Paul F. Smith

Paul F. Smith was a United States Army Major General who served as commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade during the Vietnam War.

Early life and education
He attended Taunton High School.

Military service
He enrolled in the United States Army Reserve in 1935.

World War II
He served with the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment jumping into Normandy on D-Day. He served at the Battle of the Bulge and made a further combat jump during Operation Varsity.

Post WWII
From 1945 to 1948 he served as commanding officer of the Airborne School at Fort Benning. From 1948 to 1950 he served as G3 Eighth United States Army in Japan.

Korean War
With the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 he served with Eighth Army [forward] at Daegu, Korea until 1951 and was awarded the Legion of Merit. He then returned to Japan joining Headquarters Far East Command.

Post Korean War
From 1952 to 1956 he served at The Pentagon as Operations Officer and then as Military Assistant Secretary of the Army.

In 1957 he graduated from the Army War College.

From 1957 to 1960 he served as commander of the 2nd Airborne Battle Group, 504th Infantry Regiment in West Germany.

From 1960 to 1964 he served as assistant commander/G2 and deputy commander/Operations & Plans XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg.

In June 1964 he was promoted to Brigadier General and served as Army adviser to Military Assistance Advisory Group, Taiwan.

Vietnam War
In July 1965 he was assigned to South Vietnam where he served as Deputy Commanding General and Chief of Staff Task Force Alpha, later redesignated I Field Force, Vietnam, Nha Trang.

In February 1966 he was appointed Commanding General, 173rd Airborne Brigade.

In November 1966 he was promoted to Major General and in December 1966 he handed over command of the 173rd Airborne and then served as Deputy for Revolutionary Development to Robert Komer in Saigon.

Post Vietnam
On his return from Vietnam in June 1967 he served as Chairman Special Study Group Joint Chiefs of Staff until his retirement.

Later life
He retired from the Army on 11 August 1968 and then worked as Executive Director of the Central Florida Development Committee until 1974.