General Tom Mikolajcik

This video was produced in honor of General Tom Mikolajcik and shown to the Salute to the Armed Forces event hosted by the Charleston Regional Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Directors of the Charleston Regional Metro Chamber of Commerce. It was produced thanks to Peter Wertimer of Chernoff Newman, Mary Graham of the Charleston Regional Metro Chamber of Commerce, voice talent Mark Cardnella, and Patrick Bryant with Go To Team.

Full Script:

A Connecticut Yankee who became a Charleston, South Carolinian by choice, Tom Mikolajcik graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1969…A command pilot with over 4,000 hours in a variety of military aircraft, Tom progressed through Air Force leadership, becoming a C-141 Squadron Commander at McChord AFB… Deputy Chief of Exercises, 5th Allied Tactical Air Force in Vicenza, Italy…Vice Wing Commander and Wing Commander of the 435th Tactical Airlift Wing at Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany… and Wing Commander of the 437th Airlift Wing, Charleston Air Force Base from July 1991 to June 1994.

As a young expert in military airlift and airlifters, Tom became one of the principle advocates for the newest generation of air transport, the mighty C-17 Globemaster…And with now-General Mikolajcik in command of Charleston Air Force Base, the Air Force introduced this new aircraft with the arrival of the very first C-17, here, in June 1993…From that day to this Charleston has been known as the crown jewel of Air Mobility Command; Tom’s legacy to Charleston Air Force Base and, to our entire Charleston region…

Upon retirement in 1996, General Mikolajcik and his wife Carmen chose Mount Pleasant as their home, diving into civic life with a passion…In 2001 the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce asked General Mikolajcik to chair our volunteer Military Issues Committee, to help the community prepare for BRAC 2005; to avoid its potentially devastating economic impact…Characteristically, General Mikolajcik jumped into the fire with both feet…He began visiting the various commands located here, learning about their missions and operations… As he learned, General Mik began to discuss the joint nature of Charleston’s diverse military assets…forming a strategy to position Charleston as a model of jointness…an intermodal transportation and logistics hub where Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard are seamlessly linked in cooperation for the good of our nation… And General Mik became a mentor to our area military commanders, stressing the value of knowing and helping the other commanders in the region…

As BRAC 2005 approached, General Mik targeted Pentagon staff with Charleston’s message, inviting scores of VIPs to visit our region over a two year period…He led several delegations of elected officials and civic leaders on trips to Washington, preparing briefs and answering questions with exhaustive knowledge and inexhaustible enthusiasm…Working seemingly non-stop, Tom was moved from volunteer to full time consultant by the chamber…And in the end, General Mik’s strategy was so successful and his tactical execution so flawless, we not only retained 98% of our military assets, but Charleston was named a Joint Base, one of only 12 in the country…And one BRAC analyst wrote that Charleston’s strategy and data presentation was used by the BRAC Commission as a benchmark to analyze all the other communities in the process…

In 2003, Tom was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a fatal nerve disorder known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, the last great fight of his life…Once diagnosed, Tom began to learn all that he could and it was through this research that he discovered how pitifully little had been learned since Lou Gehrig gave the disease its name over 70 years ago… He also learned that military veterans have a 60% higher incidence of ALS than civilians…When he also learned that although he himself was covered, enlisted personnel who were diagnosed with ALS were not covered by veterans benefits, his new fight began in earnest…Despite the debilitating nature of the disease, General Mik worked tirelessly raising awareness about ALS…Thanks to his and Carmen’s efforts, the first South Carolina ALS chapter was created and an ALS clinic was established at MUSC…But Tom’s greatest efforts were for the troops, advocating for the extension of disability pay, lifetime health care and death benefits through the Veterans’ Administration…Tom testified three times before congress; finally, almost completely paralyzed, from his wheelchair in 2007…As a direct result, in November of that year the Secretary of Veterans Affairs approved a new regulation providing service-connected disability benefits to all veterans with ALS… In addition, legislation was passed and signed into law by the president establishing a National ALS registry for help in finding causes, therapies and eventually a cure for this horrible disease.

General Tom Mikolajcik was an extraordinary leader and will be forever remembered by the US Air Force and at Charleston Air Force Base, as well as by our Chamber of Commerce and the residents of this community…He was a great airman, a warrior, a leader, a family man and a dear friend…So tonight we pay tribute to this wonderful man who touched so many lives – including everyone in this room – in such an uplifting and permanent way…a great American…a great man…General Tom Mikolajcik.