Captain JD Crinklaw is currently serving as the 52nd Commander of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility. Crinklaw also commands Northwest Regional Maintenance Center.
Crinklaw graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in General Engineering, after which he qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer and completed Division Officer tours onboard USS Vandegrift (FFG 48) and USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), before reporting to Naval Postgraduate School. While there, he laterally transferred to the Engineering Duty Officer community and earned a Master of Science in Applied Physics, specializing in Weapons Systems and Ordnance.
Crinklaw’s next assignment sent him to the Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center in Yokosuka, where he completed his Engineering Duty Officer qualifying tour and served as Ship Superintendent, USS Lassen (DDG 82), before moving into Assistant Repair Officer and later, Repair Officer positions.
In contrast to previous and follow on assignments, a tour with the Combat Systems community took him to the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port Hueneme in June 2008, where Crinklaw served as the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Test Officer for three years.
Following that tour, Crinklaw was assigned as the Deputy Repair Officer for Submarine Repair at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 2011. It was during this time when Crinklaw volunteered to serve as an Individual Augmentee for one year in theater as the Engineering Liaison to the Iraqi Navy in Umm Qasr, Iraq. Upon his return to Norfolk in September 2012, Crinklaw served as the Deputy Project Superintendent for the USS Maryland (SSBN 738) Engineered Refueling Overhaul.
In September 2013, Crinklaw reported to USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), where he served as the Chief Engineer, completed a 10-month deployment to the Arabian Gulf and kicked off the ship’s 2015 Planned Incremental Availability before heading to his next assignment ashore.
Crinklaw reported to San Diego, California, in 2015, for a 22-month tour as the Deputy Waterfront Operations Officer at Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, prior to returning to the Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center as the Operations Officer in 2017.
It wasn’t until March 2019 that Crinklaw was first assigned to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, where he served as the Operations Officer. He remained at that position until 2021, when he transferred to Naval Sea Systems Command, Industrial Operations, and was subsequently selected as the prospective commander for PSNS & IMF in 2023.
Crinklaw’s awards include the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Meritorious Service Medal (6), the Defense commendation Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal.
JD and his spouse, Junko, have one son, Kai, born in 2008.