Ty Smith is an Illinois native and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1996. His first assignment was as a military police officer in Sardinia, Italy. Over nearly five years there, he immersed himself in the culture and language. Eventually, he was accepted to Basic Underwater Demolition School in 2001, graduating in 2003 and assigned to SEAL Team 8 in Little Creek, VA. Eventually, Ty transferred to the West Coast to serve as a Naval Special Warfare training instructor. Later he was assigned to SEAL Team 1 in Coronado, CA. After six deployments in the Middle East, Ty obtained his degree in Organizational Management from Ashford University and his MBA from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. In May of 2016, Ty retired from naval service and launched CommSafe AI (formerly Vigilance Risk Solutions) in San Diego, focusing on conflict and violence prevention.

“No matter what the mistakes were that I made when I was younger, no matter how backwards my priorities were. . . God loves me and he understands me, even when I don’t understand myself.”