Colonel Thomas Dale Smith was commissioned an Infantry officer upon graduation  from Officer Candidate School Class 512-68, 22 August 1968. His first duty assignment was an Infantry platoon leader, 2nd Infantry Division, Korea. | His subsequent duty assignments include: Commander, Mobil Advisory Team 32, Company Commander for the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Air Cavalry Division, Republic of Vietnam; Company Commander, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Aide-de-Camp to the Division Commander, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; S-3, 2nd Battalion, 325th Infantry, 82d Airborne Division, G-3 Operations Officer,82nd Airborne Division, J-3 Operations Officer of the Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Commander, 3rd Battalion 325th Infantry Airborne Combat Team, Vincenza, Italy;  J-3 of Special Operations Command –Central (Airborne) MacDill Air Force Base, Florida; Commander, Joint Special Operations Task Force, Mogadishu, Somalia. | At the time of his induction, Colonel Smith was a prosecuting attorney with the Felony Directorate Pinellas County, Florida.