The Honorable General James B. Smith

United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ambassador James Smith was appointed U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in September 2009. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Smith had served in a variety of executive positions with Raytheon Company involving corporate strategic planning, aircraft manufacturing, and international business development.

Ambassador Smith served in the U.S. Air Force for 28 years. Trained as a fighter pilot, he logged over 4,000 hours of flight time in F-15s and T-38s.  He served around the world in a variety of operational assignments and flew combat missions from Dhahran AB during Operation Desert Storm. He commanded the 94^th Fighter Squadron, the 325^th Operations Group and the 18^th Fighter Wing (Kadena AB, Okinawa).  In addition, he served in a variety of staff assignments involving coalition partners, and served as Air Force Chair and Professor of Military Strategy at the National War College.  During his final assignment at U.S. Joint Forces Command, he led Millennium Challenge, the largest transformation experiment in history.  He was promoted to Brigadier General in October 1998, and retired from the Air Force in 2002.

Ambassador Smith was a distinguished graduate of the U. S. Air Force Academy’s Class of 1974 and received the Richard I.  Bong award as the Outstanding Cadet in Military History.  He received his M.A. in History from Indiana University in 1975, and is also a distinguished graduate from the Naval War College, the Air Command and Staff College and the National War College.

OTHER SPEAKERS

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  Ibrahim Babelli

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  John Lefas

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  Dr. Ihsan Ali Bu-Hulaiga