couldn't resist--Pinehurst to welcome another outstanding military retiree

Air Force General Lance L. Smith officially retired Friday, November 9^th and turned over the reins of the dual commands of NATO Allied Command Transformation and Joint Forces Command to Marine General James Mattis at an official ceremony aboard the carrier George Washington in Norfolk, VA. Among the notable officials honoring General Smith at both his retirement ceremony and the change of command were several who noted the general's choice of community for his retirement with more than a little wistful envy. At the retirement ceremony, both Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England and Air Force General Joseph Redden, Retired, suggested that Lance and Linda Smith have chosen well the location for their retirement and wished them well as they head for Pinehurst.

And later in the day, at the official change of command ceremony on the hangar deck of the Washington, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff referred to the Smiths' decision to relocate to Pinehurst, and take some time off to play a little golf as a "splendid idea" and wished them luck as they "teed up" their new life. The most interesting prediction for General Smith's retirement however, came from Italian Ambassador, Claudio Bisogniero, NATO Deputy Secretary General, when he said "...if the determination with which you have carried out your appointment as Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation is anything to judge by, then I would not be surprised at all to see you on the first tee at Pinehurst #2 when the US Open is played there in 2013."

The Smiths found their Pinehurst home with the assistance of Jill Ford of FrontGate Properties and are moving to Pinewild at the end of this month. The Pinehurst area has attracted the best of the best of military retirees for decades, and we are fortunate indeed that General and Mrs. (Lance and Linda) Smith have decided to do their part in the continuance of that tradition.