Ryan Smith

Hometown: Gadsden AL.
Affiliation: Alabama Army National Guard Veteran
Volunteer Captain - Poudre Fire Authority - Station 9

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Service Info:
Alabama Army National Guard 1991 - 1998
Military MOS: 19D - Calvary Scout / Parachutist
Poudre Fire Authority 9/11/2012 - Present
Captain Station 9 (Volunteer / Seasonal)

Ryan was born in Decatur GA in 1974 and spent his youth moving between Alabama and Georgia until his parents separated when him and his twin brother were 12 years old. He always considered Alabama home, as that was where his grandparents and aunts and uncles all lived and spent most of his school aged youth in Gadsden Alabama area.

In 1991, Ryan joined the Alabama Army National Guard and shipped to training in the summer of 1992 after high school. He served in the Guard and attended Gadsden State Community College for one year, then moved to the University of Alabama for his BS degree. During his time at Alabama, he attended a military science class in which the major of the Alabama ROTC found out Ryan was a NG soldier and asked if he would like to attend Airborne School at Fort Benning through the ROTC program (he accepted) but never joined the ROTC formally. After graduating Alabama in 1999, Ryan decided not to re-up in the NG and moved to New Mexico to get his MS degree at the University of New Mexico.

After Graduating the University of New Mexico in 2001 Ryan moved to Durango and helped start up a Utility GIS Consulting Company and built it from two people to employing approximately 19 employees. After two years in Durango and helping build a successful business the entire staff merged into an Engineering Consulting Business in Fort Collins in 2003 where he continued to build a profit center for many years and was a Principal Owner of the business, he has been on Fort Collins ever since. Ryan missed the comradery of service and the call to action, so once well established in FoCo he joined the Poudre Fire Authority (PFA) in 2012 as a firefight I, Hazmat Opps and EMT.
Ryan is an avid runner and very involved in the running community, finishing multiple marathons and a handful of ultras. He also enjoys mountain biking, rucking, paddle boarding, camping and just about anything outside and recently bought a vacation tiny-house in Alabama near the gulf and is getting more and more into saltwater fishing.
Ryan has been involved with Health4Heroes for many years and last year decided to bring more formality to helping the organization as a volunteer as the assistant FoCo chapter captain, moving to the chapter captain this year. He enjoys the community and the members that the organization supports and has made lasting ties to fellow veterans and first responders through the local events and commitment to fitness that H4H's provides. The community and ability to learn from others and experience new challenges together is a very rewarding part of being a member and leader in the H4H's community.