Meet Krystianna Crain, Air Force Mentor
Meet one of MSAN’s newest Air Force mentors, Krystianna Crain! After a chance meeting with MSAN’s marketing manager, Kristen Thoennes, at a conference in Germany, Krystianna joined MSAN ready to advocate for spouse and their families.
Krystianna shared her professional journeys from dental hygiene to bartending, now working for the DoD in an impressive trajectory toward the top. We are thrilled to have her join the MSANFam!
Tell me a little bit about yourself. How long have you been a military spouse?
I’ve been a military spouse for five years. My husband is active duty air force. We met in dover Delaware and we are not stationed in England. We have been here for about 2.5 years now and we’re on our final stretch of the three year tour..In October we are gonna be headed back with our three children to Dyess Air Force Base in Abeline, Texas.
Are you excited to come back?
Yes–my husband is from Texas so it makes him happy to be going home.
How did you end up working in the government sector?
I was actually a dental hygienist. I decided that I wanted to be done with that and I started bartending to do it part-time to spend more time at home. After that, I kept working myself up to management and bar manager, and then I realized I really liked working for the DoD and I wanted to do more.
So when we came over to England I was transferring over to be a club manager here. It just didn’t work out, so I started to apply for jobs on base and I ended up in a secretary position. From there I literally just continued to move myself up the chain. So now I’m a unit program coordinator and I absolutely love it. I’m currently being trained to be a security manager and then after that I just want to continue to move on up!
So what exactly is a unit program coordinator?
I take care of the squadron, like program management. I help with TDYs, I help them get paid for that, deployment management, security management. Pretty much everything behind the scenes that is not the actual mission focus on the line is what I do.
(Photo courtesy of Krystianna Crain)
Why was it important for you to have a volunteer experience?
I actually heard about MSAN through Kristen, MSAN’s marketing manager. I met Kristen when I was at a conference in Germany. This seems like something that I’m into already. I’m a super big advocate for spouses here–I have a big mouth and if I’ve been blessed with it, I’m gonna use it!
I just want everybody to know their rights, what they can have and what they can do, and that they can be so much more. It’s not always that small picture…think beyond.
Moving to Dyess is scary because what am I gonna do? It’s starting all over. It’s beautiful that MSAN makes it so that I don’t have to start all over.
What do you hope to bring to your volunteer experience?
My goal before I leave England is to make sure that overseas knows about this program as much as possible!
Let’s end the interview on a fun note! What’s a fun fact about you?
So far I’ve been to 14 countries! We love to travel. Portugal was absolutely beautiful, the nicest people I’ve ever met.
When we’re not traveling I actually do enjoy competitive cheerleading, it’s something that my daughter and I can share together so that’s really awesome too. I’m not too old for it!
To connect with Krystianna and other Air Force mentors, be sure to join the HUB!
If you’d like to request a personal mentor, email the MSMP team.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor or volunteering with MSAN, please click here.
Stephanie Allen is the Communications & Marketing Director for the Military Spouse Advocacy Network. She is a proud Navy wife and mom, a writer, blogger, success coach, and the Content Manager for Tidewater Family Plus magazine. Follow her on Linkedin & Instagram!