Culbertson native wins Air Force wings

Wednesday, July 2, 2014
2nd Lt. Allison Smith

CULBERTSON, Neb. -- A 2006 McCook High School co-valedictorian and college athlete has found her way into the cockpit of a giant Air Force tanker.

2nd Lt. Allison Smith helped her parents, Bob and Marie Smith, raise wheat on their Culbertson farm, and always had a drive to succeed, according to her father.

"We always accused her of being adopted," he joked.

She received an associate of science degree at Central Community College at Columbus, Neb., and went on to graduate summa cum laude with a bachelor of science in math from Missouri Western State University, carrying a 3.97 average on a volleyball scholarship.

She landed a civilian job as an operations research analyst for the U.S. Army at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, when, out of the blue, she made an announcement to her parents: She wanted to be an Air Force pilot.

"We never had any inkling," Bob said.

It wasn't a surprise, however, with Allison's academic and athletic record, that the military "snapped her up," Bob said.

After joining the Air Force, she graduated as a second lieutenant from Officer Training School in Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, on Oct. 23, 2012.

She began primary flight training on May 16, 2013 at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma, in the T-6A Texan II, and, after being selected for the airlift/tanker track, continued training in the T-1A Jayhawk.

As well as receiving her wings at Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training graduation ceremonies June 13, she and her parents were pleasantly surprised to see her receive the Academic Excellence Award for her class, missing only seven of more than 800 questions on all academic tests.

2nd Lt. Smith has been assigned to fly the KC-135R Stratotanker at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas.

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