Featured Veteran – Craig Everson

by Roger Glenn

Colonel (retired) Craig Everson’s military journey began immediately after he graduated from high school in Orlando, Florida in 1988. He enlisted as a private in the Army’s Field Artillery branch looking to serve his country, obtain an education and travel the world. By 1991 he was selected for the Green-To-Gold program, an Army program that provides officer training for enlisted soldiers. He graduated from Cal State University San Bernardino, obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in just three years, and from that point he began a distinguished career as a Commissioned Officer in the Military Intelligence Corps. You won’t meet many retired Colonels who began their career as a Private. Craig and I first met in Tampa, Florida where we were both Division Chiefs at the United States Army Central Command, and didn’t realize we both lived in Rabun County until we ran into one another at one of Forward Rabun’s Vet-To-Vet cafes in 2021 shortly after his retirement.

Craig’s career included 10 years at Fort Bragg, two tours in Korea, two deployments to Iraq, and back-to-back deployments with the 3rd Special Forces Group in Afghanistan. Later in his career he was assigned as a Defense Attaché to the United States Embassy in Ivory Coast (Africa) during very tumultuous times, which included an ordered departure and non-combatant evacuation (a U.S. Department of State protocol used to evacuate Embassy personnel). Because of the nature of Craig’s responsibilities and the majority of his career serving with Special Operations, there is a good bit of specifics that he can’t talk about, but his awards speak volumes regarding his service record. They include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion Of Merit, four Bronze Stars, and a bevy of others. He also achieved Master Parachutist status and his foreign awards include the National Order of the Ivory Coast, as well as Venezuelan and German Jump Wings.

In the greater context of his life, Craig credits his faith in God as foundational to his growth as a human being. Looking back on his career, he is grateful for the opportunities that the Army provided him, to include the U.S. Naval War College and credits most of his success to his wife, Monique and his two children Kyle and Jessica. He also recognizes the enormous and countless sacrifices they made for over 30 years. Both of Craig’s children are currently serving, Kyle as an Army Doctor at Walter Reed and Jessica as a Nurse in Asheville, North Carolina. He considers his service to have been a great blessing in spite of multiple near death experiences. His military retirement and transition to the private sector was truly better than he could have ever expected and resulted in his current career as the Director of Operations and part owner of a growing company. He jokes about having to get a real job now that he’s out of the Army.

Craig first came to Rabun County many years ago when he visited Dillard as a child. His father was a Georgia native and loved this area. Many years later, Craig returned to Georgia to spread his father’s ashes and realized Rabun County was truly the home he was looking for. He eventually bought an antique in downtown Clayton that needed a house to surround it, and that’s how he and his family grew roots here locally in Tiger. Craig remains a person of considerable public service as the Sergeant At Arms of the Military Fire Cops (MFC) Motorcycle Club (Smoky Mountain Chapter) and Secretary of the Board for the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame. He considers himself blessed every day to be surrounded by his family and friends here in Rabun County!