Capt. Jay Smith has served the U.S. military for more than 25 years at sites as far away as Italy and Iran. However, he returned to his home state in July to become the new commanding officer of Marquette's Navy Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

Smith, a Janesville native, oversees a small staff that helps him run the Navy ROTC program. He also will teach a course for Navy ROTC seniors called Leadership and Ethics.

"I was offered the job on fairly short notice," he said. "It's hard to pass up. I was very excited about doing this."

Smith said he was stationed in Whitby Island, Wash., for about 20 years to start off his military career. He has also worked for the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon, as an air operations officer in Italy and on a one-year fellowship at Harvard College.

Most recently he served as the commander of the U.S. Naval Base in Bahrain, Iran.

Smith replaces Capt. Robert Wilde as the commanding officer. Smith serves at the liaison between the university and Navy ROTC, according to Elizabeth Lammers, battalion commander of Navy ROTC and a senior in the College of Nursing.

Smith said he hopes to increase diversity within Navy ROTC and "attract students to technical majors in science and engineering and… acquaint them with the options that are available in the Navy."

Lammers said Smith is in an "observational phase" in which he will offer suggestions but wait to make any significant changes to the Navy ROTC program.

Also new to Marquette this year is Lt. Col. Janet Keech, executive officer of NROTC. Keech will teach Leadership and Management, a sophomore Naval Science course which is usually taught by the commanding officer, Smith said. Keech will also serve as the adviser for the senior midshipmen who will go into the Navy.

"(Smith) came in at the same time as I did. He's been sitting back and watching how things are going so he can get a good idea," Keech said. "He's taking a lot of time with each of his staff to learn who they are and what their interests are."

Although Smith interacts chiefly with his staff, he also participates in weekly briefings with Lammers, who said the midshipmen have "a lot of confidence in him" and his professionalism.

"What people see in his concise way of speaking is that he knows exactly what he wants to say and he'll say it and that's it," Lammers said. "It's exciting for us because, with a change of command, sometimes you're a little wary about who might be next."

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 13, 2005.