Serving is a tradition

Serving in the military has been a tradition in Sgt. Shawn Smith's family.

“This is something I have always wanted to do ... it's an obligation to serve,” said Smith, who lives in Fallon working for CC Communications as a technician troubleshooting fiber optics lines.

Smith grew up in Reno and then Sparks, graduating from Reed High School in 1996. He has lived in Fallon for more than three years.

While this is his first deployment, Smith primarily replaces or repairs the sheet metal on the Chinook CH47D helicopters that the aviation unit flies out of FOB Shank. Smith had been assigned to day shift, but in mid-November, he switched to the nights.

“In essence, I do a lot of aircraft structural work on all helicopters … the Chinooks, the Apaches and so on,” he said. “I replace panels that have been damaged, and it definitely has been busy here.”

For Smith, though, his mission keeps him in a hangar for most of his shift and he hasn't been able to fly too many times while in Afghanistan; nevertheless, Smith said the deployment has provided him invaluable experience.

“I have learned a lot from this deployment. There are a lot of challenges and opportunities to do what you want to do,” he said.

Smith said his wife and children had mixed feelings about him leaving on deployment, but for the most part, he said they were “all on on board.”

“That's part of what we do, that's part of military life,” he said about deployments.

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