Looking back at her 31-year career with the South Carolina Highway Patrol and the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, Major Tara Craig knows she didn’t just do something — she accomplished something.
“Sometimes, what you think is your plan may not necessarily be your plan,” said Craig, who retired May 31. “I look back now and realize that my plans weren’t God’s plans. He had a different plan for me.”
Growing up around law enforcement, Craig decided to become a state trooper after visiting a friend in the Columbia area during college and witnessing a trooper respond to a collision. She attended the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy and then Patrol School in 1994. Her career began in Dillion County as a road trooper, working hard over the years to climb through the ranks, whether on the road or in the division’s Emergency Management Unit.
In 2017, she became the first female captain in the Highway Patrol and the first woman to lead the Training Unit. Despite not being required to, Craig would work out with the trainees every morning so not only would they get to know her, but she would get to know them.
“It’s important to lead from the front,” she said. “You can’t just sit behind a desk. They need to see you out there.”
Physical fitness was part of Craig’s life long before she became Training commander. She and her husband have participated in countless races, obstacle courses, and triathlons, the medals from which adorned her office in DPS Headquarters. In 2024, Craig was interviewed as part of the book “Not Too late: The Power of Pushing Limits at Any Age.”
After her latest promotion to Major in 2022, Craig served in the Department of Public Safety’s Division of Strategic Services and Planning, where she oversaw employee wellness, development and retention strategies until her official retirement.
Despite these accomplishments over the years, Craig said her greatest source of pride has been supporting other people and their accomplishments.
“There are so many instances where I have been proud of the people around me and their accomplishments,” she said. “In my many years in Training, seeing people work hard, overcome difficult incidents, get promoted and continue to work with empathy, professionalism, and integrity is near and dear to my heart.”
While she intends to continue working in a non-law enforcement-related job, she still wants to use the skills she has acquired with the Highway Patrol and DPS. Her son also recently married, and she looks forward to seeing him start his own family.
“I need a little workout partner,” she said of her excitement on becoming a grandmother. “Or at least a good backpack carrier for rucking with a little one.”
