Robert H. Scales

Robert H. Scales Jr. is a retired U.S. Army major general and former commandant of the U.S. Army War College. He now works as a military analyst, news commentator, and author.

Early years
His father, Robert Scales Sr., was a career Army officer who graduated Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, completed the Engineer Officer Basic Course and worked with amphibious vehicles in Florida, where his parents met, before piloting amphibious landing craft in the Pacific campaign of World War II. Robert Jr. was born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1944, but then “scurried all over the world.”

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 a hundred North Vietnamese overran his base in a predawn 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 master’s and Ph.D. in history from Duke University.

Beginning in 1982, he was a field artillery battalion commander in Korea.

From 1986 to 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 U.S. 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 has written.

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 U.S. Army War College in 1997.

Retirement
Major General Scales retired in November, 2000 after 34 years of Army service. He continued to write and accept speaking engagements after leaving active duty and was named Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2004. and serves as a commentator for both NPR and Fox News. His writing has appeared in Time Magazine.

Personal
Scales is the father of two daughters who both joined the Army. He purchased his first civilian home in 2002 at age 58. His father retired from the Army as a colonel.

Major U.S. Decorations and Badges

 * Distinguished Service Medal ribbon.svg Distinguished Service Medal
 * SilverStar.gif Silver Star
 * Legion of Merit ribbon.svg Legion of Merit (with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters)
 * Bronze Star ribbon.svg Bronze Star
 * Meritorious Service ribbon.svg Meritorious Service Medal (with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters)
 * Air Medal ribbon.svg Air Medal


 * US Army Airborne senior parachutist badge.gif Senior Parachutist Badge


 * GeneralStaffID.gif Army Staff Identification Badge

Publications

 * Certain Victory: The U.S. Army in the Gulf War ISBN 0-02-881111-9, Potomac Books, 1994
 * Firepower in Limited War ISBN 0-89141-650-1, Balantine Books, 1998
 * America's Army in Transition: Preparing for War in the Precision Age US Army War College, 1999
 * Future Warfare: Anthology ISBN 1-58487-026-5, US Army War College, 2000
 * The Iraq War: A Military History ISBN 0-674-01280-1, Belknap Press, 2003
 * Yellow Smoke: The Future of Land Warfare for America's Military ISBN 0-7425-1773-X, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003
 * Lessons from the Iraq War ISBN 0-87772-416-4, Berkeley Public Policy Press, 2004