Jason is a Little Rock native with more than 15 years of legislative and public relations experience and 21 years of service in the Marine Corps. Jason has assisted the Marine Corps and elected officials with identifying and addressing the needs of Arkansans, Marines and veterans alike. His Capitol Hill and Pentagon experience working for Congressman Snyder, Senators' Lincoln and Pryor and the Marine Corps Legislative Affairs, allowed him to fuse his public relations and public service skills to support the Marine Corps' readiness and legislative needs. As Governor Beebe’s military liaison, Jason addressed veteran concerns and assisted with the implementation of military-related legislation. Jason was recently the assistant director of Public Affairs and Government Relations for the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation.
Jason began his Marine career as an infantryman and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and 2006. In 2003, Lance Corporal Smedley received the Purple Heart and the Navy Achievement medal with the V device. He became a Lieutenant in 2004 and has served in the role of Public Affairs, Civil Affairs, Security Cooperation and Logistics. As a Captain, Jason was the first African-American company commander of Arkansas’ only reserve infantry unit. His unit was selected to deploy to Senegal, Africa to train western African soldiers. Recently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, he serves as the logistics operations officer at Marine Forces Pacific and is a part-time farmer. He is a graduate of Howard University and also obtained a MBA and a law degree from Bowen School of Law. Jason also serves as the Vice Chair of the Arkansas Veterans Commission and is a board member for the Arkansas chapter of the Farmer Veteran Coalition.
Jason is a member of Union AME church and serves as a Children’s Church director. He is married to Kelly Smedley and is the proud father of Isis, Jayden and recently arrived Mariah Smedley.