He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions on June 14, 1969, when nearly a hundred North Vietnamese soldiers overran his base in a predawn assault.

Despite explosions all around him, he rotated among his gun crews, firing at the enemy, helping his men, and radioing instructions to helicopter gunships.

Scales was named director of the Desert Storm Special Study Group in 1991, and authored the book, Certain Victory, the U.S. Army's official account of the first Persian Gulf War.

In 1995 he became deputy chief of staff for the Army Training and Doctrine Command, developing a blueprint for designing future military forces.

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.

[10] The case was launched under the article of Russia's Criminal Code that prohibits "public calls to unleash an aggressive warfare, made with the use of media outlets".