“Always Ready:" Soldier places first in singles event

Photo By Sgt. Melissa Lessard | Staff Sgt. Allan Smith, 504th Military Intelligence Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas, presents his awards for placing 1st place during the All Army Bowling Singles event May 14, 2018. Smith has been bowling for 33 years. (U.S. Photo illustration by Sgt. Melissa N. Lessard)  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

05.22.2018

Story by Sgt. Melissa Lessard 

504th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade

(FORT HOOD, Texas, May 22, 2018)—A soldier from the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 504th Military Intelligence Brigade placed 1st in the All Army Bowling Championship singles event hosted at Fort Lee, Virginia April 16, 2018.
Staff. Sgt. Allan Smith, an information systems analyst with the 504th also placed second in the All Events category. “I missed first place by six pins,” he said. “After all the games of the tournament, it came down to the last frame of the last game. I needed two strikes in the last frame to win it all. But I am happy with how I did.”
Smith has been bowling since he was the age of six, he said. He did not start taking it seriously until he was the age of 15. His family members are also bowlers. His mother is in the Hall of Fame in Houston, Texas.
Smith has competed in seven different tournaments since he started with the U.S. Army, he said. He has been to Fort Meade, Maryland; Fort. Bliss, Texas; Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida; Fort Lee, Virginia, Camp Pendleton, California; Sacramento, California; and Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
Getting onto the team is a process, he said. There is an application process. Individuals need to meet the requirements to be on the team. The top ten men and top ten women are chosen by the All Army Sports staff and respective Army Coaches. Then the top elected have to try out for the team. To qualify to make the team each member needs to bowl a total of 24 games over a two day period.
Master Sgt. Damian Codrington with the Material Field Team here tried out with Smith, said Codrington. They have been practicing together since reuniting on Fort Hood.
Smith said that Codrington and another Soldier worked together to help and coach each other to be the best they could be, he said. He also said his wife Marlys, who puts up with his bowling, is always ready to give him great advice.
“Shut up and throw the ball,” said Smith.
Smith said that this tournament was one of the hardest tournaments he has bowled, both mentally and physically.
“It is a lot of games in a short amount of time, and you bowl on a different lane condition every six games,” he said. “So, for me, it came down to trying to keep myself in the now. What that means is that the frame that I am in, the shot that I am taking at the time, is the only thing that matters.”
He said that the score, position, or lunch are not on his mind when he is taking a shot. Staying in the now enabled him to make the best shot he could at that time.
“The other part to my mental game was to forget, as much as I could, about what went wrong and only focus on the positive,” he said.
Smith said that this would be his last All Army Bowling event as he is retiring soon. He said that the team presented him with his retirement pin.
They were passing around a pin because another person was retiring, he said. He signed the pin. Little did he know that the team was passing another pin around, without his knowledge that would be presented to him. So, when his pin was given to him, he was surprised.
Smith will continue with bowling he said. He just finished a tour from the Netherlands for a tournament. This was part of a European tour. Smith said he finished 51st out of 300.
“I am going to take what I learned and apply it to my next tournament,” said Smith.

• Date Taken: 05.22.2018
• Date Posted: 05.22.2018 09:59
• Story ID: 277872
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US
• Hometown: LEAGUE CITY, TX, US