PERSONAL BIO | Jaime Wojcik

Aiming Higher (Click on the right arrow inside the photo for more info)

I enlisted in the Air Force in 1997 and went to basic training immediately after graduating high school. After completing basic training, I trained for six months in Texas to become an Aircraft Electrical and Environmental Systems technician.

Across the pond

After completing training, I was assigned to live and work outside of Cambridge, England from 1998 to 2001. My love of history, travel and meeting people from different cultures started here. In addition to touring in my own free time, I traveled all over the England, Scotland, and Wales after joining the Honor Guard which supported commemorative WWII ceremonies and funerals where I also played "Taps" with my trumpet. I worked with a diverse group of people from all over the United States. My job included working with and repairing liquid nitrogen and oxygen systems, F-15 aircraft generators, electronic components, and life support systems. I began taking college courses at a university on base and also completed twenty six hours of flying lessons in a Piper aircraft.

Military Life

I was assigned to live and work outside of Salt Lake City, Utah from 2001-2003. While there, I was responsible for rebuilding electrical systems on crash damaged F-16 and A-10 aircraft. I also traveled across the United States extensively updating electrical systems on F-16 aircraft. I practiced team and leadership skills while deployed to Jordan to support the 2003 invasion of Iraq in order to repair any battle-damaged A-10 aircraft.

All around the world

I retrained into a new job where I worked in the base Command Post supporting all base agencies and organizations, the Wing Commander and Air Force leadership. I was assigned to live and work in Illinois, just outside of St. Louis from 2003-2007. I worked at a central control center where I communicated with all Air Force cargo aircraft mission aircrews flying every mission around the world. I was also responsible for supervising and training others. I played a role in nearly every event occurring between 2003 and 2005 in which the United States was involved including Presidential movements, international natural disaster support, and theater operations by solving aircrew issues by providing diplomatic clearances, rerouting, and mission adjustments.

To the end of the Earth

My love of science, history, and social studies converged when for 72 days in 2005 and 2006, I was assigned to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. I worked with a diverse group of military and civilians from the United States and New Zealand while supporting the National Science Foundation and Operation Deep Freeze by managing the arrival and departure of aircraft traveling between New Zealand, McMurdo Station, and the South Pole. I was lucky enough to get a round trip flight to visit the South Pole.

Experiencing different cultures

I was assigned to live and work an hour from Venice, Italy from 2007-2012. I led an office of six others and supported cargo aircraft and aircrews by coordinating arrivals, transportation, and lodging. I was also responsible for training others and maintaining the security clearances of 55 personnel in our main organization. I experienced living in a different culture without being able to speak the native language proficiently but was able to make good friends working and living with Italians. I also lived and worked in Germany for two months while flights were disrupted across Europe due to the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in Iceland.

Additions

After living in Italy, I relocated to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio in 2012. There, I exercised communication skills while giving monthly briefings to the Air Force Materiel Command 4-Star General as well as teamwork and leadership skills while coordinating training and administrative programs for twelve subordinate bases across the United States. In 2013, my wife and I began our adoption journey. I completed the 36-hour Ohio Child Welfare Training. In 2015 we finalized the adoption of foster care of our son and daughter who were 9 and 8 at the time.

PERSONAL BIO: Work