Pride of the Pack: Tech. Sgt. Jason Smith

  • Published
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Tech. Sgt Jason Smith from the 8th Maintenance Squadron was selected as the 8th Fighter Wing's Pride of the Pack for the week of May 26. Each week, the 8th Fighter Wing commander recognizes one member of the Wolf Pack by awarding them with a Pride of the Pack certificate for their stellar commitment to excellence and superior mission accomplishment. Here is a letter from Sergeant Smith's commander explaining his achievements.

I highly recommend Tech. Sgt. Jason Smith from Weapons Standardization for the Pride of the Pack Award. Sergeant Smith is responsible for training, certification, and proficiency of more than 190 weapons technicians within the 8th Fighter Wing. He performs evaluations and monitors flight line weapons loading and maintenance operations, guaranteeing safe and reliable procedures are enforced for loading 19 different types of munitions. He also manages the accountability of the wings training munitions valued at $4 million. During the past 10 months, his outstanding instruction enabled the wing's load crew to achieve a superb 98 percent pass rate on more than 10,000 minimum proficiency requirement loads. He also significantly improved his section's training program by streamlining procedures for certifying 60 new weapons personnel, fully qualifying them as load crew members well within allotted time. Sergeant Smith's dedication to duty and positive attitude is reflected in his willingness to always pitch in where needed and continually put the mission first.

In addition to his regular duties, Sergeant Smith performed as Exercise Evaluation Team member for Exercise Beverly Midnight 08-01 starting the 8th Fighter Wing preparation efforts for the Operational Readiness Inspection in 2009. His team provided supervisory overview, which collectively inspected 22 F-16 aircraft and corrected deficiencies for those combat loaded aircraft. Prior to the exercise, his technical expertise and guidance assured trained and capable load crews were readily certified to perform safe, reliable and effective weapons loading supporting the 35th and 80th Aircraft Maintenance Unit's. Additionally, he volunteered 75 hours driving more than 250 people to the local orphanage preserving base and community ties for the next generation.

Sergeant Smith has not only excelled as an NCO, trainer, and inspector, but he also provides first-class service to 7th Air Force's Combat Cross-Servicing Program increasing the wing's understanding of our RoKAF allies. He has attended and graduated from F-4, F-5, and A-10 formal weapons courses providing "Outstanding" "Stage A" support to 48 scheduled allied aircraft. Finally, Sergeant Smith's leadership and invaluable technical expertise was evident in spinning-up the wing on the new AIM-9X missile system within a 24 hour notice. He coordinated logistics with various agencies to procure a missile trainer and devised a load training schedule within an hour. He trained four lead crews and 80 percent of 80th AMU load crews within three shifts to ensure full support for the next days flying schedule incorporating the new missile systems capabilities. Through his ingenuity and expertise, Sergeant Smith has dramatically improved the combat readiness of the 8 FW. Clearly, he would be an outstanding recipient of the Pride of the Pack Award.