Smith takes on Pentagon position

Admiral Dixon Smith and wife Kiki had anticipated retiring in the fall of 2017 after serving 34 years in the Navy. However, the Navy changed both their minds, having decided to move them to the Pentagon to another job.

Admiral Smith is the son of Jim Smith, who resides here in Sisters, and Mrs. Glenn L. West of Lake Oswego.

Admiral Smith is currently the Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), responsible for maintaining and providing operational and quality-of-life services across the Navy's 71 installations, both here at home and abroad. The Smiths reside on the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., where Smith also has his office.

The U.S. Senate has confirmed the Chief of Naval Operations' (CNO) intent to reassign Admiral Smith to the Pentagon where he will assume duties as Deputy CNO for Fleet Readiness and Logistics, known in Navy talk as OPNAV N4. As such he will be responsible to the CNO for establishing policy and determining the resourcing requirements for the Navy's energy and environmental programs, logistics (bullets, beans, spare parts, etc.), the Navy's Military Sealift Command ships and shore infrastructure. The CNIC formal outgoing Change of Command is set for March 31, at the Washington Navy Yard. Admiral Smith will assume his new staff position shortly thereafter.

As for Admiral Smith's Naval career to date, he graduated and received his commission from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1983 at the age of 22. He has served in command 13 of his 33 years of naval service, to include the last 11 consecutive years. With the rank of commander, his first command was as captain of the Aegis destroyer USS THE SULLIVANS. Following a subsequent tour at the United States Naval Academy mentoring midshipmen, he returned to command with sequential tours as Commander Naval Base San Diego, Commander Navy Region Hawaii, Commander Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, Commander Navy

Region Southwest, then Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, and finally for the past 2-1/2 years as Commander, Navy Installations Command.

There is no change of command in the naval tradition as Admiral Smith assumes his new responsibilities in the Pentagon.

"I'll just assume the

duties and responsibilities sometime in April, 2017," he said. "As our consecutive 11 years in command have come to an end, it's been an amazing run that very few have had the privilege to experience - an absolute honor for both Kiki and me."