Major Trenton L. Smith is currently serving as an Accociate Professor of Aerospace Studies (APAS) at Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) Detachment 730 based at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As an APAS and the Detachment Educationa and Recruiting Officer, he is responsible for the four-year officer education and training for AFROTC cadets from the University of Pittsburgh and 15 crosstown universities in the greater Pittsburgh area. Captain Grace is an intelligence officer and came to the university after advising Foreign Disclosure duties at Special Operations Command Central at Macdill Air Force Base, Florida.
Capt. Grace graduated from the University of Georgia and afterwards enlisted in 2011 as an Airborne Cryptologic Pashto Linguist serving on various MC-130s/AC-130s until he commissioned through Officer Training School in 2018 at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Afterward, he has served as the Signals Intelligence Officer in Charge, as the OIC for an Open Source Intelligence Collection team, and as the Foreign Disclosure officer at SOCCENT HQ at Macdill AFB, FL. During that time, he also deployed as the deputy Intelligence Director to a SOCCENT Task Force at Spartan Forward HQ in Qatar, responsible for theater security cooperation and partnership building capacity. During his enlisted career, Captain Grace deployed three times to Bagram AFB, Afghanistan where he served as a Pashto Afghani Airborne Linguist. in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and FREEDOMS SENTINEL. His efforts contributed to numerous operation successes and over 500 hours of flight hours on the AC-130U.
- 2013 Associate of Arts in Afghani Pashto, Defensive Language Institute, Monterey, CA.
- 2009 Bachelor of Science in Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Education & Training
- Air and Space Commendation Medal
- Air Medal with three oak leaf cluster
- Combat Action Medal
Assignments
1. July 2011 - September 2011, September 2011, Basic Training, 324 TRS, Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX
2. September 2011 - November 2011, Aircrew Fundamentals, 344 TRS, Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX
3. November 2011 - April 2013, Afghan Pashto Language Student, 314 TRS, Defensive Language Institute, Monterey, CA
4. April 2013 - September 2013, Intelligence Fundamentals Student, 316 TRS, Goodfellow AFB, San Angelo, FL
5. September 2013 - October 2013, Survival Evasion Resistance Escape School, 22 TRS, Fairchild AFB, Spokane, WA.
6. October 2013 - November 2013, Water Survival School, 361 TRS, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Pensacola, FL
7. November 2013 - April 2014, Mission Qualification Training, 19 TRS, Hurlburt Field AFB, Fort Walton Beach, FL
8. April 2014 - January 2018, Afghan Pashto Direct Support Operator, 25 IS, Hurlburt Field, Fort Walton Beach, FL
9. January 2018 - April 2018, Officer Trainee, Officer Training School, Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, AL
10. April 2018 - November 2018, Intelligence Officer Fundamentals Student, 315 TRS, Goodfellow AFB, San Angelo, FL
11. November 2018 - January 2020, Officer in Charge of Cryptologic Service Element, Special Operations Command Central, MacDill AFB, FL
12. January 2020 - May 2021, Officer in Charge of Open Source Intelligence, Special Operations Command Central, MacDill AFB, FL
13. May 2021 - Present, Foreign Disclosure Officer, Special Operations Command Central, MacDill AFB, FL
14. September 2022 - Present, Associate Professor of Aerospace Studies, AFROTC Detachment 730, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
Effective Dates of Promotion
Second Lieutenant - March 22, 2018
First Lieutenant - March 22, 2020
Captain - March 22, 2022
(Current as of October 2024)
