COL. CRAIG V. BLEDSOE, P.E., CSP
Engineering Experience -2019
■ Consulted with the Dutch Safety Board on the shootdown of Malaysian Airlines MH17 by a BUK surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine.
■ Worked with the NTSB, ALPA, and Boeing Commercial Aircraft on MCAS flight control augmentation problems associated with the B737 Max program.
■ Designed and built a dual-band bi-directional amplified handheld satellite communications antenna which was a featured exhibit at the 2019 AMSAT 50th Anniversary Symposium near Washington, D.C.
■ Designed and implemented an emergency communications network using surplus radios to provide ARES with effective command and control for disaster scenarios from remote Nevada desert locations near the National Security Site (former Nuclear Test Site) and Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository project. Five site visits and exercise events were accomplished in 2019.
Engineering Experience -2020
■ Invited to the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) headquarters near Indianapolis, Indiana where I wrote Safety Engineering questions and answers specializing in aviation and transportation safety issues for BCSP’s international testing and training departments.
■ Designed and built a multi-band manually-rotated HF, VHF, and UHF disaster response rooftop antenna array that was featured as the lead article “Antennas in the Pandemic” in the September 2020 issue of CQ Communications Magazine. Additional details provided below.
■ Continued work on an emergency communications network using surplus radios to provide ARES with effective command and control for disaster scenarios from remote Nevada desert locations near the National Security Site (former Nuclear Test Site) and Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository project. Three site visits and exercise events were accomplished in 2020 in spite of COVID restrictions.
Engineering Publications
■ In June of 2020 I submitted a draft article entitled “Antennas in the Pandemic” to the editor of the CQ Communications Magazine based on the design, construction, and operational results of the multi-band antenna array described above. Following peer review, the article was accepted and published as the lead item (largest photo, word, and page count) of the September 2020 issue.
■ At the request of the editor of CQ Magazine, I have prepared an article entitled “A Tale of Two Arrows” based on two variations (a uni-directional version and a bi-directional version) of the handheld amplified satellite communications antenna mentioned in the 2019 Engineering Experience section above.
■ For the peer-reviewed ISASI Forum magazine I wrote an article entitled “Melding Preparedness with Luck” about the determination and measurement of the microburst that caused the upset and crash of a PA-18 aircraft on takeoff from Goose Bay airstrip (across the Knik Arm from Anchorage) during a military
exercise in 1999. There is a separate section below discussing the rescue and extraction from the sparking wreckage of the trapped pilot who was drenched in aviation gasoline from a ruptured fuel tank.
Professional Organization Membership and Activity
■ National Society of Professional Engineers. Member since 1984. ASPE Fairbanks Chapter member initially followed by ASPE Anchorage Chapter beginning in 1993. Served as Program Chairman, Anchorage Engineers Week Chairman in 2014, Anchorage Chapter President, and currently State President.
■ American Society of Safety Engineers. Member since 1977. Professional Member since 1980. President, Program Chairman, and numerous other offices held in the Sacramento Chapter, the Fairbanks Chapter, and the Alaska Chapter. Selected as the ASSE Safety Engineer of the Year in 1986 and nominated for the ASPE Engineer of the Year by the Fairbanks Chapter in 1987.
■ International Society of Air Safety Investigators. Full Member since 1982. President of the Alaska Regional Chapter. Chairman and host of the week-long 1997 International Seminar in Anchorage which had 328 delegates from 35 countries attending this worldwide convention.
■ Air Force Association. Member since 1975 in the Sacramento, Fairbanks, and Anchorage Chapters. Vice President of AFA Chapter 362 (Fairbanks) from 1987 through 1989.
■ Reserve Officers Association. Member since 1975 in the McClellan AFB, Eielson AFB, and Elmendorf AFB (JBER) Chapters. President of the Eielson AFB Chapter from 1983 through 1985.
■ Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) Member since 1977 and current State of Alaska Delegate. Author of multiple articles and presentations on state-of-the-art handheld satellite communications.
■ State Guard Association of the United States (SGAUS). Received SGAUS Heroism Medal in 2001 for 1999 rescue of military pilot soaked in aviation gasoline trapped by in the cockpit of a crushed aircraft in danger of exploding. Details are in the ISASI Forum magazine article as mentioned above.
Extra-Curricular Professional Service
■ Volunteer ASD School Presenter for Engineers Week. Numerous handheld satellite radio demonstrations for Alaskan elementary and middle school students including facilitating kids’ conversations with astronauts and cosmonauts on board the International Space Station.
■ Chief Pilot and Aviation Safety Officer for the Yukon Quest 1000 mile International Sled Dog Race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse. During my years of service between 1985 and 1987 we had no military or civil aircraft accidents or incidents in spite of adverse weather and extreme temperatures.
■ Volunteer Aviation Safety and Accident Investigation instructor at the UAA School of Aviation Technology at Merrill Field. For many years I have been invited to present on these topics and allied fields to the college students in this undergraduate-level aviation program.
■ Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) instruction and assistance with electronics in general and Amateur Radio licensing and operating in particular. I volunteer at the National Restoration Center in Pahrump, Nevada where old tube-type ham radios are rehabilitated. A few special units go to museums, but most are given to the Scouts for Merit Badges and on-the-air activities as described here.
Non-Profit Community Service
■ Past President of two Rotary Clubs in Fairbanks and Anchorage plus actively working in numerous capacities to support the humanitarian efforts of Rotary International around the world. Served as Chairman of Membership Development, International Service, Youth Exchange, Club Programs, and many other volunteer opportunities. Hosted in our home four Youth Exchange (high school) students, and one Ambassadorial Exchange (college level) student over the years.
■ Served in four different military components starting in 1968. These include the Active Duty Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF). Qualified as pilot-in-command of numerous civil and military aircraft ranging from the Boeing 747 down to the PQ-13 (military version of the Ercoupe). Military responsibilities ranged from Flight Safety Officer, to Aircraft Commander, to Squadron Commander, to Search and Rescue Operations Officer, to Director of Operations for the Alaska Air National Guard, and finally as Joint Staff Liaison to the Adjutant General for the ASDF.
■ Recipient of the “Gold Star Award” from the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce for logistics support to the Fairbanks Golden Days Festival (retrieving and airlifting via DC-8 aircraft thousands of commemorative pins to Fairbanks that had been held up by Customs in Taiwan).
■ Assisted several churches get up and running on Zoom for virtual online services during the COVID restrictions on in-person services. These included St. Peter’s-by-the-Sea in Sitka and a complete turnkey installation at St. Martin’s in Pahrump including multiple cameras with video and audio interface panels all built from scratch.
Education and Continuing Education
■ Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Technical Writing from the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee - 1968
■ Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 70-02 at Moody AFB at Valdosta, Georgia – 1969
■ FAA Airline Transport Pilot License Class at Sacramento Sky Roamers Academy - 1977
■ Master of Science in Safety Engineering from the University of Southern California - 1978
■ Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB at Montgomery, Alabama - 1980
■ FCC Amateur Extra Class License at the Arctic ARC, University of Alaska Fairbanks – 1987
■ FEMA Incident Command System (ICS) Basic and Advanced Training at Las Vegas and Wasilla - 2019
■ Numerous PDH and CEU credits for maintaining licensure and increasing professional knowledge
Professional Honors and Certificates
■ Flying Tiger Line “Certificate of Honor” for Flight Safety and Aircraft Accident Prevention - 1989
■ Alaska Governor’s Safety and Health Conference “Certificate of Appreciation” for instructing the “Business Recovery from Disaster” class to the attendees annually from 1997 to the present.
■ State of Alaska Homeland Security Medal presented for deploying and commanding the ASDF communications task force at the Port of Valdez during the terrorist threat over the winter of 2003-2004
■ Crosby Communications “Certificate of Achievement” for crane and rigging safety training - 2008
■ Women in Aviation “Certificate of Appreciation” for presenting about aircraft accident investigation training and services offered by the International Society of Air Safety Investigators to the 5000+ attendees of the WIA International Convention annually from 2014 to the present.