Biography of
Captain
Barry P. Smith
Chief, Director of the Auxiliary
Captain Barry P. Smith is a native of Massachusetts and a 1976 graduate of Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration. In 1978 he enlisted in the Coast Guard and served as a quartermaster in CG Cutter UNIMAK, New Bedford , Massachusetts. Upon graduation from Coast Guard Officer Candidate School in 1981, he served in the Office of Navigation at Coast Guard Headquarters.
In 1983, Captain Smith began a second tour in CG Cutter UNIMAK as a Deck Watch Officer, Law Enforcement Boarding Officer, and First Lieutenant. From May 1985 to May 1987 he was Commanding Officer of CG Cutter POINT JACKSON, Woods Hole, Massachusetts during which he conducted numerous offshore search and rescue and fisheries enforcement operations. He was assigned to Officer Candidate School, Yorktown in June 1987 and served for nearly four years as an instructor and academic department head.
He then completed a tour, 1991-1993, as Commanding Officer of CG Cutter SEA HAWK, Key West during which he conducted extensive Cuban and Haitian migrant rescue operations. Captain Smith served as Counter Drug and Alien Migration Interdiction Ops Section Chief, Commander Coast Guard Atlantic Area, New York during the years 1993-1996.
Captain Smith entered the U.S. Naval War College program at Newport, Rhode Island and graduated with distinction in June of 1997, earning a Masters Degree in National Security Studies.
From June of 1997 until July of 2000, he served as the Assistant Chief, Office of Defense Operations at Coast Guard Headquarters. He was then assigned as the Policy, Planning, and Operations Section Chief for the Commandant’s Director of International Affairs, Coast Guard Headquarters. In May 2003, he was awarded a Masters of Science Degree in Education from Old Dominion University through a part time studies program. He assumed the role as the Chief Director of the Coast Guard Auxiliary in July 2004. Captain Smith is also a member of Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 7, in District 5SR, Division 14.
Captain Smith has been awarded two Meritorious Service Medals, four Coast Guard Commendation Medals, and three Coast Guard Achievement Medals. His other awards include the Commandant’s Letter of Commendation, two Humanitarian Service Medals, four Unit Commendations, four Meritorious Unit Commendations, two Special Operations Service Ribbons, the 9/11 Ribbon, and the Malta Commendation Ribbon.
Captain Smith, son of a World War II US Army veteran, and his wife Dana, a native of Ashland , Kentucky and daughter of a retired US Air Force Colonel, have two daughters, Caroline, 22 and Jordan, 17. They reside in Spotsylvania County , Virginia .