Colonel Smith completed Marine Corps Officer Candidates School in 1973 and after graduation from the University of Texas at Austin in May 1974 was commissioned as a Marine Second Lieutenant. After completing The Basic School at Quantico Virginia, in December 1974 he was assigned as a Rifle Platoon Commander with an infantry battalion in Okinawa Japan. In May 1975 he participated in the raid on Koh Tang Island Cambodia to recover the SS Mayaguez and crew, the last combat operation of the war in southeast Asia. Continuing active service, his diverse assignments included command of infantry organizations at platoon, company, and battalion levels; Director, Drill Instructor School Parris Island; United Nations Peacekeeper, U.S. Military Observer Group Palestine; Commanding Officer, Officer Candidates School; and Director, Coalition and Special Warfare Center. His senior staff assignments at the Pentagon included serving on the staff of the Secretary of the Navy and at Headquarters Marine Corps. Having served for over thirty years in command of combat units supporting world-wide deployments, training organizations, and senior staff assignments, Colonel Smith retired from active service in 2004.
In 2004 he joined LMI, a not-for-profit chartered by the U. S. Government that assists both the U.S. and foreign governments. With LMI until 2019, he served in a variety of corporate roles to include the Director, International Programs; General Manager, Saudi Arabia; Regional Director, North Africa with on-site management responsibilities in Tripoli to assist the Government of Libya; and Program Manager for a year-long effort in Iraq to assist coalition force advisors develop logistics capacities of the Iraqi Security Force ministries. His other assignments included supporting the Department of State at the U.S. Embassy Kabul Afghanistan to develop plans for an enduring diplomatic presence, as the Lead Planner in Washington D.C. to develop interagency plans to re-establish a U.S. diplomatic footprint in Libya and supporting the United States Institute of Peace in a report to Congress.
Colonel Smith is a graduate of the Amphibious Warfare School, the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and a distinguished graduate of the Naval War College. He holds a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies, a Master of Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance. He is a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Military Officers Association of America, and a member of the Marine Corps Association.
He also currently serves as the Chairman, Board of Directors of the Young Marines, a nonprofit youth development program established in 1959 with units in 42 states, and on the advisory board of Piedmont Global, a language services company. In 2021 he was inducted into the Hall of Honor of J. Frank Dobie High School in Houston, Texas.