Military career
Craig grew up near Houston, Texas and got his tactical start in the U.S. Marine Corps. He quickly moved to the U.S. Navy to pursue high-level special operations as a Navy SEAL, serving in SEAL Team One and then the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU). He went on to the Federal Air Marshal Service as an agent and supervisor. After five years in federal law enforcement, Craig worked in high-threat mobile security, as a film and television technical advisor, and in personal security training for the public.
As a DEVGRU operator, Craig gained combat experience in Desert Shield and Desert Storm and was decorated for heroic service. Those operations included:
- Capturing the first prisoners of the war
- Combat search and rescue
- Sniper operations
- Reconnaissance
- Counter-mine operations
- Fast attack vehicle operations
Throughout his career Craig was recognised for his command of multiple military and combat disciplines: weapons and marksmanship, counter-terrorism, surveillance and counter-surveillance, climbing, criminal investigation, parachuting and hand-to-hand combat.
High-threat mobile security
Craig served as an agent in charge responsible for the Department of State's chief-of-mission leaders in his region. He ran the specialised teams that protected high-threat politicians and dignitaries, among them U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, and secured other U.S. dignitaries and Department of State personnel during visits to that war-zone region.
Motocross champion
In 2003 Craig won two local motocross racing championships in Las Vegas, Nevada, after training with former national champion Marty Smith and professional road racer Mark Roberts.
Tactical Insider and the film industry
After a career spent largely in special operations, Craig began consulting for filmmakers who needed real expertise in military tactics. He founded Tactical Insider to provide training and technical advice to films, actors, public figures and private clients.
Craig has acted, produced and advised alongside some of the best in Hollywood, contributed to news programs including FOX News and the CBS Evening News, and appeared throughout History Channel's Sniper: Deadliest Missions. Since 2010 he has been a recurring trainer on History's marksmanship competition Top Shot, appearing in all five seasons.
In 2013 Craig and three other U.S. special-forces veterans worked to stop the mass killing of rhinos by poachers in South Africa. The missions aired on Animal Planet's Battleground: Rhino Wars.
It breaks your heart. We hope the public is inspired by this fight. If we can ignite and inspire motivation, how beautiful would that be? This is not just a South African problem, it's a global problem.
Craig Sawyer
- Most frequent expert on all five seasons of History Channel's Top Shot
- Guest on major news and morning programs, including the Today Show, Fox & Friends, Morning Joe, the CBS Evening News and FOX News
- Team leader and voice of Animal Planet's Battleground: Rhino Wars
- Military Channel's Deadliest Tech: Spec Ops, History Channel's Sniper: Deadliest Missions and H2's Top Guns
- Co-star of the 2016 feature Army Dog with Casper Van Dien, and three seasons of GunnyTime with R. Lee Ermey
Founding Veterans For Child Rescue
When a friend and intelligence-community veteran told Craig how severe trafficking had become in America, Craig knew he had to act. He founded Veterans For Child Rescue in April 2017 to expose and end trafficking in the United States, and set out to film a documentary that would show the infrastructure and secrecy behind it.
Not long after, violence reached his own family. The experience hardened the family's resolve to defend the defenceless, and gave them a first-hand understanding of why quality aftercare and rehabilitation matter for survivors.
Contraland
In 2019 the Contraland documentary was released to alert the public to the reality of trafficking in the United States. In 2020 it aired to 90 million households in the U.S. and Canada on the DayStar network. The film shows real operations, includes interviews with survivors and leading experts, and explains how these crimes are committed and why they go unseen.
Raising awareness
Craig continues to educate the public through media features, podcasts and public speaking. He has given more than 200 interviews reaching tens of millions of people, sharing a message of awareness and the practical knowledge families need to safeguard their communities and children.