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    Adrian’s Alley

    RAF CROUGHTON, OXF, UNITED KINGDOM

    01.17.2017

    Story by Tech. Sgt. Jarad Denton 

    501st Combat Support Wing Public Affairs

    For more than 26 years, she has been serving Airmen on the base - in one job or another. Most recently, Smyth has worked at the Bowling Center as a cook.

    “I did various jobs on the base,” Smyth began. “I used to be a cleaner at the [Croughton] Crown, and then I was the operations assistant - which is like assistant manager there. Then I managed the place for awhile. Then I worked at the bank.”

    She paused, smiling mischievously.

    “Very, very boring,” she said. “Especially for a person like me, who likes to talk.”

    After only three months at the bank, Smyth said a position opened at the Bowling Center - which she immediately took.

    “They took me right then and there,” she said, mater-of-factly. “I mean who wouldn’t. This my cup of tea. I see everybody. I know everybody. I know what they eat, and I know a lot of their birthdays.”

    Smyth said getting to know all the Airmen who come to the bowling center has been one of the most rewarding joys of her career. However, she said the best days are yet to come.

    “I can tell you what will be the best day,” she said, laughing. “If they give me a Customer Service of the Year Award - because I deserve it, and I’m going to call the colonel.”

    Joking aside, Smyth said her best days are when the children come in for Christmas and Holiday parties.

    “I like children,” she said. “That’s why I do social work.”

    Not only is Smyth a mother and grandmother, but for the past decade she has fostered 28 children.

    “A lot of them still come and see me,” she said. “That’s the best - when they come back and I see they’re doing well. [They] come knocking on my door and say, ‘if it wasn’t for you.’”

    Smyth paused and rapped her knuckles against a nearby table.

    “I’m saying, ‘who the [infernal regions] is that,” she joked. “They know I have a doorbell. But, I look out and who do I see - one of them [darn] kids. I say, ‘aw, that’s nice.’”

    Her passion for service extends beyond her countless hours as a foster parent, and into her days at RAF Croughton. The secret, Smyth said, is graciously accepting everything in her life - good and bad.

    “You have a choice in life,” she said. “No matter what happens in your life, you can wake up and say, ‘ok, this happened to me, that happened to me,’ and let it affect you. Or you can say, ‘I’m not going to let it get me down, and there are people worse off than you.’”

    Smyth is no stranger to tragedy and difficult days. When her husband passed away a year and a half ago, she said her faith is what helped sustain her.

    “Everyone from base base knew who he was: James Smyth - Jimmy, they called him,” she said. “It was hard for me this Christmas. But, I’m a very spiritual person - so that helped a lot. Plus, there’s always somebody worse. At least I have a house to go to, I’ve got a job - at the Bowling Center, it’s fun!”

    She smiled again, thinking of the days where Airmen come in and see her working at the Bowling Center - of the numerous conversations over the years.

    “I talk to everybody,” Smyth said. “I tell them when you go off and party, be more responsible. I tell them it’s going to get back to me anyway - I hear everything. They feel comfortable telling me these things, and I tell them to be careful - don’t be stupid.”

    Although sometimes regarded as a motherly figure at RAF Croughton, Smyth said it’s only because she genuinely cares about the Airmen and families stationed here - which may at times seem like “tough love.”

    “I like people, but it’s a good thing I’m not their mother,” she said, grinning from ear-to-ear. “If I was their momma I’m whup them myself.”

    With a commitment to caring that goes far beyond the lanes, Smyth said she looks forward to all the changes coming to RAF Croughton within the next few years. She also, after already being recognized as a stellar performer during a wing inspection, expectantly looks forward to the coveted Customer Service of the Year Award.

    “I was recognized by the inspectors,” she said. “ So I said, ‘where’s my Customer Service Award?’ Not of the week, not of the month, of the year.”

    An award Smyth said she would attribute to her personal view of customer service.

    “It’s just me personality - it’s no real secret, either you have it or you don’t,” Smyth said. “Even if you go to school to try and learn skills like that, it comes down to your personality and whether or not you like people. I do.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 01.17.2017
    Date Posted: 01.31.2017 06:03
    Story ID: 221959
    Location: RAF CROUGHTON, OXF, GB

    Web Views: 36
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN