Lieutenant Colonel Smedley is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated boot camp in June of 2000 and School of Infantry thereafter. He joined Company I, 3/23 as a basic rifleman and later became a scout with Company B, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance in Frederick, Maryland. From 2002-2004, he served as a civil affairs Marine for 4th Civil Affairs Group (CAG). In 2003, he deployed with 4th CAG in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
After completing the Basic School in 2005, he graduated from the Public Affairs School in 2006. He returned to 4th CAG and deployed with the unit in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as the Public Affairs Officer in 2006. In 2008, he transferred to Marine Corps Recruiting Command as the Head of Diversity. Lieutenant Colonel Smedley later joined Marine Corps Office of Legislative Affairs as a congressional liaison officer.
In July of 2011, Lieutenant Colonel Smedley attended the Logistics Officers Course. After completion, he became the Company Commander and temporary Inspector-Instructor of Company I, 3/23. During this time, he led his company in support of Operation Western Accord 2014 in Senegal, Africa.
In 2015, he joined 4th Marine Division as the assistant operations officer for the G-4 where he served as the Logistics Command Element notional commander for Saber Knight 2016 in Estonia. Lieutenant Colonel Smedley deployed as the Logistics Officer and Advisor for the Security Cooperation Team 18.2-Jordan in 2018.
Thereafter, Lieutenant Colonel Smedley joined Marine Forces Pacific G-4 in 2019 as a Logistics Officer in the Plans and Exercises section. His recent assignment was the Exercise Planner for the G-3/5 for Marine Forces Reserves.
Lieutenant Colonel Smedley is honored to serve in commands that have been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Unit Commendation Medal.
Lieutenant Colonel Smedley holds a bachelor’s degree from Howard University, master’s degree from American Military University, and a juris doctorate from the William H. Bowen School of Law.
As a civilian, Lieutenant Colonel Smedley was recently selected as the Commandant of the Arkansas Military and First Responders Academy. He also serves as the vice-chairman for the Arkansas Veterans Commission. He is married with three children.