Colonel Lawrence A. Smith II is Deputy Commander, Space Launch Delta 30, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. His portfolio encompasses critical base services that support warfighter readiness, including housing, personnel, logistics, emergency services, transportation, morale and recreation services, civil engineering, contracting, and security. In this role, he supports more than 1,500 personnel who operate and maintain the third largest installation in the Department of the Air Force. The installation spans over 118,000 acres comprised of 4,100 quarters and buildings committed to 26 Space Launch Delta organizations, and 45 contractors employing over 10,000 people.
Prior to his current assignment, Colonel Smith was the Military Assistant and Deputy for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness in Washington D.C., and before that, attended the Eisenhower School at National Defense University.
Colonel Smith was born in Riverside, California and received his commission in 2002 from Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He has extensive leadership, logisitics, and deployment experience in a variety of operational and strategic positions worldwide.
EDUCATION
2001 Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts/English degree, CSUSB, San Bernardino, CA
2002 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL
2005 Master of Business Administration degree, TUI, Cypress, CA
2007 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL
2011 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
2014 Advanced Logistics Readiness Officers Course, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ
2016 Master of Operational Art and Science degree, ACSC, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL
2017 Air War College, by correspondence
2018 Enterprise Logistics Course, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH
2020 Logistics for the 21st Century, Institute for Defense and Business, Chapel Hill, NC
2023 Master of Science in National Resource Strategy, The Eisenhower School, Washington D.C.
ASSIGNMENTS
- ​September 2002 – September 2004, Deputy Commander, Air Freight Flight; Officer in Charge, Passenger Operations; Commander, Combat Readiness and Resources Flight, 733rd Air Mobility Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan
- September 2004 – June 2007, Assistant Installation Deployment Officer; Commander, 50th Logistics Readiness Flight, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, CO
- June 2007 – July 2010, Commandant of Cadets, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
- July 2010 – August 2011, Commander, Materiel Management Flight, 51st Logistics Readiness Squadron, Osan Air Base, Korea
- August 2011 – July 2015, Operations Officer, 86th Logistics Readiness Squadron; Executive Officer to the Director of Logistics, Installations, and Mission Support, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe & Air Forces Africa; Director of Operations, 721st Air Mobility Operations Group, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
- July 2015 – June 2016, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL
- June 2016 – June 2018, Commander, 6th Logistics Readiness Squadron, MacDill Air Force Base, FL
- July 2018 – June 2020, Commander, 436th Aerial Port Squadron, Dover Air Force Base, DE
- July 2020 – June 2021, Executive Officer to the Commander, Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker Air Force Base, OK
- July 2021 – June 2022, Chief, Logistics Strategy and Future Concepts Branch, Pentagon, Washington D.C.
- July 2022 – June 2023, student, The Eisenhower School, National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington D.C.
- June 2023 – May 2025, Military Assistant and Deputy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness, Pentagon, Washington D.C.
- June 2025 – Present, Deputy Commander, Space Launch Delta 30, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 2023 - June 2025, Military Assistant and Deputy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness, Pentagon, Washington D.C., as a colonel
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Bronze Star
Air Force Meritorious Service Medal with six oak leaf clusters
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Air Force Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant, August 16, 2002
First Lieutenant, August 16, 2004
Captain, August 16, 2006
Major, October 1, 2012
Lieutenant Colonel, June 1, 2017
Colonel, June 1, 2023
(Current as of June 2025)