Smyth joined the RAF in 1991, being commissioned as an
acting pilot officer on 9 May. His rank was made substantive on 9 May 1992 and advanced to
flying officer twelve months later, before he was posted to the Harrier Force in 1995. Smyth served with
No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron as weapons instructor from 1999, and was promoted
squadron leader on 1 July 2001. As a
Harrier pilot, he flew operational missions over Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Smyth was promoted to
wing commander on 1 January 2006, and commanded
No. 4 Squadron from 1 September 2008 to 31 March 2010. Smyth was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the
2011 New Year Honours, was subsequently advanced to
group captain, and appointed the United Kingdom's National Director of the
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II procurement programme in
Washington, D.C. Air officer As an
air commodore, Smyth was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 2nd (Northern Ireland) Battalion,
Army Cadet Force from 1 June 2016, and attended the
Higher Command and Staff Course at the
Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in 2017. Following a stint as the Combined Air and Space Operations Centre Director at the
Al Udeid Air Base in
Doha, Smyth was promoted
air vice-marshal and appointed
Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group in July 2018. Smyth was appointed as the first Director Space in February 2020, and was succeeded in command of No. 1 Group by Air Vice-Marshal
Allan Marshall. Reporting on Smyth's new post,
Defense News wrote that "up to 25 civilians and military personnel involved in finance, policy and capabilities will support the new space directorate" in the Ministry of Defence's Main Building. He was promoted to
air marshal on 26 August 2022, on his appointment as
Deputy Commander Operations. In December 2023, it was announced that he would be the next
Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Military Strategy and Operations); he succeeded
Sir Roland Walker in the role in March 2024. In July 2025, the Ministry of Defence announced that Smyth be the next
Chief of the Air Staff. He was promoted to
air chief marshal and took up the post on 29 August 2025, in succession to
Sir Richard Knighton, thereby becoming head of the RAF. He was appointed an
aide-de-camp (ADC) to the King on the same day. == Honours and decorations ==