Leo W. Smith II
| Leo W. Smith II | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
March 13, 1936 Omaha, Nebraska |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1950s–1992 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands held | Vice Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Air Command |
Leo W. Smith II (born March 13, 1936) is a retired American Air Force lieutenant general whose last assignment was vice commander in chief, Strategic Air Command, headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. He assumed this position June 1, 1991 and served until June 1, 1992.
Smith was born March 13, 1936, in Omaha, Nebraska, and graduated from Dowling High School, Des Moines, Iowa, in 1954. He earned a bachelor of science degree in military engineering from the U.S. Military Academy in 1958 and a master of science degree in government from Southern Illinois University in 1971. He completed Squadron Officer School in 1962, Air Command and Staff College in 1972, Naval Command and Staff College as a distinguished graduate in 1973, and the Department of State Senior Seminar in Foreign Policy in 1977. He also attended Cornell University's Executive Development Program Course in 1979, and John F. Kennedy School of Government's Program for Senior Managers in Government in 1987.
After completing pilot training, nuclear weapons school, survival school and B-52 upgrade training, Smith was assigned to Loring Air Force Base, Maine, as a B-52G co-pilot. A volunteer for the Minuteman missile program, he completed missile training at Chanute Air Force Base, Ill., and was assigned to Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, in October 1962. While there he served as a deputy missile combat crew commander at squadron level and in the wing Standardization Division. In April 1965 he transferred to the 15th Air Force Missile Training and Standardization Division at March Air Force Base. Smith completed C-130 Hercules training at Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee, in July 1966 and then was assigned to the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing, Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan, as a co-pilot. He later served as aircraft commander.
Upon his return to the United States in September 1967, he was assigned to Strategic Air Command headquarters, initially as an operations planner on board the airborne command post, then as an air operations staff officer in the Future Concepts Aircraft Branch, and finally as chief of the Future Concepts Missile Branch.
After graduating from the Naval Command and Staff College in July 1973, he became military assistant to the deputy director for defense research and engineering, strategic and space systems, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington, D.C. Smith entered the Senior Seminar in Foreign Policy conducted by the State Department's Foreign Service Institute in September 1976 and, upon completion in June 1977, was assigned as chief of the Strategic Offensive Forces Division, Directorate of Plans, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. After an Air Staff reorganization, he became assistant deputy director for strategy, doctrine and long-range planning in June 1978. With the creation of a Deputy Directorate for Long Range Planning, he became chief of the Planning and Integration Division.
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