Craig Campbell ( politician ) Craig Eaton Campbell ( born March 24 , 1952 ) was the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Alaska , holding the office from August 10 , 2009 through December 6 , 2010 . Prior to that date , he was " temporary substitute " lieutenant governor for several weeks until being confirmed in the position by the State Legislature . Campbell left office in December 2010 , after having withdrawn from the Republican primary race for lieutenant governor , which was eventually won by Mead Treadwell . Prior to being designated as lieutenant governor , Campbell was the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs . In that role , he was head of the state ' s National Guard , with the rank of Lieutenant General . On July 3 , 2009 , Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced that she would resign effective July 26 . Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell would become governor , and Campbell would replace Parnell as lieutenant governor . He is married to wife Anne Marie and has two children : Amanda and Melanie , and four grandchildren : Faith , Ellie , Kimberly and Emma . Biography . Campbell was born in 1952 . He was raised in Longmeadow , Massachusetts and attended the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma on an ROTC scholarship and graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science . He was commissioned a second lieutenant that year and was assigned to the Air Traffic Control Officers Training Course at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi . After being certified as an air traffic controller , he was assigned to Travis Air Force Base in California , then to K . I . Sawyer Air Force Base in Michigan . Each assignment brought a promotion , and he left Sawyer in 1979 as a captain . From Sawyer , he moved to Vandenberg Air Force Base , where he served as chief of air traffic control operations until 1981 . During his stay at Vandenberg , he attended classes and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Golden Gate University in nearby San Francisco , California . In 1981 , he was assigned to Alaska for the first time when he was named the chief of air traffic control operations at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage . He left active - duty U . S . Air Force , joined the California Air National Guard , and was assigned duties at Hayward Air National Guard Base in that state in 1984 . He continued to live in Alaska and was elected to the Anchorage Assembly in 1986 as the representative of Chugiak and Eagle River . The district also included Elmendorf and the other major military base in Anchorage , Fort Richardson ( the two have since been combined as Joint Base Elmendorf - Richardson ) . In 1988 , he was promoted to major , and in 1991 he joined the Alaska National Guard and became commander of the 168th Resource Management Squadron at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska . He later was made commander of the 168th Logistics Squadron at the base and was promoted to lieutenant colonel . In 1997 , he moved into a staff position with the Alaska Air National Guard in Anchorage . In 1999 , he earned a Master of Arts degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College at Newport , Rhode Island . He stayed in staff positions until 2000 , when he was promoted to colonel and named vice commander of the 168th Air Refueling Wing at Eielson . While there , he helped command the wing ' s operations in support of the American war effort in Afghanistan . The same year that he was named vice - commander , he became executive director of Anchorage ' s Office of Planning , Development and Public Works . In 2003 , he was selected by then - Alaska governor Frank Murkowski to serve as the state ' s adjutant general — the commander of the Alaska National Guard — and commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs . Following Palin ' s election in 2006 , he was reconfirmed in his office . Campbell was promoted to lieutenant ( three - star ) general within the state National Guard by Palin on September 7 , 2008 . He retained his federal National Guard rank of major ( two - star ) general until he retired August 31 , 2009 . Lieutenant governor . Under the Alaska state constitution , a governor ' s selection of a new lieutenant governor is subject to confirmation by the State Legislature . The same Constitution , however , gives the governor the power to make " recess appointments " , and the Legislature was not in session when Parnell succeeded as governor on July 26 . Following Palin ' s announcement , conflicting statements issued from Alaska legal authorities as to whether Palin had the authority to appoint a lieutenant governor without approval from the state legislature . The state Attorney General stated that while Palin could name Campbell lieutenant governor , it would be preferable to have him sworn in as acting or temporary lieutenant governor , taking the permanent post only upon approval of the legislature . Only July 26 , after then - Lieutenant Governor Parnell was sworn in as Governor , Campbell was given the oath as " temporary substitute " Lieutenant Governor . The oath was administered by Alaska Supreme Court Justice Daniel E . Winfree . After coming back into session , the Legislature confirmed Campbell as lieutenant governor by a vote of 55 - 4 .