In 1979 he became co-owner with his father and the company relocated to Mesa, Az and became Western Ordnance International (dba Smith Enterprise).
[3] Smith served in the US Army and the United States Marine Corps for a total of 16 years of active duty.
While serving in the Army, Smith was stationed in South Korea as a staff sergeant and chief of a M109A3 Howitzer battery.
Smith was a partner at Western Ordnance, a firearms manufacturing firm that specialized in rifles such as the M1 Garand and M14.
Smith would also invent a sound suppressor that could be rebuilt as opposed to being obsolete after firing a number of rounds.