In Dakota “Akicita’ refers to the men who defend their tribe and family as a warrior, provider and protector.
To be associated with such a term is admittedly an honor for Lisa Marie ‘Sherman’ Smith. She confesses a profound respect for the culture, but she is not a man, nor Dakota, and so such an application is rare. Of course, Smith is no typical woman, which was why she has been asked to represent not only her own nation, but that of Upper Sioux’s, upon her deployment into the war-torn country of Afghanistan come this November.
One month after turning 23, the Granite Falls native and 2004 Yellow Medicine East graduate was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in the United States Army. As a Ch-47 Chinook Helicopter Crew Chief, she is one of approximately 10 women who serve in the U.S. Army in such a capacity.
There is a list of reasons answering why so few women inhabit the position of a Chinook crew member, but Smith summed up a fair degree of them noting that “you have to be smart, tall and strong.”
Standing plenty tall, quite strong and awfully smart, Sergeant Smith says that during her Korean tour as a Chinook crew member she was provided with considerable privilege. To give indication to what measure, Smith spoke of the airborne exercises in which she trained alongside the elite forces of both domestic and allied militaries, including the Army Rangers, Air Force Pararescue and Korean Special-Ops, before nonchalantly recalling her experience as an escort to the former President, George W. Bush as he made his way to last year’s G8 Summit held in Japan.
Always in the cards
Following high school it was not her intention to enlist into the Army until after she had completed college, but Smith confessed that she was not too surprised nor upset upon making the decision.
“I’ve been wanting to be in the Army forever,” said Smith, whose older sister Marie Whalen is an Army Transportation Captain.
“I mean, I used to go to school in BDUs,” or Battle Dress Uniform, she said.
As a Biology major, Smith had been attending college at Southwest Minnesota State University for two years before deciding that it was in her best interest to become ‘Army Strong’ and Army paid. Drawing max students loans so that she could purchase a car and live in the dorms, two years was all the time she needed to accumulate $45,000 of knee deep debt.
“I pretty much ran out of money. So I joined the Army for money and to go to school, and because I wanted to see a little more in life too,” she said.
By the summer of 2006 the YME graduate was no longer in BDUs to make a fashion statement, but as a requirement of Basic Training.
Smith underwent her initial Basic in Fort Jackson, South Carolina before completing 18 weeks of Chinook helicopter repair education at Fort Eustis, Virginia. There, she finished second in her class and received Honorable Mention, a feat that does not go unnoticed in the Army.
Not here for jokes
Out of the classroom, Smith continued to set her self apart while in the midst of her first tour of duty. Orders had taken her to the third most densely populated country in the world.
Scheduled to serve one year in the east Asian state of South Korea, it was six months in that Smith decided to increase the length of her tour to two years so to take full advantage of an opportunity viewed as too good to pass up.
“They were like: ‘this chick ... she’s not just here for jokes, she really wants to do her job.’” Smith said of her superiors. “And so they picked me up and put me in the flight unit.”
The lengthier stay allowed Smith a full education as a maintenance crew member in a flight unit, which she explained was preferred to the tamer ground based unit. As a crew member, she said that her duty was essentially to serve as an inflight mechanic that assisted in the navigation of the Chinook by acting as the pilot’s peripheral vision.
“As a crew chief, I maintain the helicopter,” she said. I’m not a pilot. I don’t wiggle sticks. Those pilots can only see in front of them, I see left, right and back ... Everything from the cockpit back, it’s mine – that’s what I do. “
Special forces
It was serving in the flight unit that Smith was able to work amongst the various special forces, and was afforded the opportunity to partake in most all of the training undertaken by helicopter crew chiefs who work in special operations units.
Smith recalled being a part of a number of exercises such as air assaults, paradrops, halos, hoisting and helocast – all involved different methods for picking up and dropping troops and/or supplies.
The Chinooks payload space, ability to hover and carrying capacity of 26,000 pounds while traveling at 155 mph allow for the wide range of deployment options.
One of the more interesting scenarios is the helocast. In this situation troops deploy alongside motorized Zodiac Rafts, referred to in slang as ‘Rubber Ducks,’ that are pushed out of the back of a Chinook as it hovers about 10 feet above the water. The pickup is even more intriguing as soldiers don’t even bother getting off the Duck, literally accelerating the watercraft up a ramp that hangs down at the rear of the helicopter as it hovers on the surface of the water.
Smith said that you can watch the helocast and most all of the other procedures she was involved over the internet with Youtube.
George W.
The call to escort the president was perhaps the most unexpected, and definitely one of the most nerve racking, events during her tour.
Smith recalled the intense dialogue before setting out for Japan.
“I got to work and they’re like, ‘pack your s***, we’re going tomorrow!’”
“I’m like, where are we going!?”
“Japan!”
“What are we doing?”
“Don’t worry about it!”
Smith’s thoughts raced as she said she couldn’t help but hypothesize that Japan had come under some sort of siege. Eventually crew member’s worries were allayed, but her state of excitement remained when she found out that the cause of commotion was because she would be acting as a protectorate for the president.
Carrying a load of special press and secret service, Smith was more enthused than panic stricken knowing that had the president’s HMX-I Blackhawk been attacked during the trip that her Chinook would have been utilized as a flying body guard.
Interestingly, she said it was the first time that a Chinook had left South Korea since the Korean War of the 1950s.
A quick week
In February the Granite Falls native returned to the States and was married to Kenneth Smith, whom she was enlisted alongside during the onset of her tour in South Korea. The two were married in Georgia, where the Sergeant is undergoing training at Hunter Army Airfield in preparation for Afghanistan.
This past week she returned home to Granite Falls and received a brief reprieve from her Army experience. Smith said that nowadays she sees her family maybe once a year and that this is a big reason why the taste of home was sweeter than ever, even in the early October cold.
“My mom is an awesome, awesome Army mom,” she said with emphasis so to make listeners understand: one can only imagine what it is like for Cheryl Johnson, who carries the prideful burden of two daughters who have chosen to serve their country.
Akicita
While a mother’s pride is unparalleled, a nod of respect from members of the Dakota was also of immense worth to the Sergeant. Smith’s connection and affinity for the tribe stems from her Godmother, Antoinette Ross, who took her to powwows and other tribal events as a youth.
Over the years, Smith said that she has maintained an interest in the culture and has grown her appreciation and knowledge, and is well aware of the historical injustices perpetrated upon the people. She singled out the Dakota’s great respect for nature and the cultural practice of applying importance and meaning to all aspects of life, as particular areas where she relates.
“I just really felt like I could identify with them,” she said.
And so it was of great importance to her when Upper Sioux Member at Large and Navy veteran Scott Larsen contacted Smith about representing the Upper Sioux Community while serving within Afghanistan.
Larsen said that Smith was asked to carry the flag because of the respectful manner that she has approached the tribe and because “she is an awesome woman.”
The sergeant says that she already has a place in mind for the flag, that it will adorn the expansive roof of her Chinook adjacent to the Stars and Stripes of America.
Together the two flags will represent the both sovereign nations that stand behind a single woman, warrior, provider and protector. A true Akicita in any language.
Granite Falls, Minn. —
