Rear Admiral Phillip D. (P.D.) Smith, USN (Ret)

President, Association of Naval Aviation

ANA's Future

About Our Speaker for the January Meeting

P.D. Smith retired from the U.S. Navy as a Rear Admiral in July, 1993. During his Navy career he was a specialist in maritime patrol surveillance and anti-submarine warfare as well as political-military planning and strategy. He was a pilot, and commanded Patrol Squadron FORTY-FOUR in Brunswick, Maine, Patrol Wing TWO at Barbers Point, Hawaii, and the Patrol Wings of the U.S. Pacific Fleet from Moffett Field, California. In this latter capacity he was in charge of the 13 Navy maritime patrol squadrons stationed from California, through the Pacific region to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. From 1967-68 he was the Communications Officer aboard USS HANCOCK (CVA-19) and made two deployments to the Tonkin Gulf for operations in Vietnam.

Rear Admiral Smith was Director of Navy Strategy, Plans and Policy (OP-60) in the Pentagon from 1989 to 1991. His duties included representing the Navy's position to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His final active duty assignment was as the Director, Plans and Policy, U.S. Central Command. In that job he was involved in directing the draw-down of military forces in the Arabian Gulf Region following Operation Desert Storm. He traveled extensively in the Middle East and gained an insight into the customs and traditions of the region.
Following retirement, P.D. was a consultant to Lockheed Martin Aeronautsmiics Company in Marietta, Georgia from 1993-97, advising on the sale of maritime patrol aircraft to the Gulf Region. He joined the company full-time in late 1997 as the Director of Near East Business Development, directing a staff responsible for marketing in Greece, Turkey, Jordan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
In 1999 he became the Director of Maritime Requirements for the company. In that capacity he was responsible for the sales and marketing of LMAC built aircraft to naval forces. His staff marketed the P-3 Orion and S-3 Viking aircraft world-wide and the C-130J Hercules to the US Marine Corps and the US Coast Guard. He retired from Lockheed Martin in December 2000.

RADM Smith is a native of Huntington, West Virginia. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Duke University and a Master of Science Degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University. He attended both the Naval War College and the Navy School of Command and Staff. He is a life-time member of the Association of Naval Aviation and during 2000 served on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Council, Navy League of the United States.

P.D. is married to the former Mary Evelyn Spencer of Milton, Florida. They reside in Alexandria, Virginia and have three children and two grandchildren, all living in northern Florida.