Leighton Haywood-Smith began his Army career with the Army Reserves and served part-time with the 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers in Sydney. His first deployment was to the Solomon Islands in 2010 as a Section Commander in support of Operation ANODE where he learnt first-hand the importance of positive interaction between the Australian Defence Force and the Host Nation being supported. After initial service with the Army Reserves, Leighton transferred to the Regular Army in 2013. Upon successful completion of the Cavalry Initial Employment Training course he was posted to the 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry) in 2014 as an ASLAV Crewman Driver. Now a Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle Crew Commander, Leighton was deployed with Task Group Taji – IX in 2019 as a mentor in Training Team Charlie, mentoring the Senior Non-Commissioned Officers within the School of Infantry Non-Commissioned Officers II training wings.

Leighton was a co-author of Building Partner Capacity | A CPLs perspective from Task Group Taji IX.