Mike Jago qualifies as an expert in most things electrical or mechanical. Educationally, he’s one course short of being a rocket scientist.
But since retiring two years ago as the environmental flight chief at Columbus Air Force Base, he’s settled into the role of “miscellaneous repairman” for his friends, neighbors or those who find out about his skills through word-of-mouth.
“I was an aircraft mechanic, so it doesn’t bother me to fix the wiring on modern cars … or ATVs,” he said. “I’ve been called out to fix people’s tractors in the field. You name it. … If somebody doesn’t want to pay the shop fee, give me a call. I’ll take a crack at it. I can usually get them running again.”
When you can’t find him on a job, renovating a home to flip or troubleshooting an electrical problem at someone else’s home, Jago is probably at Camp Seminole, a property north of Starkville owned by the Natchez Trace Council of the Scouts, where he serves on a team of volunteers.
That role entails mowing, plumbing and equipment repair, grading roads and maintaining the camp’s five miles of trails.
Sometimes it means clearing trees that have fallen, are about to fall or have become an obstruction. Using a chainsaw on a Scout camp, though, requires a two-day safety course, which he fortunately completed.
“Otherwise you have to use a hand saw,” Jago said. “… I’m not sure how that’s safer.”
The 64-year-old Jago has spent most of his years around Scouting but only about two of them as a Scout himself.
He grew up in New Jersey, where his father – a jack-of-all trades for electrical and mechanical work – often did jobs for clients who went by “Fish” or “Tully.”
“If you’ve ever seen ‘The Sopranos,’ that was my people,” Jago said. “That was my upbringing. We were on the outside of that, looking in. … (My dad) always said, ‘No matter what you do, never give a favor or take a favor.’ Even if you do a favor for them, now you’re in. … You just couldn’t get rid of them after that.”
Jago joined the Scouts as a youngster, but as the fifth of 10 children, he said his mother pulled him out due to other commitments to the growing family.
Still, he kept volunteering with troops when he could, even as a youth non-member.
Jago joined the Air Force right out of high school, serving 22 years of active duty, first as a missile technician then as a mechanic for B-52s and B-1s. While stationed at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas, he transitioned into leading an environmental operations group that rewrote the Air Force manual on chemicals used in B-1 systems.
“When we started out, we had over 300 different chemicals,” he said. “We knocked it down to less than 50.”
Everywhere he went, he helped with Scouts, including after he arrived at CAFB as a civilian contractor in 2014.
When his son, Clayton, joined the Cub Scouts while the family was in Texas, Jago and his wife, Suzy, “went in big time.”
On their next stop in New Mexico, the couple led a pack of Scouts, growing it from just a handful to 107 members within a year.
“We went from dying to rockin,’” Jago said. “So that was a lot of fun.”
Clayton, now 28, became an Eagle Scout. Mike, along the way, was elected to the Order of the Arrow – another honor usually reserved for older scouts – due to his tireless volunteering with campsites.
Gary Smith, executive for the Pushmataha District of the Scouts – part of the Natchez Trace Council that covers north Mississippi – is happy to have folks like Jago around.
“He’s a tremendous amount of help,” Smith said. “… He’s pretty sure-footed and deliberate in all his actions. We appreciate all the work he and volunteers like him do for the Scouts and in the community.”
But Jago, who serves as a unit director and membership chair for the district, said more help is needed.
Many activities, such as water-based or shooting, require certified instructors. Scouts need people to run small events, help with archery, campouts or to simply get Scouts places.
“We’re always looking for people to be the ‘assistant’ something,” Jago said.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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