Col. Joe R. Smith holds up his Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award as his wife, Col. Harriet Smith, looks on. The Federal Aviation Administration award recognizes his 50 years of safe flying in the U.S. Air Force and in Civil Air Patrol.
Col. Joe R. Smith of Wichita Falls, Texas, is the latest Civil Air Patrol member to receive the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.
The Federal Aviation Administration bestows the honor — named for the fathers of motor-powered flight — to individuals “who have exhibited exemplary aviation expertise, distinguished professionalism, and steadfast commitment for at least 50 years of piloting experience in both piloting and supporting aviation operations.”
The Wright Brothers award is the agency’s highest honor, awarded to only 1% of the licensed pilots in the U.S. At its heart, the distinction honors safety and is given to pilots with a half-century without an FAA documented mishap. Smith, a former commander of CAP’s Southwest Region, the Texas Wing and the Oklahoma Wing, has been a pilot for nearly 51 years.
“I’m a little surprised, because I don’t feel like I’m that old,” Smith said with a laugh.
“We make jokes that there are old pilots and there are bold pilots. There are no old, bold pilots. So I’m officially classified as an old pilot now.”
Early Connections to CAP
Smith, a 1976 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, was bitten by the aviation bug as a youngster growing up in rural central Florida and watching the classic television show “12 O’clock High.” Little did he know at the time, but flying was in his family tree.
“Not until I started the application process [to the academy] did I find out that my dad was in the Army Air Corps during World War II,” Smith said. “He didn’t discuss that. So there was this little bit of a legacy there if you will. He was a gunner in bombers but did not go overseas. He was still in training when the war ended.”
Smith recalled a story his father related, about seeing burning ships that had been torpedoed by German U-boats off the Gulf Coast, a link to early CAP history.
These photos show the Smiths during their earliest days of flight – Joe (above) at Craig Air Force Base during Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training in 1977 and Harriet (below) in 1979 in the mountains of California, where a helmet was also a requirement for safe Civil Air Patrol flying.
A 20-Year Career in the Air Force
Smith’s first flight was to Colorado Springs to enter the Air Force Academy as part of its last all-male class to graduate before the first women arrived in the Class of 1980. He was also part of the Air Force’s last Undergraduate Pilot Training Class at Craig Air Force Base in Selma, Alabama, before the installation closed. A sister UPT class 77-08 at Williams AFB, decommissioned in 1993, was the first to admit female pilots.
“I consider those important milestones for the Air Force,” he said.
Smith has more than 4,400 hours of flight time to his credit, most of it in the Air Force in part flying KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft, specifically supporting the SR-71 reconnaissance planes. His first stop was at Beale AFB, California.
“It was really cool, We’d get up there in refueling with them, always with a two-ship formation of tankers. We had a subsonic and a supersonic rendezvous. The ‘SR’ was supersonic, not us. We’d gradually accelerate and we’d be going as fast as we could and [the SR-71] would still be struggling to fly that slow.”
‘A Great Partnership’
The California stop was the best of his deployments. That’s where he met his future wife, CAP Col. Harriet Smith, at the time a CAP squadron commander. She followed him to Columbus AFB, Mississippi, where he served as an instructor pilot and the couple married. It was the beginning of “a great partnership.”
Col. Harriet Smith currently serves as the Southwest Region deputy commander.
“That was the best part of my assignments,” he said.
“I couldn’t be more proud. [Joe] gives a lot of his time and effort and attention to detail to flying safely. To be recognized for this award, you have to live long enough, and you can’t mess up. Attention to detail and safety has brought him to this point.”
Both Smiths received a pin for the honor, along with Joe Smith’s plaque. Family plays a role in the award.
“I had tears in my eyes when I pinned it on him,” she said.
Then-Air Force Capt. Joe R. Smith and wife Harriet, pictured during his service as an Air Force instructor pilot at Columbus AFB in 1984.
The couple’s shared love of aviation has strengthened their almost 44-year marriage.
“He’s more than just my wing man; he’s my husband,” she said. “We trust each other with our lives, physically and emotionally. Flying is physical, emotional and mental, both on the ground and in the air.”
Along with stateside duty, Smith served 18 30-day deployments to Okinawa and 12 30-day deployments to RAF Mildenhall, England.
His work as an instructor would define his CAP and civilian service. As one of his many CAP roles, he has been an instructor to cadets and adult future pilots. The couple is active in the Rio del Fiero Composite Squadron.
Harriet Smith has had a distinguished CAP career since joining as a cadet in the 1970s.
Col. Joe R. Smith is a Civil Air Patrol mission pilot, but he says his favorite role is as an instructor pilot. Here he prepares to take CAP cadets on an orientation flight.
‘The Light Bulb Comes On’
Col. Joe Smith was surprised at the joy he found as an instructor. He described that special moment that every instructor — and seemingly every pilot — loves. It ranges from orientation rides to check rides.
“The light bulb comes on,” he said. “[The instructor] is not totally responsible for that. The student is so much in charge of how quickly they learn and how well they learn. We’re mentors and guides more than instructors, sometimes.”
For Col. Joe Smith, there is a cardinal lesson for new pilots: professionalism.
“That’s one of the things I emphasize with our general aviation, military, and airline pilots, but especially to our instructor pilots and check pilots, to make sure we’re emphasizing that in our pilot force. That’s one thing that [CAP National Commander Emeritus Maj. Gen.] Mark Smith emphasized. Make good decisions. Think about risk management. Don’t do stupid stuff.”
Joe Smith serves as CAP’s Southwest Region assistant director of safety and its standardization and evaluation officer.
For Civil Air Patrol Cols. Joe R. and Harriet Smith, flying has been a life-long endeavor. Here, as they often do, the couple shares the front seat of a CAP aircraft.
A Rewarding Journey of Flight
He reflected on the FAA award.
“I got to fly for 50 years because it’s always what I wanted to do,” he said. “But it’s because I’m participating with those other people — in particular, our CAP volunteers — that is what’s made it rewarding and has made it something I continue to want to do. “
He added, “It’s been a wonderful journey. But that wonderful journey is because I got to experience it with professionals in the USAF and professionals in CAP that has made that a rewarding journey.”
Use Your Skills in Civil Air Patrol
Civil Air Patrol’s adult ranks consist of volunteers from all backgrounds, like Cols. Joe R. and Harriet Smith.
Their flying and mentoring skills in CAP — the official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force — provides senior members and cadets in Texas and the Southwest Region with hands-on training, mentorship, and service opportunities in support of emergency services and disaster relief nationwide.
To learn more about membership and to find your local unit, visit gocivilairpatrol.com.
