Taylor Smith of Westfield, a sergeant in the Army National Guard in Westover, has been recruited to attend West Point. (THE WESTFIELD NEWS SUBMITTED PHOTO)
WESTFIELD – Since graduating from Westfield High School in 2016, Taylor Smith has achieved a lot.
Having joined the Army National Guard three days after she turned 18 in her senior year, she has been full-time ever since, attaining the rank of sergeant. She has obtained her associate degrees in Spanish and Intelligence, and served in an intelligence unit in eastern Massachusetts, then two years in California and Arizona before returning to Westover in Chicopee.
Now, at 22, she has been recruited to attend West Point.
Smith said she received an email from a recruiter at the prestigious military academy last summer, saying they had been following her career in the National Guard, and had her scores from language school and the ASVAB –Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test. The email advised her if she applied to West Point, she would be accepted.
At the bottom of the email, was the statement, “This is not a scam,” and gave the name of the recruiter, a captain, saying she could look him up. Smith tried to look him up, but couldn’t find his name.
She called the West Point admission office, and asked them if the email was real. Smith said they sounded surprised, and responded, “Yes, of course it’s real.” Smith applied, was accepted quickly, and is slated to report at the end of June. She said she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Sergeant Taylor Smith of the Army National Guard. (THE WESTFIELD NEWS SUBMITTED PHOTO)
“I really like everything I’ve done in the military so far,” Smith said. She said her goal is to become a foreign area officer. She wants to turn both of her associate degrees into bachelor’s degrees, and obtain a bachelor’s in International Relations as well.
First, she will have to repeat basic training, having already undergone boot camp for the National Guard at Fort Sill. This summer, she said she will have to go through the West Point version. “At least I know what to expect,” Smith said.
She will also have to give up her rank as a sergeant, which she said “stings a little.” Twenty-two is the cut-off age, so Smith said she’s just making it. She feels, however, that having been in the army for a few years will be an advantage.
“I’ve already been through the training. I’m qualified with a rifle. I did the Best Warrior competition with my unit, which tests those basic soldier skills,” she said.
Smith said there are only about 50 prior service students who are going to West Point, out of a class of approximately 1,200. She said the rest are “brand new out of high school.”
Smith said the National Guard has been really supportive. “A lot of the non-commissioned officers helped me out writing recommendation letters,” as did her first sergeant in language school, and Mike Rowbotham, her track coach at Westfield High, who along with his wife Linda served in the U.S. Army for 20 years.
Taylor Smith, of Westfield displays a trophy alongside her team of coaches from Whitley Brothers Boxing in Holyoke in 2015. (THE WESTFIELD NEWS FILE PHOTO)
Smith is also an athlete, who played soccer her freshman and sophomore years at WHS until she injured her knee and couldn’t play anymore. At the time, she had been cross-training at Whitley Bros. Boxing in Holyoke, and her focus then shifted to boxing, where she won two Golden Gloves titles before she graduated.
Smith said she still trains in the ring although she hasn’t been competing, and she plans to box at West Point. “They mentioned it. I’m confident that I’ll be boxing for them next year,” she said.
Smith said she met a few of the West Point boxers at the Golden Gloves earlier this year, which she attended to support the Whitley boxers. She said the West Point team usually does pretty well, and competes in both the Western New England and New England Golden Gloves.
Now all that stands between Smith and her goals is boot camp.
“The only thing that’s a pain about basic training is not having contact with the outside world for two months. Then we’ll start classes in the fall,” she said.
