Zannie Smith joined General Dynamics Information Technology as Group Senior Vice President in August 2004. He was promoted to Division Senior Vice President, Army Solutions, in August 2006. In his capacity, Zannie is responsible for the financial and management oversight of a business that provides information technology and program management support to a number of customers in the federal government.
Retired Major General Zannie O. Smith was born in Hopewell, Virginia. His military career began in 1962 as an enlisted soldier in the 82nd Airborne Division where he participated in Operation Power Pack in the Dominican Republic. General Smith was commissioned through Officer Candidate School as an Infantry second lieutenant and is a graduate of the University of Tampa. He earned a Masters of Art Degree in Business Management from Webster University. His military education includes the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College.
His career path included a variety of command and staff positions. He served as a platoon leader and executive officer, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, and Commander, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), Republic of Vietnam. In Fort Sherman, Panama, he was a senior instructor and committee chief at the Jungle Operations Training Center. General Smith then served with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as a company commander and battalion S-3 in the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 505th Infantry, and was later assigned as the assistant G-3 operations officer. He also served at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as the operations officer for the Combined Army Tactical Training Simulations Division.
He was assigned as an operations officer in the Combined Field Army, Republic of Korea, and then became battalion S-3, battalion executive officer, and brigade executive officer in the 7th Infantry Division (Light) at Fort Ord, California. His next tour was at the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans at the Pentagon. General Smith took command of the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, in January 1986, and became the Division G-3.
He served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm as the Deputy G-3, XVIII Airborne Corps, and from November 1991 until October 1993, commanded the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade. General Smith’s subsequent assignments were Chief of Staff, Joint Task Force, Somalia; Chief of Staff, 101st Airborne Division; and G-3, XVIII Airborne Corps. From 1 May 1995 to 1 December 1995, he served as the Chief of Staff, United States Army Reserve Command, Atlanta, Georgia. He became the Assistant Division Commander for Operations of the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum on 9 May 1997. General Smith was the I Corps and Fort Lewis Chief of Staff from 17 July 1998 until 20 August 1999. He was then assigned to Turkey, where he served as the Deputy Commander, Joint Sub Regional Command Southeast/Commanding General, United States Army NATO until August 2001. He then served as the Deputy Commanding General, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg and as Acting Commanding General during Operation Enduring Freedom.
His awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with five Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star Medal with “V” device with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Army National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, four awards of the Vietnam Service Medal, three awards of the Southwest Asia Service Medal, two awards of the Kosovo Campaign Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medals (Saudi Arabia and Emirate of Kuwait), and the NATO Medal (Kosovo). He is a Master Parachutist and has been awarded the Ranger Tab, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Air Assault Badge.
