Veterans History Project

The Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

The Veterans History Project is about gathering and preserving the stories of those people who have given so much of themselves while in military service to the United States of America. The subject of the interviews could have been at Omaha Beach on D-Day, or transporting underwater demolition teams to mine the harbors in Korea, or being in the brown water Navy in Viet Nam. This interview is about a Flight Nurse who has deployed to the Middle-Eastern Area of Operations six times.

The events on September 11th, 2001, caused this young person to pause and think of what had happened and how she could help in some way. Jodi L. Smith enlisted in the US Air Force as a flight medic. Her roots are from the Bridgeport, NE area. Prior to enlisting, she had trained and was certified as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). She joined the Wyoming Air National Guard and was a member the unit in Cheyenne, WY.

The members of the Air guard unit took it upon themselves to train new people about the fundamentals of Basic Training. They got the new members up to speed on the subjects the active duty people would be training them on making the bed, wear of the uniform, marching, customs and courtesies, drill and ceremonies, so that when the new enlistees arrived at Lackland Air Force Base for their initial phase of training, they would have essential knowledge of what to expect.

At this point in her life, Jodi is sort of senior to the usual enlistee. She has been alive a few years longer than the average new person in training. On arrival at Lackland, she became a mentor to most of the other females in this training unit. In 2002, the language used by trainers was quite a bit different than it is now...to say the least. Also, in 2002, there were large numbers of people who joined the armed services. The different branches had to push the new ones through and do the same again and again.

There were about 40 persons in her basic training flight. She obtained her uniforms – most of which fit. The females went one way and the males went to the barber shop. Her living place was on the third floor of a three story building. A nice view would be expected, but who had time to look. During the holiday season, the base received two ice storms. When the trainees had to get to the ground level quickly... getting there on ice was risky. Several times they fell in heaps of airmen.

Jodi was an E-3 when entering this training cycle. That rank made her a squad leader by default. Rank has its privileges and responsibilities, however, when one is six years older than most of the others, the inferences are there for her ability to help. She did her share of baby-sitting/counseling for the less mature members of her flight.

On graduation from basic training, the new airmen got eight hours off to leave the base. The training for medical personnel usually sends them to Fort Sam Houston or to Sheppard Air Force Base in west Texas. Since Jodi already was certified in the subjects, she was allowed to go home, but to return in a few weeks.

Training is sometimes a pipeline event...finish one phase, start another right away, then perhaps another. Since Jodi's training and experiences were different, she didn't enjoy all the pipeline experiences. Each time she returned for a different phase of training, she would have to start over with regard to people and trainers.

All told, with basic, advanced technical training, flight school and SEAR training it took upwards of eight months to reach proficiency. She returned to the Air Guard unit. Jodi made the decision to get into Nursing School in Rock Springs, WY. On her second day of classes, she was notified that the unit was deploying right away to assist with Hurricane Katrina. She put the school on hold, grabbed her gear and made it to Cheyenne in 5 hours.

The Wyoming Air National Guard in Cheyenne is an aeromedical evacuation squadron. Its members are ordered/directed to serve anywhere in the world. If the call sends them to Louisiana, or to Afghanistan they deploy.

In responding to Katrina, the medical units took over the airport. They did the triage and loaded patients there. Many patients were from nursing homes. At the time, the nursing homes maintained records of their patients on paper. When the hurricane hit and subsequent flooding occurred, the records on the patients were lost. Jodi said this was one of the hardest things she had to do because the flight nurses had little information to work with. Up to 53 patients were loaded onto racks of beds as high as they could stack them. By the grace of God, a physician from the nursing home was aboard and became an invaluable asset.

Patients were flown to other locations for safety and convenience. The crew/staff didn't know where they were going...that was the pilot's job. On arrival at an airfield, the back door of the plane was lowered becoming a ramp. Lots of ambulances and medical personnel were there to take over once the patients were off-loaded. Jodi estimated there were eight flights of this nature. After about a week, the squadron returned to Cheyenne.

Jodi went back to school and obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Nursing. Right away, she applied to become an officer in the Air Force. She received her commission and continued serving.

The cycle for deployment is 16 months. The members of the unit know this and prepare accordingly. If they deploy within the US, they become part of the "milk can run" which is an element in a chain of flights delivering the injured around the country. The air frame used was the KC-135 or the C-17 or the C-130's.

When the unit re-deployed to Cheyenne, the members resumed their regular jobs. On drill weekends, they were briefed about the situation in the various theaters of conflict around the world. This briefing is much more detailed and unbiased than the usual news broadcast.

An early deployment was to Iraq. The planes and personnel were actually in Doha, Qatar. That kept the planes secure. Again the "milk can run" was used, flying on C-130's into areas of war. The planes the unit was assigned to were from a different unit than the one this group was used to. After three months, they were told a "yellow-tail" C-130 was expected to arrive. That meant, the plane was from the Wyoming unit! The arranged a welcome ceremony at the tarmac. When the planes came to a stop, the front windows came open and the Wyoming flags came out! Aaah, Wyoming pilots and Wyoming planes (and a Husker flag as well!)

In her deployments and alerts, Jodi was exposed to much. Usual shifts were 24 hours on, 24 hours off. She did her part to treat the horrendous injuries and the usual ones. She saved many lives. Some, unfortunately, could not to be saved. Injured personnel were taken to Bagdad for the next level of treatment and if required, the injured were taken on to Germany, then to the US. At one point, mortars had blown up the Baghdad International Air Port (BIAP).

Jodi said that one of the patients whose very life they saved, found Jodi and others through Facebook. The grateful warrior (now a NYC police officer) connected with them, calling them his "Angels in the sky". Another warrior who had lost the lower portions of his legs came to Wyoming for a fly-fishing event. Jodi liked the re-connecting.

Jodi now works at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Cheyenne, WY. She worked in the emergency room at the VA. After many deployments, she had seen and worked on plenty of injured individuals. When she came back to the civilian world, working the night shift at the ER wasn't helping her. She obtained a change in position and was a coordinator for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom persons who returned to the Cheyenne VA for treatment.

When asked what awards/medals she had received, Jodi said that stuff wasn't important to her. She serves to take care of the injured, whoever comes on the plane for aid.

Captain Jodi Smith, you've done much for your Country in rendering such selfless service! Thank you!