Son of Raymond Smego Jr. and Cori Roth, I was born in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1978. Forunately, or unfortunately, I traveled and moved a lot thoughout my life. We left Greenwich in 1980 and made short moves to Durham, North Carolina and Baltimore, Maryland before finding ourselves halfway around the world…literally. I’ll never forget the day we arrived in Karachi, Pakistan. It was early in the morning around 4:30 AM. The airport was packed with millions of white-clothed people returning from the Haj, the Muslim trek to Mecca. An overwhelming site for a seven year old.I went to school at the Karachi American School and the Lahore American School. Both neat schools that had students from around the world.

We traveled all over the country in our two and a half years there. My most vivid memories were of the refugee camps at the Khyber Pass, the passage that connects the northern frontier of Pakistan with Afghanistan, and of the wildly ornate buses that zipped around town.

After leaving Pakistan, our next stop was Albany, NY. Nothing special. Cold, snowy and gray. I was happy that our stay was short, although I have fond memories of my grandparents, Lois and Ray Sr.. My grandfather passed away in 2004, so I’m glad I have the memories of playing catch with him. I also have great memories of traveling with my dad. We ventured through China and Hong Kong for several weeks boating up and down the Yellow and Li Rivers, checking out Victorias Peak, walking the streets of downtown Shanghai.

After another brief move to Chapel Hill, NC, I finally landed in my real home. Morgantown, WV. A wonderful place with great scenery, people, buffalo wings and Mountaineer football. I finished up high school there and attended West Virginia University, where I met my wife Janelle. After my college days, I really had no clue what I wanted to do, so I got married and joined the Army.

Basic Training was interesting. I arrived in Fort Jackson, SC in late August, 2000, just in time to feel the heat of the the South Carolina summer. It wasn’t nearly as physically challenging as I had imagined. The hardest part was being away from family. Fourteen weeks dragged on forever. I met some great people and I will never forget having tear gas thrown at me over and over again…mostly because they gave me a broken gas mask.

After “graduating” basic training, I was sent to the US Army Intelligence school in Fort Huachuca, AZ, about 70 miles south of Tuscon and 10 miles north of the Mexican border. It was in the middle of nowhere, a desert surrounded by mountains with the strangest weather in the world. It would be 75 degrees and an hour later it would be 30 and snowing. Whacky. The base was situated in Sierra Vista, whose claim to fame was the first McDonalds drive thru. That was the most exciting thing in the town.

After completing my Army schooling, it was off to the National Security Agency in Maryland where I completed my service obligation of four years…..and that brings me to where I am today. I’m currently working as a software engineer for the Department of Defense and in my spare time I develop and run a small, but growing, internet development business. Janelle and I now have two kids, Tyler and Emma. It seems I(we) have finally settled down in Maryland, although someday I have the feeling we will be back in WV.

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