Get to Know Adam Smith, the Green Beret Leading North Carolina’s ‘Redneck Air Force’

SWANNANOA, N.C.—“They’re probably dead.”

That was the thought running through Adam Smith’s mind as he raced to find a way to save his 3-year-old daughter and her mother from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene.

Smith, a former U.S. Army Green Beret, spent 17 years conducting military operations around the globe in defense of his country.

He never expected to need those skills to save his family.

“I don’t think anything can prepare you for the thought of losing your child,” Smith told The Epoch Times on Oct. 26, exactly one month after Helene touched down as a Category 4 hurricane in Florida and barreled on toward the unsuspecting mountain communities of western North Carolina.

“Nobody really, truly understands the devastation that’s happened on the ground until you come and drive and see it,” Smith said. “There are towns that are literally gone, swept off the face of the earth.”

Helene claimed at least 102 lives in the Tar Heel State, including 43 in Buncombe County. In the hard-hit community of Swannanoa, clouds of dust still hover in the air as teams of volunteers work to clear the piles of debris.

Traveling through town on Highway 70, the wreckage from collapsed homes, businesses, and bridges paints an apocalyptic scene. But spray-painted among the ruins are messages of hope, strength, and endurance that speak to the resilience of the people who call this area home.

Smith knows something of resilience, having seen it in his daughter, ex-wife, and countless others he has helped through Savage Freedoms Relief Operations, an initiative he launched to assist those affected by Helene. And with the long road to recovery still ahead, that strength will be needed to ensure North Carolina’s hurting communities aren’t forgotten.

The Catalyst

At the Harley-Davidson dealership in Swannanoa, helicopters and military vehicles laden with supplies come and go.

The spot has become an operations center for Smith and his team as they conduct their relief missions.

The parking lot, once home to an array of motorcycles, is now a base camp lined with the trucks and tents of volunteers from across the country who have settled in for the long haul.

Smith glanced in the passenger side mirror of the van he and his fiancée, Taylor Knipp, converted into a makeshift home. He joked that he needed a shave, but the laughter soon faded from his eyes as he reflected on one of the most terrifying events of his life.

“This whole thing just happened organically. I mean, really, it happened from a selfish desire to save my daughter,” Smith said.

He and Knipp were driving home from Texas late on Sept. 26—the day Hurricane Helene made landfall—when he lost contact with his daughter and her mother. When he still couldn’t reach them the next morning, he began to worry.