BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. –
The daughter of a Cottonwood, Calif. couple was recently selected as the 2007 Airman of the Year for her Air Force Reserve wing here. She also started the New Year with a promotion to staff sergeant.
Staff Sgt. Jacqueline Smoak, daughter of Randy and Rena Smoak, is a medical technician for the 940th Aerospace Medicine Flight, and part of the 940th Air Refueling Wing, a tenant unit at Beale AFB.
A 2001 graduate of Red Bluff High School, she has served nearly four years in the Air Force Reserve, and is the only full-time medical technician in the 940th. She helps keep wing Reservists ready to deploy in support of the Global War on Terror by making sure all their medical requirements are accomplished from month to month.
Sergeant Smoak said two events stood out as the most fulfilling of her time with the 940th AMDF: a group tour at Lackland AFB, and a deployment to Guam.
At Lackland, she was assigned to the emergency department at Wilford Hall Medical Center. "I took care of everyone, from basic military trainees to civilians living in the San Antonio area," she said.
In Guam, the Sergeant was assigned to the clinic on the flight line. "I was the only medical technician on that deployment from Beale. I worked with the in-place team to care for deployers," she said. "It was so rewarding to use my medical skills to help people."
During the once a month unit training assemblies at the 940th ARW, Sergeant Smoak works and visits with traditional Reservists she does not see every day. "What I enjoy most about those weekends is the camaraderie," she said. "It's nice when we can all come together."
In her spare time, Sergeant Smoak enjoys reading, watching movies and walking her dog, Lucca, a pound hound, as she describes him. She spends weekends that she is not on duty working at her parents' ranch, or taking short trips to places like Fort Bragg or Burney.
Sergeant Smoak is proud she is one third of a family military triumvirate. Her sister, Jessica Mathews and brother, David Smoak, are both on active duty in the U.S. Army.
Asked how she felt about winning the award, she had one word. "Ecstatic!"