Herbert Clive Lawrence Smith

January 31, 1939 - August 22, 2014

Capt. Herbert Clive Lawrence (“Laurie”) Smith, whose 35-year military career included high-ranking jobs in U.S. Naval intelligence, and was followed by a second career as an intelligence analyst for civilian defense contractors in Iraq, died of a heart attack August 22 in Tazewell, Tenn. He was 75.

Both in and out of the military, Capt. Smith served his country around the globe, including Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Colombia, and Iraq. His final deployments with the Navy included serving as commanding officer of the Naval Investigating Service Regional Office, Japan, Korea and Okinawa from 1986-1989. CAPT Smith then went onto serve in the Defense Intelligence Agency for counternarcotics support issues and policy.

Born in York, Pa., Capt. Smith as a youth was active in the Boy Scouts of America, simultaneously receiving the Eagle Scout and Explorer Silver Scout awards at age 16.

He graduated from York’s William Penn Senior High School in 1956, and earned a bachelor of science degree in education from Shippensburg State College. He also completed undergraduate and graduate credits from William & Mary College and the University of Southern California.

Capt. Smith enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve while in high school as a boat coxswain. After graduation he completed the Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School at Pensacola, Fla, in May 1964. He then attended the Defense Intelligence School, after which he was designated a Special Duty Intelligence Officer. He subsequently served tours in all the intelligence disciplines, including commands ashore.

Capt. Smith held many military decorations and awards, including the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, three Commendation Medals, two Navy Achievement medals, two Navy Unit Citations, three Navy Meritorious Unit citations, two Defense Meritorious Unit Citations, the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with four bronze stars, the Vietnamese Meritorious Unit Cross of Gallantry, the Vietnamese Campaign Medal, and the Navy Expert Rifle and Pistol Medals.

Retiring from the Navy in November 1991, in January 1996 Capt. Smith went to work as a senior analyst for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a McLean, Va., technology and engineering company, where a succession of projects included leading a team advising the U.S. government on potential Y2K problems.

From March 2007 to November 2008 Capt. Smith was in the International Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, where he served as deputy chief of party for the Private Security Company Association of Iraq, a trade group of over 40 member companies that represented the industry to the U.S. government, coalition governments, and the government of Iraq. He returned to the intelligence business in November 2008, still in Iraq, as senior analyst for L-3 Communications’ STRATIS division, a Reston, Va.-based consulting company. His duties included providing intelligence reports to the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. He subsequently served as a senior intelligence analyst for the same company from July 2011 to December 2011, when he returned to the U.S.

A resident of Norfolk, Va. between 2000 and 2013, Capt. Smith was a devoted member of the First Presbyterian Church. From March 2012 – December 2013, he served as a part-time staff member, managing security for a physical plant encompassing a city block.

He moved to New Tazewell, Tenn., the hometown of his wife, Flora Ellen Smith, in December 2013.

An avid fan of BMW’s, Capt. Smith found great joy in maintaining his 1970 BMW 2000, which he purchased new in 1969. He loved classic cars, antiques, bluegrass music, American Revolution and Civil War history, and had became an expert in Persian culture in recent years.

Capt. Smith's parents, Herbert Smith, a British Royal Navy officer, and Mary Frysinger Smith, of York, Pa., preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife, Flora Ellen Smith, his former wife, Carol Sanchez, and their daughters Elin Smith, Emily Smith-McKenna, and Mary Alice (“Molly”) Smith, as well as his step-daughters Hillary Smith and Jessica Knoll.

A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Norfolk, Va. at 12 Noon Sept. 19, 2014. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.