Matt Smith

Matt Smith is a Captain in the United States Marine Corps., where he currently serves as the United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon Commander.  As a Ground Intelligence Officer, he has served in a variety of duties over the course of two deployments. While deployed to Iraq, he served as the Battle Captain in the Joint Operations Center for the United States Forces Iraq J-3.  This rare opportunity as a Junior Officer to work at the strategic level of a multi-national force was a tremendous learning opportunity. Upon returning from Iraq, he served as the Scout Sniper Platoon Commander for 1st Battalion, 1st Marines and deployed on the 13thMarine Expeditionary Unit.  His platoon participated in numerous Theater Security Exercises where he led the training of multiple foreign military sniper units in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, and Australia.  He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Eastern Kentucky University and was a 2013 Future Leader with the Foreign Policy Initiative.  (This bio is current to when the participant joined FDD’s National Security Network.)