What does it mean to be a military kid anyway? According to Lucas Smith, age 12, it means “living in lots of different places and not having to do all the same old stuff all the time.” But, it also means, “making friends and then as soon as you make them, they are gone.” The military nomadic lifestyle is known to produce resilient and well-adjusted kids who thrive in many different environments. Lucas is one of the hundreds of military kids right here at Minot AFB who we are celebrating this April for Month of the Military Child.

In most ways, Lucas is just like any other middle schooler. He has an older brother, Jake, younger sister Emily, his parents, and dog Ruby to hang out with. He is a 7th grader at Memorial Middle School, plays percussion in the school band and loves to run long distances for his track team. When asked about what he likes to do in his free time, Lucas said that he really enjoys playing sports with his brother and friends in the Bubble on base- which he mentioned is way better than the Turf because it is so much bigger and cooler. But, when asked to describe what makes living on Minot AFB unique, he mentioned that he loves the amount of freedom he has on base riding his bike all over to see friends. He said, “Everything is so close and controlled by SF [Security Forces] so you don’t have to worry about being robbed.”

According to Lucas, his dad, an Active Duty military member, is the Commander of the 5th OSS. Lucas explained his dad’s job saying, “My dad oversees the operations of the flight line, the ATC tower and the alert facility. He also sits at his desk and signs a lot of papers.” Military families are often presented with opportunities that civilian families are not, and Lucas recalled a time when his family was stationed at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana and his dad had his final flight. “He got sprayed with a fire hydrant when he landed. I kinda felt bad for him.” He also recalled a time when his dad returned from an Al Udeid deployment. As a young child then, his memories were muddled with emotion and childhood haze, but he recalled holding signs and noticing that while he was happy to have his dad home, he also could tell his dad was a little sad to leave his friends and colleagues that he had spent months working alongside.

After two and three-quarters years here, Lucas and his family are set to leave Minot this summer for a new life elsewhere. But, Lucas remained steadfast that Minot AFB has been his best place to live and that being a military kid has been a great experience. In fact, Lucas even said he wanted to be a “WSO” when he grows up, which he explained was a navigator position in a Bomber. He said it was what his dad did and it sounded so cool that he wanted to be a part of it!

Thanks for being an awesome military kid Lucas! We salute you and your family!