsts to acknowledge.” Georgia’s Air National Guard is in good hands.
