Photo By Sgt. Maj. Shelia Fourman | Sgt. Christopher Schmiett, a Public Affairs Noncommissioned officer, assigned to the...... read more read more
I first met Schmiett when we conducted our first battlefield circulation of our units that are located on Bagram Airfield. The first thing I noticed was that Schmiett appeared to be a seasoned public affairs NCO who seemed to have been doing his job for years. He is good at what he does. As soon as the STB command team departed an aircraft or vehicle, he raced ahead approximately 50 meters to capture us enroute to our destination. His ability to capture myself and my battalion commander, Lt. Col. Robin-Desty Husted, interacting with our Soldiers at many locations, highlighting the importance of their missions, while his mission routinely goes under the radar.
He has covered numerous battlefield circulations in support of the STB, promotions, reenlistments, and other interactions with deployed Soldiers. Being that he has traveled all over the country of Afghanistan, I asked what his thoughts were on Soldiers being ready for their missions and how he viewed their morale. He responded with “Every Soldier that I have had interactions with have proven time and again that they are prepared for any situation that might arise. I have been particularly impressed with the National Guard units that I have interacted with. The morale of the Soldiers is always very high, and they are always very excited to see leadership for the higher headquarters.”
Additionally, Schmiett isn’t a “seasoned pro” when it comes to being a Public Affairs NCO. He’s only been doing this particular job for 3-months. Schmiett is a recent reclassification in this military occupation specialty, transferring from the Military Police Corps. When asked how he likes his current MOS compared to his previous one he stated, “I honestly believe that I have one of the best jobs in the Army. Every day I have a different mission, covering a different aspect of Army life. Constantly moving around keeps my life interesting and always keeps me on my toes. I don’t ever have a feeling that my life is on repeat and I feel as though that is rare in the Army. I loved being a military police officer, and I will always have the most upright respect for what those Soldiers have to deal with every day.”
Being that the PAO is typically the person behind the camera, I’d like to highlight just some of the areas in which Schmiett has contributed to keeping Family and friends back home abreast of what Soldiers are doing while they are deployed. When asked some of his deployment highlights so far Schmiett’s response was “Being able to travel with the different command teams is always very interesting. It is amazing to see them go to such great lengths to show appreciation for their Soldiers across the area of operation. I have also really enjoyed traveling to different locations by myself. It allows me to keep proving myself as a young journalist.
One event that I particularly enjoyed covering was the hard drop over Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan. I had originally traveled there to cover another event but, when that event was canceled I had to find something else to cover, and I just so happened to be introduced to the Soldiers that would be preparing the drop. I only graduated from the school house back in April, and two months later I am sitting on an airfield taking pictures of a plane dropping cargo boxes with parachutes attached to them, and that is something that I will always remember.”
Schmiett’s efforts are greatly appreciated, please see the attached photo’s of him in action. He would also like to thank Army Sgt.t Kazumi Miyata who introduced him to photography and really mentored him when he first got started and Army Master Sgt. Sheila Cooper for her mentorship.
| Date Taken: | 07.08.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 07.09.2017 05:40 |
| Story ID: | 240535 |
| Location: | AF |
| Hometown: | SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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