TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR BRIGADIER GENERAL JIM C. CHOW, OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA AIR NATIONAL GUARD, UPON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT AFTER MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS OF EXEMPLARY SERVICE, AND TO WISH HIM CONTINUED SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS IN ALL HIS FUTURE ENDEAVORS.

Whereas, it is altogether fitting that the members of the General Assembly should pause in their deliberations to express their gratitude to Brigadier General Jim C. Chow for his significant contributions to the South Carolina Air National Guard; and

Whereas, beginning his military career in 1984, General Chow received a direct commission as a medical student in the South Carolina Air National Guard. After medical school and internship training at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, General Chow continued his dermatology residency and a wound healing fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center; and

Whereas, he completed Mohs Micrographic Surgery Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution and returned to South Carolina as a traditional physician/flight surgeon in the South Carolina Air National Guard. He served as flight surgeon for the 157th Fighter Squadron Medical Element with more than four hundred flight hours and later became the chief of aerospace medicine for the 169th Medical Squadron; and

Whereas, General Chow became the Joint Force Headquarters surgeon for the South Carolina National Guard after serving as the State Air Surgeon for the South Carolina Air National Guard; and

Whereas, in 2007, General Chow was assigned as the Air National Guard assistant to the Air Combat Command Surgeon General. He serves as a liaison and advisor for health readiness for Air Combat Command and Air Combat Command-gained Air National Guard units. General Chow also serves as the Air National Guard medical assistant to the Medical Force Provider supporting Homeland Defense for wartime tasking and crisis response; and

Whereas, his military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, Air Force Organization Excellence Award, National Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Air Force Longevity Award with three Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, and South Carolina Palmetto Service Ribbon; and

Whereas, instrumental in the formation of the "Patriotic Doc" program, Brigadier General Chow oversaw the recruiting of civilian surgical trauma specialists to be senior visiting surgeons providing critical care to wounded warriors overseas for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom; and

Whereas, as a civilian, Dr. Chow is president and senior partner of Columbia Skin Clinic, LLC, one of the largest dermatological specialty clinics in the Southeast; and

Whereas, he has served as a past president of the South Carolina Dermatological Association and of the Columbia Medical Society, and since 2006, he has served on the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners; and

Whereas, he was named the United States Air Force Medical Officer of the Year, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Alumni of the Year, South Carolina Medical Association Physician of the Year, and South Carolina Dermatological Association Dermatologist of the Year, and was voted Best Doctor in America for dermatology in 2011-2012 by Columbia Metropolitan Magazine; and

Whereas, he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, the state's highest civilian recognition, and the Algernon Sidney Sullivan Award for Humanitarian Service; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly are grateful for the years of unparalleled dedication that Brigadier General Chow has devoted to the South Carolina Air National Guard and wish him many years of enjoyment in his well-earned retirement. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, recognize and honor Brigadier General Jim C. Chow, of the South Carolina Air National Guard, upon the occasion of his retirement after more than thirty years of exemplary service, and wish him continued success and happiness in all his future endeavors.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Brigadier General Jim C. Chow.