Episode 15 - Paul Smolchek (D1)

Paul lives in West Palm Beach Florida and has two children ages 24 and 17. He is getting ready to paddleboard 83 miles to raise money for Piper's Angels a non-profit that raises money to support families who have children living with Cystic Fibrosis. We chronicle his journey from recruited football player to cadet to Army Officer. Paul was originally planning to play football for Navy, but then fell in love with West Point during a recruiting visit. He received a nomination to go to Navy, but was accepted to West Point - it took some work to convince his local congressman to make the change. During the podcast we talk about several D1 classmates, and funny nicknames that inevitably get created during the time at West Point. His tac officer Captain Morgan was most notably referred to as "blinky" due to a nervous eye twitch. We had several other laughs including some funny ranger school stories.