UT Health East Texas surprises Air Force reservist with celebration

SMITH COUNTY, Texas ( KETK ) – UT Health East Texas held a surprise celebration to honor their EMS CEO John Smith on achieving the rank of Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force reserve.

Chief Master Sergeant is a rank that’s in the top one percent of everyone enlisted in the military.

“I was surprised,” said UT Health East Texas EMS CEO, John Smith. “I was surprised by all the people that where there. I kind of figured Tonya was up to something but I didn’t think it was on this scale.”

The celebration at the UT East Texas Health EMS was held with the help of the U.S. Air Force to show their joint support for Smith.

“That is the top 1 percent in all of the U.S. Air Force,” said Commander of the 307th Maintenance Squadron, Aaron Wolfe. “It is very competitive there’s very few slots, so you have to continue to grow yourself, put yourself out there and just climb to the top of the mountain.”

Wolfe told KETK that to achieve this rank requires a combination of leadership, skilled professional military education and outstanding performance.

Several people attending the event described Smith as humble.

“It’s an incredible honor to be promoted to there,” said Smith. “Knowing that it took a lot of people to help me get there, it’s not something that I’ve personally done, it’s a lot of mentors and a lot of community support. It means a lot to be entrusted to lead other people.”

Smith became emotional when talking about his family attending the celebration.

“To see them be part of this, it was great to see. I was glad to have them here,” Smith said.

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