Career
After graduating from West Point in 1966, he was commissioned as a field artillery officer and sent to Germany, not Vietnam. After two years in Europe, he was posted to Vietnam, but it was another year before he saw real action. After an artillery commander was killed, Scales was his replacement prior to the Battle of Hamburger Hill. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions on June 14, 1969 when nearly 100 North Vietnamese overran his base in a pre-dawn assault. Despite explosions all around him, he rotated among his artillery units, firing at the enemy, helping his men and radioing instructions to helicopter gunships.
In the early 1970s, Scales earned a Masters and PhD in History from Duke University.
Beginning in 1982, he was a field artillery battalion commander in Korea.
From 1986-1988, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army V Corps in Frankfurt, Germany.
In 1990, he commanded NCOs at the US Army Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Scales was named director of the Desert Storm Special Study Group in 1991, and authored the book, Certain Victory, the Army's official account of the first Persian Gulf War. The book was published in 1994, the first of seven he wrote.
In 1995, he became Deputy Chief of Staff for the Army Training and Doctrine Command, developing a blueprint for designing future military forces.
The high point of his career was his appointment as Commandant of the US Army War College in 1997.
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