Colonel Richard A. Smith was commissioned an Infantry Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School, Class 3-57, 3 May 1957. His first duty assignment was as an Infantry Platoon Leader, Company K, U.S. Army Training Battalion, Fort Gordon, Georgia. | His duty assignments include: Commander, Company B, 1st Infantry Training Brigade, Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Army Aviator/Flight Instructor, Okinawa, Vietnam and Fort Rucker, Alabama; General Staff Officer/Aviator, Headquarters, U.S. Army Element Allied Land Forces South East Europe (ALFSEE), Izmir, Turkey; Commander, 125th Air Traffic Company, 1st Aviation Brigade, Vietnam; Commander, 14th Aviation Company, 15th Aviation Group, U.S. Army Europe; S-4, 15th Aviation Brigade, U.S. Army Europe; Executive Officer, 2d Brigade (Mechanized), 3d Infantry Division, Europe; Director Human Relations Center, U.S. Army Training Center (USATC); Commander, Infantry Training Battalion and Commander, Infantry Training Brigade, USATC, Fort Polk, Louisiana; Inspector General, Department of the Army Inspector General, Washington, D.C.; Director, Plans & Systems Analysis, Headquarters, U.S. Army Troop Support & Aviation Readiness Command, St. Louis, Missouri; DARCOM Aviation Officer, U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command, Alexandria, Virginia; Chief, Aviation & Safety  Office, U.S. Army Troop Support & Aviation Materiel Readiness Command & Headquarters, U.S. Army Aviation Research & Development Command, St. Louis, MO; Director, International Logistics, Headquarters, Aviation Systems Command, St. Louis, Missouri. | Colonel Smith subsequently retired from Lockheed Martin Corporation.