Dirk Smith
Located In: Florida
Position: Director
Dirk is a passionate Leader, Coach, and Mentor aimed to develop leadership skills and potential. Dirk serves as an Executive Leadership Coach with Victory Strategies.
Major General (retired) Dirk Smith served 32 years as a United States Air Force (USAF) fighter pilot and General Officer. He was commissioned in 1988 after graduating from the USAF Academy. He earned three master’s degrees focused on aviation, military operational art and strategy. He has commanded at the squadron, group, air and space operations center, wing and task force levels. His duty history includes multiple combat air forces operational flying assignments including serving as a USAF Weapons School Instructor. General Smith is a command pilot with more than 2,800 hours in the F-15C and F-22A. He has participated in operations Desert Storm, Southern Watch, New Dawn, Enduring Freedom, and Inherent Resolve and Deep Freeze. He has served in multiple staff and combat command assignments including Deputy Director of Operations (J3), U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) and Director of Air and Cyberspace Operations (A3/6), Headquarters Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). In Dirk’s final combat deployment, he served as the Commander Air Expeditionary Task Force-Levant, Deputy Commander for Operations and Intelligence, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), U.S. Central Command where he managed coalition combat force operations in Iraq and Syria. He retired from Active Duty while serving as the Vice Director for Joint Force Development (J7) on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, where he provided oversight and direction on joint training, joint force development, concept development, operational analysis and lessons learned activities to achieve the National Military Strategy.
After Active Duty service, he served as USAF Adjunct Contract Professor (ACP) strategic planning, leadership development, at the highest level. Dirk also served as Adjunct Professor with the Air Force War College providing team-building insights and perspectives with today’s USAF emerging leaders through active and authentic mentoring. Dirk currently serves as a Strategic Requirements Analyst and Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Lockheed Martin, Missiles and Fire Control (LM MFC) Air Dominance and Strike Weapons in Orlando, Florida.
Dirk is an experienced executive leader and team builder with a demonstrated history of achieving desired outcomes in complex and ill-defined operational problems. As a facilitator he finds synergy and harnesses innovation in diverse groups creating a collaborative and inclusive culture while developing successful leaders and maximizing mission effectiveness. Dirk balanced serving as a passionate husband and caregiver for his late wife (Mary) during her 23-year battle with brain cancer while serving a long and successful military career. He has two adult children and lives in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.