Meet AO1 Micah Smith! She is currently a #RecruitDivisionCommander at the #Navy ‘s only #Bootcamp .
Smith is from #EastStLouis #Illinois , and came aboard as an undesignated airman. She needed a career path, wanted to travel, and college was financially out of reach. Initially, she wanted to become a culinary artist.
“I can’t even cook, but I wanted to come in as a CS. I came in right out of high school at 18.”
She did not become a CS, or Culinary Specialist, but instead became an #AviationOrdnanceman
When asked how she could sum up her rate, Smith responded with something many Sailors will hear in their memory, long after they leave the Navy.
“IYAOYAS.”
It wasn’t part of her plans, but she found something she needed in her new community.
“What really surprised me was the kind of brotherhood and sisterhood, the camaraderie, it’s just so grunt-like. AO’s, we stick together. I know even if I get out of the Navy, that will be there, and that’s what I enjoyed about it the most… It’s absolutely so fun, I do love it.”
Her first assignment was with VAQ-135, the #BlackRavens , out of #WhidbeyIsland #Washington .
“I hadn’t been anywhere. Washington was the farthest I’d ever been from home in my life. I was absolutely terrified going there. I hated it for the first few months, it’s just like the movie Twilight. Oh, it was so rainy and gloomy. I came to enjoy it. Seattle was an amazing city.”
Smith’s new career helped get her travelling, and see the world outside of her hometown.
“The Navy has definitely opened up my mind, from boot camp on. It’s opening my mind to different cultures, and to tell you the truth, to being friends with people outside my own race. I love it, getting immersed in different cultures, trying different food, understanding what other people do. You see [from your shipmates] the love they have for their culture and for the country that we serve.”
Now Smith prepares recruits with all that she’s learned, as an RDC.
“I want my recruits to look out for each other. I always tell them, ‘You’re not friends, you’re brothers and sisters.’ No matter what you do, being in the Navy, it’s rough. So you and everyone else is going to deal with something that’s emotional or mental health related. You won’t realize it, but you will need your Navy family to help push you through. My recruits will have each other’s back.”
Smith also feels that growing confidence in her recruits is important.
“[In the Navy], you realize that you really did just step into a career and you can’t leave it. That kept me optimistic… You recognize that you are the one that makes the culture and climate of a command. It made me become more independent, more assertive, and more in charge of myself. It made me take accountability for my career and myself.”
At home, Smith loves reading and taking care of her kids. And when she says her kids, she means her two snakes, Donut and Rambo.
#Hooyah AO1 Smith!
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