Lance L. Smith

General Lance L. Smith

Lance L. Smith (born September 18, 1946 ) is a general in the US Air Force . From November 10, 2005 to November 9, 2007 he was Commander of the US Joint Forces Command ( JFCOM ) and thus also Supreme Allied Commander Transformation , who is responsible for the further development and adaptation of NATO's military capabilities . Smith retired in January 2008.

education

In 1969 Smith graduated from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business management . In 1978 he completed his Master of Arts in the same subject at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant . From 1981 to 1982 he attended Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama and two years later the Army War College .

Military career

After he had finished the officer school, he joined the US Air Force as a second lieutenant in 1970 and was trained as a first lieutenant on an A-1 “Skyraider” aircraft until 1972 . After he was trained as a flight instructor until 1973, he taught until 1977 as a captain in the 96th flight training squadron at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona . From 1977 to 1979 he was a staff officer in the Air Staff Training Program of the Deputy Staff Department Head of Personnel in the Ministry of Defense used and in 1978 became the Major transported.

After this first staff deployment, he was back in service from 1979 to 1981, because he now had to retrain for a new type of USAF aircraft, the A-7 "Corsair II" . After retraining, he served as a pilot, squad leader and assistant operations officer in the 76th Tactical Combat Squadron at England Air Force Base , Louisiana . After serving at Air Command and Staff College until 1982 , he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and reassigned to the Pentagon. This time, he served as the deputy chief of staff for planning and operations (G3), as chief of the air force component in the cross-armed forces division for assessment and initiatives and most recently as executive officer of the director of operations of the USAF. Until 1989, Smith served as chief of security and later as assistant deputy commander for operations in the 354th Tactical Combat Squadron at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base , South Carolina . After studying at Army War College , he was promoted to colonel in 1989 and was commander of the NATO school at the NATO headquarters SHAPE in Oberammergau from 1990 to 1992 . Then he was until 1993 first deputy commander, then commander of the 27th Combat Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico .

From 1993 to 1995, Smith served as Assistant Director of Operations at Air Combat Command Headquarters at Langley Air Force Base , Virginia . He was then appointed Brigadier General and again commanded a squadron, this time the 4th Combat Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina . From 1997 to 1998 he served as deputy commander of the 7th Air Force of the Pacific Air Forces , as chief of staff of the component command composed of forces of the South Koreans and the USAF at Osan Air Base in South Korea.

After this foreign assignment, Smith was promoted to Major General in 1998 and commanded Air War College until 1999 , was Deputy Commander of Air University at Maxwell AFB in Alabama and then until 2001 Commander of the US Air Force Doctrine Center at the same location.

From 2001 to 2003 he then took over the post of Deputy Commander of the United Nations Command (Korea) and the US Armed Forces in Korea , as well as once again command of the 7th Air Force of the Pacific Air Forces and of the component command (South Korea / US Air Force ). In 2002 he was promoted to Lieutenant General .

Smith giving a speech in 2007.

Before Smith took over the post of Commander of the US Joint Forces Command ( JFCOM ) and thus also that of Supreme Allied Commander Transformation in Norfolk from Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani on November 10, 2005 , he was Deputy Commander of the US Central Command from 2003 to 2005 at MacDill Air Force Base , Florida . Smith was promoted to general on November 7, 2005, three days before taking up his post as commander of JFCOM . On November 9, 2007, Smith transferred his post to James N. Mattis and retired in January 2008 after 38 years of service.

Smith has flown more than 165 air combat missions in Southeast and Southwest Asia in an A-1 “Skyraider” and an F-15E “Strike Eagle” . In total, he has over 3000 hours of flight experience in the following types: T-33, T-37, T-38 "Talon" , A-1 "Skyraider", A-7 "Corsair II" , A-10 "Thunderbolt II" , F-111F “Aardvark” , F-15E “Strike Eagle” and F-16 “Fighting Falcon” .