About Us

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The Throttle-Up® Radio Show broadcasting on RedStateTalkRadio.com is hosted by Captain Kevin M. Smith, U.S.N. (Ret.).  Captain Smith is an aviator, author, speaker, and a recognized expert in the field of critical thinking.

Captain Smith’s distinguished military career included holding many important positions such as squadron commander deployed in the USS Constellation; senior instructor pilot; “Top Gun” instructor, and recognized expert in air combat operations. Captain Smith has over four thousand hours of military flight time, mostly in supersonic front-line fighters. You can learn more about his supersonic career by visiting www.thesonicwarrior.com.

Captain Smith’s airline career culminated in captain qualifications in the ultra modern B-777, and included all modern Boeing airliners.  Additionally he was a “line check captain” in the B-767 fleet for the airline. Over the course of a forty-year flying career, Captain Smith has accumulated more than twenty-five thousand flight hours (25,000 hours).

Assigned as the chairman of a government sponsored blue ribbon task force, Captain Smith was directly responsible for the top-down re-design of airline pilot training programs for all U. S. carriers. Known as the Advanced Qualification Program (AQP), this effort represented the first successful attempt to develop targeted training programs to improve critical thinking skills for airline pilots.  Captain Smith was recently honored as one of the founders of the program at the national AQP Working Group Conference 2016 in Dallas, Texas.

Captain Smith is the author of the Commitment to Reason Series (including Hostile to Reason I: Prosperity’s Final Countdown and Hostile to Reason II: Critical Examination of the Regulatory Imperative) which addresses critical thinking in new and innovative ways. Published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, Books I and II, and a companion handbook (Critical Thinking Essentials) are available nationally.  Books three and four are in development.

Captain Smith has received numerous military awards including the prestigious Meritorious Unit Commendation recognizing his exceptional performance as squadron commander. He holds degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics, and is a distinguished graduate of the U. S. Naval Aviation Academy.