George W. Smith Jr.

George W. Smith Jr.
Smith in 2019
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Marine Corps
Years of service1985–2023
RankLieutenant General
CommandsI Marine Expeditionary Force
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center
The Basic School
1st Force Reconnaissance Company
Battles/warsWar in Afghanistan
Iraq War
AwardsDefense Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit (2)
Bronze Star Medal (3)
RelationsGeorge W. Smith (father)

George William Smith Jr. is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps who last served as commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force from September 2021 to August 2023.[1][2][3] He most recently served as the Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies, and Operations until August 2021.[4] He previously served as Senior Military Assistant to the United States Secretary of Defense, a position for which he was nominated by James Mattis in September 2018.[5][6] He was commissioned in 1985 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, through a Naval ROTC program.[7] He is the son of George W. Smith, who was a major general in the Marine Corps.

  1. ^ "I MEF Change of Command Ceremony 2021 [Image 7 of 7]". DVIDS. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  2. ^ "PN349 — Lt. Gen. George W. Smith Jr. — Marine Corps, 117th Congress (2021–2022)". 13 April 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  3. ^ "General Officer Announcements". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  4. ^ "Plans, Policies & Operations (PP&O)". hqmc.marines.mil. Archived from the original on 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  5. ^ Todd South (4 October 2018). "There are more Marines in power now than ever before. Here's how it happened". marinecorpstimes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  6. ^ "General Officer Announcement > U.S. Department of Defense > News Release View". dod.defense.gov. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  7. ^ "George Smith – Recipient – Military Times Hall Of Valor". valor.militarytimes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-20.