Captain Sokolowski is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He enlisted in the Navy in February 1974. Following completion of Boot Camp and Advanced Aviation Apprenticeship Training at Great Lakes, IL he was then assigned to the USS KITTY HAWK (CV-63), home ported in San Diego, CA where he completed two Western Pacific Deployments.
Upon completion of his tour on active duty, Petty Officer Sokolowski left active service, joined the Reserves and enrolled in college. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Health and Fire Science Technology from Madonna Catholic College and in December 1985 and was commissioned as an Ensign, Medical Service Corps.
Upon completion of Officer Indoctrination School, Newport, RI, he was assigned to the Navy Environmental Preventive Medicine Unit 2, Norfolk, VA as an Industrial Hygiene Officer.
His next tour was aboard the USS VULCAN (AR-5), where he served as the ship’s first Industrial Hygiene Officer and was the recipient of the Captain Earnest Brown Award for Excellence in Occupational Health. During this assignment the VULCAN deployed twice, once to the Mediterranean Sea operations area, and to the Red Sea in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
Following this tour aboard VULCAN, he was transferred to the Navy, Board of Inspection and Survey, Atlantic and was assigned as a Medical and NAVOSH Inspector.
In October 1996 he reported to the staff of Commander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific Fleet as the Force Industrial Hygienist, where he deployed aboard the USS CONSTELLATION (CV-64) and USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN-72) conducting innovative heat stress research and analysis while the ships were operating in the Persian Gulf.
He was then assigned to the staff of the Commanding General, 3rd Force Service Support Group (FSSG), III Marine Expeditionary Force, Fleet Marine Force (FMF) Okinawa, Japan, as the Officer in Charge (OIC), Environmental and Safety Services, and deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Upon completion of his FMF tour, Commander Sokolowski was assigned as the Director of Ancillary Services, Naval Hospital, Keflavik, Iceland where he ultimately developed the base environmental compliance procedures to be followed during the final closure of the Naval Air Station, Keflavik.
In October 2006 he reported as the Senior Naval Officer and Senior Environmental Health Analyst to the National Center for Medical Intelligence, Fort Detrick, MD. In November 2007 Captain Sokolowski deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and served as the Chief, Operations Management Branch (OMB) Counterintelligence (CI), and Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Directorate, Deputy Chief of Staff Intelligence, Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I).
In April 2009 he transferred to Defense Intelligence Agency/J25-2, Executive Support Operation, Deputy Directorate for Intelligence Operations, Pentagon and served as the Team Chief for Advanced Technology & Logistics (AT&L) and Senior Intelligence Officer.
In July 2011 Captain Sokolowski was assigned to COMNAVEUR, COMNAVAF, COMSIXTH Fleet as the Force Deputy Surgeon and Senior Medical Planner.
Captain Sokolowski holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Health, specializing in Industrial Hygiene from Colorado State University, a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.
Captain Sokolowski’s personal awards include the Legion of Merit Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards), Navy Commendation Medal (3 awards), Navy Achievement Medal, Fleet Marine Force Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal and various unit and campaign awards.