Rear Admiral Duncan C. Smith III assumed the position of Deputy Area Commander for Mobilization and Reserve Component Affairs, Pacific Area in June 2004. He most recently held the same position in Atlantic Area. He is responsible for integrated reserve operations for all traditional Coast Guard missions and planning for surge operations in response to both domestic and foreign contingencies.
Rear Admiral Smith received a B.A. in Economics from Drew University in 1969 and a J.D. from the College of William and Mary in 1976. He enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1970 and assigned to the Engineering Division, Reserve Training Center, Yorktown, VA. Upon graduation from Officer Candidate School in 1972, he was assigned to the Office of Reserve at Coast Guard Headquarters. After graduation from law school, he was recalled to a second tour of active duty as a law specialist and served in the Office of the Chief Counsel at Coast Guard Headquarters.
Upon release from active duty in 1978, Rear Admiral Smith affiliated with the Reserve program, was deeply involved in readiness planning, including no less than 12 mobilization exercises, and subsequently served as commanding officer of Reserve Unit Annapolis, Reserve Unit James River, and Reserve Unit Baltimore, as Deputy Group Commander of Reserve Group Baltimore, and as Group Commander of Reserve Group Headquarters and Reserve Group Hampton Roads. In the later two positions he also served as a member of the Fifth District Reserve Quality Management Board. Between Reserve Group command assignments, he served on the Fifth District Reserve Quality Team, where he was involved in the assessment of all Reserve Units and 23 Active Duty units in the implementation of total quality management in the Fifth District. He also served on the staff of the Federal On Scene Coordinator for the Exxon Valdez oil spill as both a planning officer and external affairs officer for the first three seasons of the clean up effort. He was later assigned to the Emergency Planning Directorate at the Pentagon in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy as a Reserve officer Individual Mobilization Augmentee where he wrote the first post-Cold War continuity of operations plan for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and was involved in the emergency planning and worldwide military exercise program. Prior to his current assignment, he was assigned to the Ninth Coast Guard District in Cleveland, Ohio, where he assisted the District Chief of Operations and ultimately served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Contingency Planning and Resource Allocation with broad responsibility for District-wide projects.
He has completed Reserve officer courses at the Armed Forces Staff College, Naval War College, and Army War College and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit Medal, Coast Guard Commendation Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, and Armed Forces Reserve Medal.
Rear Admiral Smith is a partner in the law firm of Blank Rome LLP in Washington, DC where he is primarily engaged in a legislative and administrative practice, involving transportation, energy, environmental, defense, and federal budget matters. Before entering private practice, he was a staff member from 1980 to 1990 on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, where he ultimately held the position of Chief Counsel and was also a congressional advisor for the U.S. delegation to the International Maritime Organization regarding oil pollution matters". He also served in the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury, responsible for non-tax responsibilities of the Treasury including customs, international, and fiscal concerns.