Lt. Gen. Donald Campbell Jr., then commander of the Army’s III Corps and the top man at Fort Hood in Texas, must have seen an opportunity for the entire Army when he released Staff Sgt. Colton Smith from duty to compete on a reality-television series.
And you can certainly see where Campbell was coming from. An Army Combatives instructor, Smith would be a walking, breathing advertisement for the fine men and women in uniform, a recruiting tool for other young people who might see the Army not just as a chance to serve their country but as a place to pick up some serious martial-arts skills.
Smith, fair or not, represented all of us in the military community. As an active duty soldier, he was there for himself and the nation’s Army.
He succeeded as an individual, without a doubt, winning the 16th season of The Ultimate Fighter and a UFC contract.
As a representative of our Army? I can’t help but feel he was a giant failure. Read on for five reasons why.