A noncommissioned officer assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group\u2019s support battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was killed in a shooting Wednesday, according to Army officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Staff Sgt. Jimmy Lee Smith III was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting in Raeford, North Carolina, according to an Army Special Operations Command release. The Hoke County Sheriff\u2019s Office is investigating Smith\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The soldier\u2019s friends, superiors and teammates shared their grief and memories of Smith in statements accompanying the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spc. Roenice Todd, a fellow member of the support battalion, mourned the loss of \u201ca mentor, a shoulder to cry on, a comedian at times, but most of all a great friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another friend, Staff Sgt. Michael Zapata, remembered Smith as setting \u201cthe example of what a paratrooper should be,\u201d and praised him for impacting \u201cthe lives of hundreds of other soldiers and paratroopers in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith\u2019s commander, Col. John Bishop, described him as \u201can outstanding culinary specialist\u201d and sought to comfort his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJimmy was a tremendous teammate and paratrooper,\u201d said Bishop. \u201c[But] more importantly, he was a great human being…Our thoughts, prayers, and condolences are with his loved ones, friends, and teammates through this incredibly difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the release, Smith enlisted in 2016 and previously served with the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea and the 82nd Airborne Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The staff sergeant deployed to Jordan in 2020 as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the release said. In addition to various service and campaign ribbons, Smith\u2019s awards and badges included five Army Commendation Medals, five Army Achievement Medals and jump wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith\u2019s death comes amid turmoil for the service\u2019s special operations forces. At least 13 members of the command are under criminal investigation for alleged drug activity and were detained and questioned earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Connecting Vets reported that the group\u2019s 1st Battalion recalled all of its troops for a mandatory drug test on Jan. 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The soldier died in Raeford, N.C. on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":86596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[100,23,92,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3376],"class_list":["post-49032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2GX7EIEZ7RCX7BCFLZ5BR5ZKGQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2023\/01\/20\/3rd-sf-group-soldier-killed-in-shooting\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n