STATIONED … Pictured in the C-20G Aircraft when stationed in Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
By: Brianna Balogh
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevilagereporter.com
“I want to travel” was the one thing Lonnie Smith told his mother when enlisting. Raised in rural Edgerton, there were a limited number of opportunities for a graduating senior in 1982 without a car.
Enlisting in the Navy seemed like the best opportunity. Once arriving at the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) in Cleveland he quickly changed his mind.
Instead of an engine man, deep down in the ship, he overheard conversations about working on aircrafts and his focus then turned to the skies.
Enlisting in 1983, basic training began at NSGL Naval Station Great Lakes. From there he eventually would work his way through multiple bases, positions, and countries.
Starting training in Memphis Tennessee in hydraulics would lead to seven years as an AMH, Aviation Mechanic Hydraulics.
Over the next few years Mr. Smith was stationed in Virginia at the Naval Air Station Oceana, working on small attack planes used in Korea and Vietnam.
Also assisting in training exercises where his squadron would fly a banner for F14 pilots to shoot, resembling an in-air paintball game.
It was in 1987 when stationed in Glenview Illinois he reconnected and fell in love with his wife. He had met the Chicago native two years prior at a Wisconsin wedding but all it took was one zoo date for them to reconnect. Soon after they were wed in December of 1987 and the real adventure began.
Mr. Smith and his wife stayed in Illinois where he worked with DC9 cargo planes, able to hold cargo or up to 90 passengers if required. After two years, he volunteered and was trained for flight crew in Pensacola Florida.
“An Officer and a Gentleman, it was just like that” he recalled. They stayed until 1991 when he and his wife, at seven months pregnant, were transferred to Dallas Texas.
In Texas is where he worked his way up to load master. Eventually transferring in 1994 to Kaneohe Hawaii where he would be flight engineer to brand new C20 planes.
These planes were new to the Navy and were extremely fast and extremely expensive. They were the kind of planes commissioned for private celebrity flights. He logged over 1600 flight hours in just 3 1/2 years.
He finished his career out being stationed in Norfolk, Virginia from 1998 until 2003. His storied career has included multiple roles inside and outside the aircraft.
Starting out as an AHM he was responsible for everything hydraulic on the plane from wheels and brakes to the flight controls.
In Texas he served as loadmaster who configures the weight and balance settings for each flight. Eventually he became an instructor in that position and an instructor in flight engineering.
Every year he was responsible for the annual check ride proficiencies. On the ground he performed inspections, refueling, and maintenance.
He flew for 13 years as an aircrewman. He worked as a flight attendant, load master, load master instructor, flight engineer, and flight engineer instructor.
Throughout his career, Mr. Smith visited over 62 countries and islands, most of which would be hard to locate on the map. With a list of places and stories that could go on for days, he shared a few of the most memorable.
Skiing down the north side of Etna Mountain, the world’s most active stratovolcano, in Sicily as lava flowed down the east side only to learn that the ski resort was destroyed in the most recent eruption.
A double birthday for his son they spent on Wake Island crossing the international date line, his son insisting that meant he was an entire year older. Seeing a snow-covered mountain in Hawaii as surfers rode the waves below.
Flying west over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean as the entire Naval Armada sailed east towards the Med. He listed southern Turkey, Iceland, and Thailand as some of the most beautiful landscapes he has seen.
Landing on the Crown’s runway in England, a month’s detachment in Bahrain, seeing millions of Christmas Lights in Hong Kong, Buddha statues in Bangkok and Japan, Djibouti, Spain, Germany, Puerto Rico, Iceland, Uruguay, the list could go on and on. When asked if there was any place he would have liked to go, “I would’ve loved to have just touched feet in Russia.”
GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL … UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright pictured with Lonnie Smith and crew.
Not only did he travel to some amazing places, he also was responsible for the transportation of some particularly important people. One such person was Madeleine Albright, US ambassador to the UN at the time and later Secretary of State.
Flying from Hawaii to Japan, Korea, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, and the Philippines. After completion, the crew was called on again as the plane carrying the US ambassador received a bomb scare.
The crew transported and loaded all the luggage and people within 30 minutes to get the ambassador to Seoul safely for a secret flight back to the US. In his last big flight, he transported the president of Moldova, a small country bordering Ukraine approximately the size of Maryland, from Norfolk to Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina.
The national guard from North Carolina volunteered to train Moldova troops in mountain and cold weather survival. As a show of gratitude, the president brought gifts of vodka to the base, more cases of vodka than luggage.
During RIMPAC, Rim of the Pacific Exercise a multinational maritime warfare exercise that takes place every two years in the Hawaiian Islands between several countries including the US, Japan, Canada, and Great Britain, he and several admirals and generals took a flight from Hawaii to Samoa to Sydney Australia where they stayed for a week.
One pilot even hiked the tallest peak in Australia and has continued that tradition by conquering the highest peaks on six of the seven continents.
A court martial trial took his crew into Diego Garcia, a small British island owned territory about 500 miles off the coast of Africa, where victims and defendants were flown in by his crew from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and the Kennedy aircraft carrier.
Travels were not always easy, and he faced some quite dangerous situations. Flying seal teams in and out of places that cannot be discussed.
He flew a handful of passengers into Turkey only to find out shortly after that the hotel they were staying at was bombed by terrorists. “St. Elmo’s Fire” where he was flying into the Philippines in the middle of a lightning storm.
The windshield being constructed of thin sheets of steel layered between acrylic combined with lightning generated electric sparks going across the aircraft like sparklers.
On another mission, a bird took out the plane engine which landed them in Mallorca for an additional month during the Spanish Regatta. And even pilots have to worry about deer running out on the runway.
On December 31st, 2002, he took his last flight, a two-hour training flight for check ride qualifications. Upon returning to the hanger, he was soaked with a fire hose.
‘Wetting Down’ is a tradition of cleansing you for retirement and is mostly reserved for officers. He felt beyond fortunate and grateful to have this honor bestowed upon him.
He had a retirement ceremony on 1/11/2003 and officially retired on 3/31/2003, logging over 5,000 flight hours and completing 100 detachments over his 20-year career.
After retiring, he became a semi-truck driver for a while until an injury resulted in a return to college. At 53, he attended Northwest State Community College, earning two degrees.
While waiting over a year to complete his mechanical engineering degree, he took classes to get a project management degree, resulting in receiving both degrees within six months of each other. He worked in this field for some time until his 2nd retirement.
Throughout his entire career, he could not have done it without his wife. “It’s a big deal to have someone strong with you,” he said.
He praised her for her constant support and ‘new places, new faces’ attitude. While on detachments, which could be two and a half up to six weeks, his wife took care of the home and family.
He could not be more grateful for the sacrifices she had to make. “She’s an unbelievable person, and after 37 years of marriage, I could not have asked for anyone better.”
Of all the souvenirs, hand painted fans, gold jewelry, toys and trinkets, the relationships he made with people are what he treasures the most.
He fondly reminisces on the comradery he felt with his small base in Hawaii often times the whole squadron partaking in beach volleyball games or outrigger canoe races.
He played softball for every unit he was stationed in over his 20 years of service and once even won the Illinois Military State softball tournament.
“When you are out there that many times to refuel and that many times to spend the night because of missions, you get to know people.”
Bases he regularly traveled to like Sicily Italy and Atsugi Japan felt like family. He recalls having a cheeseburger at the “Wagon Wheel” restaurant overlooking rice paddies in Phnom Phen, Cambodia and chatting with the owners, a Vietnam veteran who never returned to the US after active duty and his wife.
Travel looks quite different now for the twice retired proud father and grandfather. He often fills his day keeping up with the many activities of his 2 grown children and 5 grandchildren, one being an active-duty service member.
His travels will soon take him to Sycamore, Ohio to the football playoff game where he will watch his grandson play, Go Bulldogs! “I came to the military to travel and by God I did,” the goal was more than accomplished.