Air Force Major Corban Smith faced his own personal doomsday when he was told a medical condition would prevent him from becoming an Air Force pilot—a dream he’d had since he was a child. After being forced to alter his plans, he discovered a new path that’s led him to his current position as the operations flight commander and assistant professor at Brigham Young University’s Air Force ROTC.
Smith grew up spending weekend nights on control tower catwalks, having sleepovers with his friends as they watched airliners take turns taking off and landing on the runway. His dad worked for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and it was through his example that Smith set a goal to one day fly with the Air Force.
He was right on track, too, he says, already one year into starting a competitive pilot training program when he received the news: He was to be reclassified for medical reasons.
“I looked forward to flying, I worked my hardest to get the job I wanted, and not seeing that come to fruition . . . My dreams were over,” he says. “Thankfully, the Air Force didn’t disqualify me from being a commissioned officer.”
Smith was reclassified as a military intelligence officer instead, an option he says he’d never truly considered until there was no alternative. He remained skeptical of the new career trajectory at first, he explains, even considering flying for civilian airlines instead. But he committed to pursuing his new assignment before making a final decision.
Anticipating his new assignment location, Smith was allowed to choose where he would prefer to be assigned, a perk he received for the ranking he achieved as a student in intelligence. He says the decision was easy: He would go to the Hill Air Force Base in Utah, near where his mom lived. There, during his service, he could watch over her as she fought a life-threatening illness.
This time spent at the Hill Air Force Base was a turning point, says Smith. At his mother’s funeral, he saw the last three rows of the chapel full of his coworkers, in uniform. “I realized that the military family was something that I loved and that I wanted to also provide to folks that I worked with,” he explains. “That was the moment when I decided to stick it out and make a career out of the Air Force.”
Working for Air Force intelligence provided a variety of job duties, Smith explains. He integrated exercise planning for AFRICOM, the joint organization that oversees US forces in Africa; he led debriefs for important missions, ensuring military teams have the crucial information before fulfilling operations; and he served on the National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC)—more colloquially known as the Doomsday Plane.
The assignment on the Doomsday Plane had him up in the air once again, serving as part of the team that connects Washington, DC, to the U.S. armed forces around the world. He worked in strategic intelligence alongside top national security leaders. “I’ve briefed all of them and given them information that helps them make informed decisions about how they would want to react to certain things in times of crisis: nuclear war, national widespread natural disaster—that sort of thing.”
Smith says he was fulfilling a version of his dream he didn’t know he had. Through his work, he was communicating with the National Capital Region, which consists of the capital, the Pentagon, intelligence agencies, and the White House. “I just loved the mission,” he says. “I could research and access information that most people couldn’t.”
Yet Smith describes all of these intelligence assignments as preparation for his current role at Brigham Young University—a job he sought in hopes of influencing the Air Force’s future leaders before he retires. As an assistant professor in the Air Force ROTC, he oversees the junior and senior cadets as they plan and execute training exercises and prepare for their own future careers.
“I like to help the students aspire to reach their dreams,” he says. “Flying was my dream, too, and seeing them realize those dreams is one of the things that brings me the most joy.”
But he also acknowledges that some aspects remain out of their control. “When it doesn’t work out for them, I like to tell them my story and let them know they can still be happy and successful and enjoy a future in the military—or even just enjoy the lessons they’ve learned so far in whatever they choose to do afterward.”
That’s the key for when students need to adjust life plans, Smith explains. “Life is what you make of it,” he affirms with a smile. “You’re going to hit bumps in the road, and you’re going to have a detour—but you can find the silver lining wherever you’re at.”