For the last two years, Fort Gordon Command Sgt. Maj. Brent Smith has been a calming influence on post.
He exudes coolness despite the turmoil of a pandemic, massive construction projects and a long line of so-called experts who think they know how to run an Army base, his boss said Friday.
That calm is just what Col. Shaw Pick, an energetic Special Forces officer, needed on his last job in the Army, he told a crowd of Smith’s supporters Friday during a change of responsibility ceremony on Fort Gordon.
When Smith saw Pick about to lose it, he would whisper for Pick to put away his six shooters, Pick said. The advice helped Pick keep his cool, too.
“I can’t thank you enough for that,” Pick said.
Smith, 49, leaves the job as the garrison command’s highest-ranking enlisted soldier and turned over the job to Command Sgt. Maj. Aaron Rose. Smith will retire this summer after 30 years of service as a full-time soldier.
His background brought a unique experience to the Signal Corps. He started out as a medic and then became an enlisted nurse. He said studying the human body before he switched to computers and communications helped him realize a communications network was very similar to a human’s nervous system. The brain was like a computer processor. Blood and nerve signals flowed in similar ways to the 1s and 0s of a computer network, he said.
And just as he had a list of processes for checking the health of his patients when he was a nurse, he applied that vitals checklist to troubleshooting downed communications when he became an Army information technology specialist, or 25B. The dedication and detailed work garnered the attention of his superiors and he quickly rose through the enlisted ranks.
Smith said during his two years as the garrison command sergeant major he quickly learned “Sometimes when you have a passion for your job, you’re quick to respond and slow to think.”
But whenever he spoke, it was obvious he was taking his time to think things through and gave his boss good advice on how to keep the base running, despite the problems of a pandemic.
He thanked the garrison workers who take care of soldiers’ pay and housing. He thanked the base police force. He thanked the front office workers who troubleshot issues so he could concentrate on keeping the base running.
Smith said he has kept up with both his technology and medical certifications, so after he retires he can get a civilian job as a nurse or work in cyber. He might apply for a job with the city of Grovetown where he lives, he said.
But first he plans to take some long, leisurely rides on his three-wheel Can-Am Spyder motorcycle. He could ride with his oldest brother Juerga Smith, 59, of Monticello, Ark., who is also a motorcycle enthusiast and attended Friday’s ceremony to support his brother.
“Maybe,” Juerga Smith said after the ceremony. “I got a real motorcycle with two wheels.”
Five of Smith’s family members where there to see his send-off, including Juerga Smith’s daughter, Danielle Alexander, 39, of Birmingham, Ala.
“We are so proud of him,” Alexander said. “He comes from Waldo, Arkansas, a very small town of 1,500. And to see him get to this level is a testament to the community and his family.”
Joshua B. Good is a staff reporter covering Columbia County and military/veterans’ issues for The Augusta Press. Reach him at joshua@theaugustapress.com
