Colonel Ronald E. Smith was commissioned an Infantry Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School in December of 1967. His first duty assignment was as a Mortar Platoon Leader, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. | His subsequent duty assignments include: Mortar Platoon Leader, Company B, 1st Battalion, 18th  Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, U.S. Army Pacific, Republic of Vietnam; Reconnaissance Platoon Leader, Company E, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, U.S. Army Pacific, Republic of Vietnam; Liaison Officer, 2d Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, U.S. Army Pacific, Republic of Vietnam; S-3 (Task Force Mead), 2d Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Republic of Vietnam; Commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Riley, Kansas; Commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas; S-3 Air, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas; Processing Operations Officer, 5091st U.S. Army Reception Station, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Commander, Company A, 5091st U.S. Army Reception Station, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Commander, Company C, 5091st U.S. Army Reception Station, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Military Personnel Officer, 84th Division (Training), Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Assistant G-3, 84th Division (Training), Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Training Management Officer, Headquarters, Forces Command, Fort McPherson, Georgia; Army General Staff Officer, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, The Pentagon; U.S. Army Reserve Program Analyst, Program Analysis and Evaluation Division Office; Chief, Army Reserve, The Pentagon; Acting Chief, Program Analysis and Evaluation Division Office, The Pentagon; Chief, Army Reserve, The Pentagon; and Chief, Program Analysis and Evaluation Division Office, Chief, Army Reserve, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.; Chief, Program Analysis and Evaluation Division, Office of the Chief, Army Reserve, The Pentagon, Washington D.C.