As a 24-year-old, Smith enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1987. After completing his basic training in San Diego, he headed to Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, where he served as an infantryman in the First Battalion, Third Marine Regiment.

“My grandpa and my dad were in the Army and I always liked the military, so I just decided to join the ranks,” Smith said.

Over the next four years, Smith spent time in Korea and the Philippines, as well as in Kuwait during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.

“It was pretty crazy and pretty hot,” he said.

-Submitted photo
Mike Smith, of Fort Dodge, is pictured in former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s palace while deployed with the U.S. Army Reserves in 2010.

After his enlistment was up, Smith returned to Fort Dodge and started working at United States Gypsum. Inspired by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, he decided to don the uniform of his country once more and joined the U.S. Army Reserves.

Because Smith had already served in the Marines, he didn’t have to go through basic training again. Instead, he joined his unit, the 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, in Des Moines, where he served as military police.

Smith deployed to Iraq in 2010 and 2011 with the 103rd ESC.

“It was a lot different than Desert Shield and Desert Storm, but it was still pretty crazy,” he said. “We took a lot of incoming rockets and mortars on our base.”

While deployed, Smith worked on personal security missions as a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle (MRAP) driver, escorting VIPs throughout Iraq.

-Submitted photo
Mike Smith, of Fort Dodge, services his mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle while deployed in Iraq in 2010.

Smith eventually left the military one final time in 2013 because of the need for knee replacements, but he said he would have stayed serving if he could have. Now, he works at National Gypsum in Fort Dodge.

“This would have been my 20th year (total) if I was able to stay in,” he said.

Through his 11 years in uniform, both as a corporal in the Marines and as a staff sergeant in the Army Reserves, Smith feels he’s learned a lot.

“Wearing a uniform gives you a lot of pride,” he said. “It makes you appreciate the United States. Traveling in different parts of the world, you realize there’s nothing better than home. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”