Hesperia man gets the call from

country

TERI FIGUEROA/Staff Writer

When David Smith’s superiors in the Navy reserve called him last week, they were low key.

"They said ‘Hey, get your paperwork up to speed, but it’s no big deal,’ " Smith said. "So I didn’t treat it like a big deal."

Two days later, they called again, this time at 10:30 p.m.

And this time they asked the Hesperia man to show up at March Air Force Base in the morning.

"When I got there, they shoved orders in my face saying you are active duty as of 7:30 a.m.," Smith said.

Smith, an officer with the Inland division of the California Highway Patrol, is — for the time being — assigned to "homeland" security detail at the Naval Weapons Station in Fallbrook, 45 minutes north of San Diego. He said two of his local reserve buddies also got the call for duty, including Alberto Ontiveros, an employee at the federal prison in Adelanto. Ontiveros will be stationed in Fresno.

After 15 years as a reservist, Smith — who spent six years active duty in the Navy — never really thought the call to action would come. "Like everybody else, I signed the dotted line knowing this could happen, but not really thinking that it would," Smith said. "I did it for the supplemental income and retirement. But I’m a military guy at heart. I’ve always been the red-white-and-blue type. "Three weeks ago, I never thought terrorists would ram airplanes into buildings. Now, we can’t sit back and think it won’t happen again." Smith’s wife, Lynne Smith, is scared, even though her husband will only be a few hours away. "There’s a lot of anxiety," Lynne Smith said. "He’s guarding bombs, for God’s sake. And they could change their minds and send him to Guam. It is so tense in this house right now." She is also worried about the money. During the first 180 days of his reserve duty, the CHP will cover the difference between his military pay and his regular CHP salary. "But after that, we are pretty much on our own," Lynne Smith frets. "We can’t survive on his Navy money."

The couple has four children: One daughter in college, one son getting married in December and two younger children at home. Lynne Smith said she is so worried that she has tried to contact local, state and federal politicians and "anybody who will stand still long enough to listen." Smith says he’s apprehensive about the "unknowns" in his life — and his family’s. His wife is having a tough time fighting bureaucratic red tape to get the family the things they qualify for, now that Smith is on active duty. "Take every bad DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) story you’ve heard and multiply it," Smith said. "My wife has had to fight tooth and nail to get anything out of them." But, despite all the anxieties, Smith said he’s proud to wear the uniform and serve his nation.