Born in Bowling Green in 1951, Greg Smith began his 26-year USAF career in 1974. He completed pilot training, and began flying the Air Force’s Airborne Command Post, the EC-135 “Looking Glass”. This aircraft is designed to provide airborne command and control of US nuclear forces if ground-based command centers have been destroyed. In 1983, he began to fly the Boeing 747-based E-4B “Nightwatch” aircraft. This aircraft serves as a survivable airborne command post for the President of the United States. There are only four such planes in the USAF.