Brandon Eric Smart was born in Anaheim, California and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2004. He is a graduate of Ashford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management. He later completed his Master of Business Administration in Material Logistics from the Naval Postgraduate School.
Upon enlisting, Recruit Smart attended Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, graduating as the third squad leader and earning a meritorious promotion. In 2005 Private First Class Smart attended MOS training as a 3521 Motor Transport Maintenance Mechanic before being assigned to the 3rd Material Readiness Battalion in Okinawa, Japan, where he trained as an 0411 Maintenance Manager.
In 2007, Corporal Smart transferred to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion at Camp Pendleton, serving in roles such as shop chief and maintenance manager. By 2009, Sergeant Smart was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 14th Marines, where he served as the battery motor transport and maintenance chief. Between 2012 and 2013, Sergeant Smart was attached to Counter-intelligence/Human Intelligence (CI/HUMINT) Company at Camp Pendleton. In 2014, Staff Sergeant Smart was deployed to Afghanistan as the Special Equipment Items Chief, responsible for the retrograde of Camp Leatherneck for five civilian programs.
From 2016 to 2018, Staff Sergeant Smart served as a formal schoolhouse instructor at Camp Johnson, North Carolina. He was later selected for a fellowship with the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) and worked for Motivf, a technology and agile consulting firm. In the same year, Gunnery Sergeant Smart was assigned to Naval Agility Group (NavalX) under the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition (ASN RDA).
Gunnery Sergeant Smart pursued graduate studies at the Naval Postgraduate School from 2020 to 2022. After completing his studies, he served as the Enlisted Development Analyst at the Talent Management Strategy Group (TMX) under the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. It was during this assignment that he worked on the legislation for the "Smart Act," which was signed into law as part of the FY23 NDAA, allowing enlisted servicemembers to apply for and attend the Naval Postgraduate School. He also authored a MARADMIN that was signed into policy, enabling Staff Noncommissioned Officers to attend the Naval Postgraduate School the following year; which has been renewed for a following year.
In March 2023, First Sergeant Smart served as the Senior Enlisted Leader for Charlie Company 3-23 at The Basic School, graduating a class of 309 Marine officers and three international officers. As of October 2023, he assumed the role of Command Senior Enlisted Leader at the Marine Corps Air Facility, Quantico.