By Kaitlyn Rigdon
Staff Writer
After being deployed for over a year, Kyle Smith returned home to El Dorado for 22 days.
Smith’s yard received attention last week with signs stating “welcome home Kyle.”
Smith is a 2017 graduate of El Dorado High School, and was sworn in to the army on May 31st of last year. He went to boot camp in Georgia for four months, and on Sept. 26, left for El Paso, Texas.
Three weeks later, he was sent to Kuwait and then Syria.
Smith always knew he wanted to be in the army. “I had my doubts, but then it always came down to that,” he said.
He chose to be a tanker and currently drives a tank in the army … “The only manly branch there is,” he said with a smile.
El Paso was his first duty station (FDS) where he worked on tanks and made sure they were fixed. He said they would go out in a field and shoot them and maintain them.
“We worked on formation with other crews so that if we ever go to combat, we’re not out of formation, we’re prepared for it,” Smith said.
In October, he was sent to Kuwait, then was sent to Syria, where he spent five months. After that, he was sent back to Kuwait, where he finished is deployment.
In Syria, Smith guarded an airfield and said it was one of the only main United States airfields there.
In Kuwait, Smith said the weather was around 120 degrees during the day and felt like 100 at night. While in Syria, he said the weather was freezing. “It gets like 20 below out there and the wind is blowing,” he said, referring to Syria.
To stay awake while guarding, he said he drank a lot of energy drinks.
“During deployment, if you fell asleep on guard, you could almost get kicked out of the army,” he said.
He said the base had wifi and he was able to talk to his family every day while deployed.
While in Kuwait, Smith said it was like working a regular job. He worked 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with weekends off, “although sometimes that didn’t happen.”
On his off time, he would go to the gym, play video games or sleep.
He said that wasn’t the case while in Syria, and when he had time off, he slept most of the time.
His goal while being in the military is to “become airborne,” he said, referring to parachuting out of a plane.
“I want to be able to say that I’ve been airborne and have my airborne patch,” he added.
Smith said while visiting his mom’s work his junior year of high school, a recruiter approached him and handed Smith his business card.
“He came home that night and was like ‘it’s a sign,’” said Smith’s mother, Danna Smith.
The recruiter that approached him was SFC Applegate, but SSG Greene was his main recruiter, he said.
“They came to his high school graduation because he had already signed,” Danna Smith said. “That was really special. They did a good job and made me feel comfortable.”
While in El Dorado, Smith said he is spending time with is family and “just having a good time away from the army.”
Danna Smith said she and her mother visited Smith in El Paso last October before he left for Kuwait.
“It’s been a long nine months waiting for him,” she said. “We knew he was coming home and he actually surprised us all and came home a few days before he was supposed to.”
Danna Smith said she saw the idea for the yard signs on Facebook. She contacted Sandy Bond with the Sign Gypsies business, and asked if she could do a welcome home sign with American flags, to which Bond said she could order.
“I’m just so proud of him and I wanted everybody to know it too,” Danna Smith said. “She’ll come the night before and put them up in the yard. She said she travels like a gypsy in the night.
Smith said he goes back to El Paso today and stays there until he reenlists. He said they get two weeks leave during Christmas, so that he should be able to come back to El Dorado then.
“I’m behind him 100 percent,” Danna Smith said. “I always have been supportive of him and proud. He feel his duty is to serve his country and I couldn’t be more proud of him. There’s nothing like being an army mom.”
Smith said that if it was up to him, everyone would join the military at some point in their lives. “It’s all just mental,” he said. “The army is easy, it really is.”
The Sign Gypsies are on facebook at www.facebook.com/signgypsiesunion/ and provides custom lawn greetings for any occasion.