Mullikin received three unanimous confirmations in run-up to new post
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Dr. Tom Mullikin – acclaimed global expedition leader, attorney, university professor, retired two-star military commander, and founding chair of the S.C. Floodwater Commission – began his first full day in office as DIRECTOR of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), Monday Feb. 10 following his unanimous confirmation by the S.C. Senate, Wednesday, Feb 5.
Mullikin’s Senate confirmation last week was immediately followed by his taking the oath of office: His swearing-in conducted by Senate President Thomas Alexander and attended by Mullikin’s wife Virginia Ann Mullikin and S.C. Governor Henry McMaster.
“The Department of Natural Resources has a strong and exceptional leader in Tom Mullikin,” said McMaster in an official statement released after Mullikin’s afternoon swearing-in. “His expertise in environmental law and policy, combined with his proven leadership as chairman of the S.C. Floodwater Commission, makes him uniquely qualified for this role. I look forward to working with Mr. Mullikin as we continue our efforts to protect and preserve our natural resources.”
Senator Alexander agrees.
“Dr. Tom Mullikin is superbly suited for the directorship of SCDNR,” said Alexander during a phone interview Thursday. “I say this in all earnestness, not only because of Tom’s background but because of the depth of his experience as demonstrated over many decades.”
Alexander added: “I have every confidence in his [Mullikin’s] ability to direct and guide the progression of this agency and to protect our sterling natural resources – and teach our citizens to better appreciate and respect those same natural resources – and to manage them in such a way that they will be enjoyed and utilized by our citizens for generations to come.”
Mullikin was easily everyone’s choice from the beginning and throughout the months-long conception, consideration, vetting, and confirmation process.
Gov. McMaster, who previously selected Mullikin to chair the newly established S.C. Floodwater Commission in 2018 (following Mullikin’s retirement as two-star commanding general of the S.C. State Guard), picked Mullikin weeks ago to direct SCDNR beginning in 2025. Then in November 2024, the seven-member South Carolina Natural Resources Board convened and unanimously approved Mullikin as the next SCDNR director. This approval was followed in late January by the Senate Fish, Game, and Forestry Committee’s unanimous confirmation attended by a standing room only gathering of family, friends, supporters, and lawmakers. The Committee’s unanimous confirmation was followed by last week’s unanimous Senate confirmation.
“They say three’s a charm,” said Col. Steve Vitali, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), who has served as operations officer in the National Security Task Force of the Mullikin-led S.C. Floodwater Commission. “Tom is unquestionably the perfect fit for this post. He’s not only passionate about the outdoors and in involving all of South Carolina’s citizens in their natural world and the necessity of protecting it, but he’s an accomplished sportsman who has long advocated for the preservation of S.C.’s wilderness areas and game-management lands.”
Vitali adds: “He also has a distinguished albeit unique military background: He is a gifted and qualified leader whose keen intellect and impeccable character have enabled his success as both a U.S. Army officer and a certified Army master fitness trainer, but he particularly distinguished himself as commanding general of the S.C. State Guard where he implemented a rigorous training methodology.”
As SCDNR director, Mullikin will lead a critically important state agency employing more than 1,100 men and women working across the state’s 46 counties. According to the department’s website, those employees include technicians, biologists, law enforcement officers (game wardens), educators, scientists, and administrators.
“Tom is an excellent selection for this most important position of SCDNR director,” said Dr. Geoff Scott a former NOAA research facility director who today serves as clinical professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina. “His vast knowledge as a conservationist as well as his keen understanding of the importance of S.C.s natural resources will mesh well with the scientists, researchers and conservation officers within SCDNR to continue their tradition of conserving and protecting South Carolina’s natural resources. Tom will also continue the superb tradition of outstanding leadership within the agency provided by the previous SCDNR directors over the past 50 years or so.”
Executive leadership is not new to Mullikin, though this will be his first cabinet-level directorship. Mullikin’s work, locally, nationally, and internationally – from collaborative efforts between the UN and the ABA to building projects in Fiji, National Geographic “expert” work in Alaska, to classroom instruction in the Galapagos – is renowned; though he is perhaps best known for his leadership of the annual SOUTH CAROLINA SEVEN (SC7) Expedition from the mountains to sea, and his overall command of numerous arduous expeditions to every continent on Earth, climbing four of the world’s Seven Great Summits, and leading SCUBA-diving excursions in all Earth’s five oceans, many seas, and other remote waterways.
Retired U.S. Marine Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, once said: “Tom Mullikin, and those like him who have climbed many of the world’s great summits, is a model of perseverance.”
The late founder and first commanding officer of SEAL Team Six (aka DEVGRU) Richard Marcinko, once said: “Men like Tom are the kind of men who push the envelope beyond normal human endurance to achieve life’s great summits.”
A lifelong outdoorsman and sportsman – hunting, sport shooting, fishing, boating, and equestrian sports (a longtime supporter and now boardmember of the Camden, S.C.-based Carolina Cup Racing Association) – Mullikin is also a law enforcement leader and supporter who is a formerly certified S.C. State Constable, a special deputy with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD), and a former member of RCSD’s Waterborne Operations Team (Marine Patrol and Dive Team).
“Tom Mullikin is a great outdoorsman and protector of our natural resources,” said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott. “I have spent many hours in the outdoors with him hunting, fishing and hiking throughout our State and in Louisiana, Texas and Alaska.”
Mullikin is also an inductee in the Palmetto State’s most-elite “fight club,” the S.C. Black Belt Hall of Fame (SCBBHOF).
“Tom’s passion for the environment and the natural world around us is but one of the many reasons he’s the perfect choice to lead SCDNR going forward,” said Bruce Brutschy, a 10th-degree black belt and fellow inductee [with Mullikin] in the SCBBHOF. “He’s also one of our state’s champions when it comes to participation in and support of shooting sports, hunting, fishing, hiking, diving, and generally exploring the highways, byways, and waterways of the Palmetto State. I know these thing first-hand as I’ve participated with him in all for years. ”
According to Mullikin, it’s all been a proverbial labor of love.
“But there is so much more to do,” Mullikin said while ringing the bells for the Salvation Army in Camden this past December. “There is a huge conversation to be had for all of us, a lot of sunshine in front of us, and I’m eager to get started on all of it.”
Coincidentally, Mullikin and his Mullikin Law Firm set the record in Camden for the most money raised in a single day at any one location during the 2024 Christmas season.
