Lt. Col. W. THOMAS SMITH, Jr., "the Jack Bauer of journalism," has authored six nationally acclaimed books (incl. two co-authored), edited several, contributed to many, and written countless pieces for a variety of magazines and newspapers (see list).
EDU & MILITARY SERVICE
W. Thomas Smith, Jr. holds a BA degree in History from the University of South Carolina, and he has completed coursework through the Marine Corps Institute and the Emergency Management Institute (U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security). Smith is a former U.S. Marine infantryman who today holds a field-grade officer's commission in the Joint Services Detachment (JSD), S.C. Military Department.
Smith served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a rifle-squad leader — graduating from infantry, airborne, mountain warfare, amphibious raid, and sea schools — and he served as a "special weapons" security and counterterrorism instructor (personally training Marines and sailors ashore and aboard ship). Smith also was trained by the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service. The recipient of numerous awards and decorations, Smith was awarded parachutist wings, "The Secretary of the Navy's Achievement Medal," and the title - "Honorary Ranger" in the South Korean (ROK) Marine Corps. 
Following his service in the USMC, Smith served on a paramilitary SWAT team in the nuclear industry. He was the Honorman graduate — first in his class — of both his nuclear-security force class and his armed response force class.
LT. COL. Smith currently serves as public information / counterterrorism officer, JSD, S.C. Military Dept. In a private ceremony (Oct. 2008), Smith was administered the oath of office for "major" by MEDAL OF HONOR recipient Michael E. Thornton (U.S. Navy SEALs, ret.). Within five months, Smith was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Smith also has received the MAJ. GEN. JAMES E. LIVINGSTON AWARD for "service to country in peace and war, superior leadership and tireless support of the 2010 National Medal of Honor Convention." The award was presented by MEDAL OF HONOR recipient Col. Charles Murray (U.S. Army, ret.) on behalf of MEDAL OF HONOR recipient Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston (U.S. Marine Corps, ret.).
In June 2010, Smith received his Royal Laotian Airborne wings. Following his qualifying jump, Maj. Gen. Khambang Sibounheuang, a former Laotian Army commando officer, removed the parachute wings from his own chest and pinned them on Smith. [MAKING HISTORY - Smith is the first officer in JSD to wear both U.S. and foreign jump wings.]
COVERING WAR & NATIONAL DEFENSE
As a journalist, Smith has reported from battlefields in the Balkans and the Middle East - from the West Bank to Iraq (two tours) to Lebanon - and he covered the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks from "ground zero" in New York. He has written extensively about the global war on terror with a focus on international terrorism and counterterrorism, seaborne piracy, amphibious warfare, special operations, and ground combat.
Smith is director of the U.S. Counterterrorism Advisory Team of the Family Security Foundation, Inc., a senior military analyst and editor-at-large at World Defense Review (He is the founding executive editor of WDR), and a senior military analyst for NavySEALs.com. He has provided analysis to both the U.S. Special Operations Command and the U.S. Central Command. He has edited briefs for U.S. Congressional hearings as well as scripts for television and radio. He has briefed units of the U.S. armed forces, and he has lectured multi-national corporations on the threat of international terrorism.
Smith holds the title "Honorary Soldier in the Lebanese Cedars Revolution" for his global terrorism analysis "proven to be at great personal risk," according to the World Council of the Cedars Revolution, which represents the pro-democracy majority in Lebanon and throughout the world.
A columnist for Townhall.com, Middle East Times, Canada Free Press, Israel National News, and a regular contributor to Human Events; Smith is a technical consultant for POPULAR MECHANICS: New Technology of War, a five-part television documentary currently airing on The Military Channel. And he is the technical editor for military books published by Barnes & Noble Publishing and Alpha Books, among others.
CAREER NOTES
A former business magazine editor, contract media-relations director, now an independent writer, editor, writing consultant, and military analyst; Smith has been a guest commentator on the FOX NEWS Channel and E! True Hollywood Story Investigates. He also has been interviewed by or quoted in numerous publications (Writer's Digest, The Writer, Woman's Day, SLATE, The New York Post, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Publisher's Weekly, Jewish World Review, The Florida Times-Union, USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, and many others); NBC, CBS, and ABC television affiliates; nationally syndicated radio shows, including Bill Bennett's Morning in America, various National Public Radio (NPR) programming and international radio, including the BBC. His books have been featured in various print and broadcast media from The Washington Post to The History Channel to NPR's All Things Considered.
Smith's work is frequently included in radio host Rush Limbaugh's daily "stack of stuff."
TEACHING & LECTURING
Smith has served as an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina's School of Journalism and Mass Communications where he has taught magazine feature writing, breaking into national print, public opinion and propaganda, and reporting. He also coaches writers individually, and has lectured Fortune 500 companies, writers conferences, and the U.S. military.
MEMBERSHIPS
Smith is a member of several professional organizations including:
- Intelligence Summit
(advisory council member) - Stand Up America Project
(member of board of directors) - Family Security Matters
(advisory board member) - Medal of Honor Society 2010 Convention
(information committee chairman) - American Society of Journalists & Authors
(military liaison) - U.S. Counterterrorism Advisory Team, FSFI
(team director) - Royal Laotian Airborne Association
(life member) - National Press Club
- American Legion
- International Analysts Network
- World Security Network
Smith is a former boardmember of both the Southern Literature Council of Charleston (S.C.) and the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.
Smith is a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. He is a Salvation Army volunteer and an ordained Presbyterian deacon.
BOOKS (see Books page)
Smith's books include Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency (NY: Facts On File, 2003) and the Alpha Bravo Delta Guides to Decisive 20th-Century American Battles (NY: Alpha Books, Penguin USA, 2003); American Airborne Forces (Alpha, 2004); and
The Korean Conflict (Alpha, 2004). He co-authored
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pirates (Alpha, 2006)
with pirate expert Gail Selinger, and The Complete
Idiot's Guide to Understanding Intelligent Design
(Alpha, 2006) with ID-expert Christopher Carlisle.
Smith is a contributing writer for A Nation Changed, a book commemorating the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks (published in 2002 by U.S. News & World Report). He is the technical editor and foreword writer for the second edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Iraq (Alpha, 2005) and he is the technical editor and "special afterword" writer for Contract Warriors (Alpha, 2005). Smith is an editor, contributor, and chief advisor to Faces of Freedom (Wentworth, 2007) by Rebecca Pepin; and a contributor to Sixty Candles: Reflections on the Writing Life (iuniverse, 2008) by members of the American Society of Journalists & Authors. Excerpts of interviews with Smith are featured in the ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing (St. Martin's Press, 2003) by Timothy Harper and Grindhopping: Building a Rewarding Career without Paying Your Dues (McGraw Hill, 2006) by Laura Vanderkam.
Smith's work is quoted in several other books.
Smith is an editorial director, technical editor, and sometimes military technical advisor for several military titles which have been published by companies including Barnes & Noble Publishing and Simon & Schuster.
In Emmy winner Rita Cosby's new book, QUIET HERO : Secrets from My Father's Past (Simon & Schuster, 2010), Cosby refers to Smith as her "distinguished military expert."
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