Brent, 60, died May 29, 2018, in Louisiana. He was born June 25, 1957, in Tonasket, Washington. Colonel Smith, USA, Ret., was originally from Tonasket and will be buried with military honors in Twisp, WA. Brent rookied at Redmond and transferred to Missoula where he jumped 1979-83 while attending the University of Montana where he graduated with a degree in Biology in 1981. He jumped at NCSB in 1985 and finished with over 100 fire jumps and, like many others, said it was the best job he ever had.

Brent was commissioned a 2nd Lt. and attended medical school at the University of New Mexico on an Army scholarship. He took his residency in Emergency Medicine at Darnall Medical Center, Fort Hood, Texas. He deployed to Desert Storm in 1990-91with the 1set Amor Division, the Sinai Peninsula ’94-’95, Afghanistan ’04-’05, and Iraq ’07. Brent was both Airborne and completed Air Assault Schools

After leaving active duty, he moved to Louisiana where he worked for the Willis-Knighton Health System.

“I remember a jump in Eastern Montana. I was starting medical school and was going off the jump list when I got back. It was very windy, and I must have been going backward at 15mph and did about a dozen summersaults. A young teenager who lived there ran up and said, ‘Wow, do you guys always land like that?’ I couldn’t help but say something like ‘Yea, most of the time.’”