When Jeff Smith asked a group of third graders at Creekside Elementary School about the kinds of jobs you can find in the military, he got lots of interesting answers.
One third grader wanted to dive in submarines. Others wanted to be a pilot in a jet or helicopter or maybe even a cargo plane. Still others mentioned being a mechanic and driving a truck.
"For everything you think of in the civilian world there's someone who pretty much does that in the military. You name a job, you can probably have it in the military," Smith told the third graders.
Although the jobs may be similar, there's one thing that the military offers over a civilian job.
"Whatever job you do in the military, it is an essential part of keeping us and this country safe. And that brings me a lot of pride," Smith said.
As part of Creekside's Veterans Day observance, veterans like Smith were invited to talk about their military service. Smith, who works as a missile systems safety engineer for AMCOM Safety, also showed his class the different kinds of inert ordnance that are used as training devices at Redstone Arsenal.
Prior to AMCOM, Smith served 20 years in the Army. He began his military career in 1987 as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division and in 1990 he went to school to become an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician, later becoming an instructor at the EOD school. He spent the rest of his career as an EOD technician and was awarded the Master EOD badge. His military assignments took him to Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. He's also been to Honduras for a one-year demining mission on the Nicaraguan border, and to Sinai, Egypt with the Multi-National Force observers as part of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty.
"I worked with lots of different robots and wore a bomb suit all the time," Smith told the third graders. "We would find stuff out in the field and then get rid of it."
He emphasized the importance of teams when approaching problems and handling difficult situations.
"When you're in the military, it's about the person to the left and the person to the right. It's about being a team," he explained.
"But the Army is also good for teaching you skills so you can become an expert in your career field. In the Army, you can get an education and become a leader at the same time you are serving your country to protect our way of life. That's what it's all about. I had such a great experience in the military and I want to share that."
Today, Smith is the AMCOM Safety Engineer for the PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability-3) and PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missiles. Smith will be leading the Ground Safety Officer Team for the upcoming PAC-3 MSE Missile Flight Test at Reagan Test Site in the Kwajalein Atoll.
Smith's time in the classroom was about more than his service in the Army. He also talked to the students about patriotism, the first Veterans Day -- one student knew that it was first called Armistice Day -- and the meaning behind the words of the national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. Fifth grader Kensley Johns, a family friend of Smith's who attends school in Arab, sang the Star Spangled Banner for the students twice -- once as a soloist and a second time with the entire class singing with her.
"It was amazing how much this third grade class knew about Veterans Day," Smith said. "They were able to tell me what the national anthem meant to them. I was impressed at how much they knew."
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