Robert S. Smith email:  bo_smith@bellsouth.net   Last Updated: October 12, 2009

 My name is Bo Smith. After a 28 year career as a carrier naval aviator and naval officer, I retired July 31st, 1991.  The following week, I took my Professional Education and Earth Science Certification exams and began teaching in late September. I retired as an educator May, 2007, after teaching Earth/Space Science, Oceanography, and Environmental Science at the high school level for sixteen years and as an Earth Science Lab Instructor at the University of North Florida for about 5 years. During that period, I was fortunate to work with several space related extension activities; first with Florida State University's "Florida Explores'" satellite meteorology program, second as Program Manager and Instructor in the Florida Protein Crystals in Space Program where we were involved in three space shuttle launches and one Soyuz launch to the International Space Station and lastly as an Aerospace Education Mentor (AEM) for the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI).   For more professional information including websites associated with my educational extension activities, please click on my Professional Page link.

I was married in August, 2008 to Diana Hatten Groover.  We divide our time between the balmy humid climate in Jacksonville, Florida and the cool climate of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.  Diana and I purchased a cabin in Micaville, North Carolina in December, 2008.  Micaville is located between Burnsville in Yancey County and Spruce Pine in Mitchell County right in the middle of the Spruce Pine Mining District. For information about my wedding to Diana and and my five wonderful daughters; check out my Personal Page link.

I have been conducting research  on the geology and  mining history of the Sruce Pine Mining District for a couple of years now.  My initial intent was to write a book primarily on the geology and mining in the area.  But, as my research progressed and I interviewed numerous local miners, I learned that the culture of the area has been determined by many generations of families which have devoted themselves to working the land be it for mining, farming, or forrestry.  Their history and culture will play a major role in my book.  The target audience for my book is the tourist who comes to the area and needs a reference guide to learn about the geology of the area and how to visit local mine sites in addition or instead of just going to one of the "tourist mining" experiences.  For more information about my book project, check out the Spruce PIne Mining District link above (currently in work).

I attended Cornell University on a NROTC Scholarship and graduated in 1963 with a BA in Geology.  Following graduation, I attended Navy Jet Flight Training earning my "Wings of Gold" in February 1965.  I retired from the Navy in July, 1991 as a Captain after a 28 year career in the Navy.  I flew over 4000 hours in Navy carrier jet aircraft including over 900 carrier landings and completed  over 400 combat missions over North and South Vietnam in 1966, 1967, and 1972.  Highlights of my Navy career included: flying Vietnam combat missions in the A4 Skyhawk with my shipmates in the Navy's finest squadron, the Valions of Attack Squadron Fifteen; my second tour in VA-15 as Commanding Officer of an A7 carrier squadron which received the Battle "E" as the Navy's best light attack squadron; as Commanding Officer of VA-174, an A7 Fleet Replacement Squadron which provided training for pilots and maintenance personnel prior to assignemnt to their fleet squadron; as Executive Officer of an aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga CV-60; as Commanding Officer of the USS Austin LPD-4, an amphibious ship which included several "special operations" in the eastern Mediterreanean Sea; and as Operations Officer of Commander Fleet Air Western Pacific (COMFAIRWESTPAC) in Atsugi, Japan where I was in charge of coordinating opposition air forces for Seventh Fleet exercises and had a special assignment involving the initial planning for the Desert Storm air strike in the First Gulf War. If you interested in a chronology of my navy career, check out the "My Navy" section at the bottom of my  Personal Page.

"He who sacrifices freedom for security, deserves neither" Benjamin Franklin, 1775

Click HERE for 'High Flight'