 Patriot
Russell A. Smith’s military career began on May 23, 1980 when he
enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served in Company B, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine
Regiment, 1st Marine Division. His Army career began in June 1984 when he enlisted
in the Army National Guard. He was commissioned through ROTC on May 24, 1986. Patriot
Smith retired from active duty in the U.S. Army on August 30, 2006. He was promoted
to Lieutenant Colonel upon retirement. Patriot Smith taught in public schools for
four years. He joined MOPH in 2005 and is a member of Chapter 0568, Oklahoma. He
earned a Masters Degree in Education Administration at the University of Central
Oklahoma in 2009. Patriot Smith graduated from California State University, Sacramento
with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government in 1986. He graduated from Del Campo
High School in Sacramento, CA in June, 1979 where he was an honor student, and as
a swimmer, was 4 year Varsity Letterman, 4 year all- city, 4 year all-state, &
3 year All-American Swimmer. He was undefeated in league competition for four years.
Patriot Smith has served as a Fire Team Leader, Squad Leader, Platoon Sergeant,
Platoon Leader, Company Commander, & Battalion Commander. He has held numerous
staff positions including a tour on the Army National Guard Desert Storm After Action
Review Team at the Pentagon as a First Lieutenant. Shortly after, Patriot Smith
was assigned duties as a Congressional Actions Coordination Officer. In 1996, after
commanding a rifle company full-time in south central Los Angeles for two years,
he was reassigned to the Pentagon where he served in Department of the Army, Department
of Defense, and Joint Chiefs of Staff level staff assignments. In 1999 he assumed
duties as the Chief of Training, responsible for oversight of all training matters
effecting 16,000 California Army National Guardsmen. Patriot Smith also served as
the Director, Operations, Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security at Camp Roberts,
CA. Then-Major Smith volunteered to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom and deployed
on 22 October 2004. Then-Major Smith worked for the Project and Contracting Office,
Multi-National Force-Iraq. Baghdad, Iraq, where he was the project manager for the
Advanced First Responder Network, known as the 911 system for Iraq. Patriot Smith
was also the Liaison Officer to the 1st Cavalry Division and a certified pay agent
authorized to draw up to $1 million in American cash to pay Iraqi Contractors. He
was also the Liaison Officer to the Civilian Police Advisory Training Team. On Jan.
29, one day before the Iraqi elections, Patriot Smith was leaving the American Embassy
when a rocket crashed through the walls of the building and exploded. A Navy officer
and a civilian contractor were killed instantly, not 25 feet from Smith. "My roommate
was right next to me, not a scratch on him, except for a scraped knee -- and his
hearing was gone for a few days, like the rest of us," Smith recalled. "He thought
I was dead. He said I was face down, not moving, covered in blood, a leg attached
to a body part on top of me." As it turned out, the warhead of the rocket had exploded,
spewing deadly shrapnel as designed. But the rocket's fuselage was also supposed
to explode. The secondary blast didn't happen, a malfunction that surely saved Smith's
life, and the lives of many more soldiers and civilians. Amazingly, the men who
fired the rocket were captured with the help of a reconnaissance drone. The drone
not only filmed the attack, it followed the assailants back to a residence where
Special Operations soldiers later arrived to arrest them. In February 2005, then-Major
Smith was medically evacuated to Walter Reed Army Hospital and recovered from wounds
he received in action against the enemy while stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. He redeployed
from Operation Iraqi Freedom on 5 September 2005. Patriot Smith was promoted to
Lieutenant Colonel upon retirement. Patriot Smith’s military education includes
the Command & General Staff Officer Course, Combined Arms Staff Services School
(CAS3), the Armor Officer Advanced Course, the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Airborne
School, the U.S. Marine Corps Boot Camp, Infantry School, Marine Corps NCO Academy,
& Marine Corps Guerilla Warfare Course. Military Awards and Decorations include:
Combat Action Badge, Purple Heart Medal, Basic Parachutist Badge, Iraq Campaign
Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Meritorious
Unit Citation, NATO Training Mission Iraq Medal, and other federal awards and decorations.
Patriot Smith and his wife reside in Oklahoma City, OK & have two daughters.
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