Scott Lingamfelter

Lee Scott Lingamfelter (born March 27, 1951) is a retired US Army officer, combat veteran, American politician, and author. He was a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 to 2018, representing the 31st district in Fauquier and Prince William Counties. � Prior to his election, from 1973 to 2001, Lingamfelter was an officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of Colonel. After retiring from politics, Lingamfelter began writing about his military endeavors. Currently, he is a full-time author of military books and a regular contributor to the ''Washington Times'' and other journals on national security, foreign policy, and domestic politics.

Education and military career

Lingamfelter was raised in Richmond, Virginia where he attended public and parochial schools. He then attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington Virginia where he earned a B.A. in history in 1973. After graduating from VMI as a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG), he was commissioned in the Regular Army of the United States and began a career as a Field Artilleryman and a Middle East Foreign Area Officer (FAO).

In 1979, the US Army awarded him a full academic scholarship to the University of Virginia (UVa), where in 1981 he earned a Master of Arts in Government and Foreign Affairs (Comparative Governments of the Middle East and Soviet Foreign Policy). After many assignments around the world, including Germany, South Korea, and the Middle East (Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria), he rose to the rank of Colonel. Following his service in numerous combat units, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), as a Political Military Officer in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (Department of State), and as a senior advisor on Special Access Programs (SAP) to the Secretary of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, he concluded his military career as Military Assistant to the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College, the US Joint Forces Staff College, and the US Army War College where he served as class president. He retired in 2001 after 28 years of active duty service.

Lingamfelter has had significant experience in the war-torn Middle East as a US Army Military Observer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, working with both Observer Group Syria and Observer Group Lebanon during armed turmoil. He has witnessed the Middle East conflict “up close and personally,” not only as a military observer, but as a combat artilleryman with the 1st Infantry Division during Operation Desert Storm. In that war, he served as the executive officer in the Division Artillery and helped plan and execute the largest field artillery assault on enemy forces since World War II. He then was selected to command the Army’s largest field artillery Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) battalion, the 6th Battalion, 37th Field Artillery, in the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea.

During the 1993-94 crisis with North Korea, Lingamfelter was one of the architects of the complex and detailed system that the US would use to defeat North Korean artillery systems threatening South Korea. He has a detailed understanding of how this battle will unfold if hostilities erupt on the Korean peninsula.

Among his awards and decorations are the Defense Superior Service Medal; two Legions of Merit; the Bronze Star Medal; two Defense Meritorious Service Medals; four Meritorious Service Medals; three Joint Service Commendation Medals; the Army Commendation Medal; the National Defense Service Medal with bronze service star; the Southwest Asia Service Medal with three bronze service stars; the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia); the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait); and the United Nations Service Medal.

Political career

House of Delegates

Elections

In 2001, Lingamfelter successfully won election to the Virginia House of Delegates as a Republican, defeating Democratic candidate M.D. Krause. Lingamfelter was a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 to 2018, representing the 31st district in Fauquier and Prince William Counties. Lingamfelter lost his reelection bid on November 7, 2017, following a wave of Democratic victories across Virginia in response to former President Donald Trump’s victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ironically, in that loss, Lingamfelter garnered more votes in that election than any of the previous elections he won.  Most recently, Lingamfelter was a member of Veterans for Youngkin that supported the election of Governor Glenn Youngkin in 2021. He also published two articles in support of Youngkin in the ''Washington Times.''

Tenure

Lingamfelter was a former Chair of the Militia, Police, and Public Safety Committee. He also served as a Member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Education Committee. Lingamfelter was also the former Chair of the Subcommittee on Public Safety, as well as a Member of the Subcommittee on Compensation and Retirement, the Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Subcommittee on General Government and Capital Outlay.

Lingamfelter also served on the Chesapeake Bay Commission and was also the co-chairman of the Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, a bipartisan group of stakeholders that seeks to promote awareness of issues facing Virginia's outdoorsmen and sportsmen.

Awards

In 2000, Lingamfelter was named the Virginia Family Foundation Citizen of the Year. In 2007, he was named the Chesapeake Bay Legislator of the Year. In 2013, the National Rifle Association's NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund voted to award Lingamfelter with the Carter-Knight Award for his successful efforts to repeal Virginia's gun rationing (one-gun-per-month) law.

Candidate for Lieutenant Governor

In June 2012 Lingamfelter announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor in 2013. After losing in the convention, Lingamfelter threw his support behind Pete Snyder.

Election Results

Published Works

In 2020, Lingamfelter published his first book, ''Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War'', (University Press of Kentucky) describing the experience of the First Gulf War through the eyes of a Field Artillery “Redleg” (Artilleryman) in the 1st Infantry Division Artillery (DIVARTY). When Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, triggering the First Gulf War, a coalition of thirty-five countries led by the United States responded with Operation Desert Storm, which culminated in a one-hundred-hour coordinated air strike and ground assault that repelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Though largely forgotten in descriptions of the war, an eight-day barrage of artillery fire made this seemingly rapid offensive possible. At the forefront of this offensive were the brave field artillerymen known as "Redlegs." In Desert Redleg, Lingamfelter—who is a field artillery veteran of the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm) with the 1st Infantry Division Artillery (otherwise known as the "Big Red One")—recounts the tactical, operational, logistical and strategic decisions that led to a coalition victory. Drawing on original battle maps, official reports, and personal journals, Lingamfelter describes the experience of the First Gulf War through a soldier's eyes and attempts to answer the question of whether the United States "got the job done" in its first sustained Middle Eastern conflict. Part military history, part personal memoir, this book provides a boots-on-the-ground perspective on the largest US artillery bombardment since World War II.

In 2022, Lingamfelter finished writing his second book ''Yanks in Blue Berets: American UN Peacekeepers in the Middle East'' (University Press of Kentucky) on the U.S. role in UN Middle East peacekeeping. Yanks in Blue Berets chronicles the role of the US military in UN Middle East peacekeeping operations with the United Nations (UN) launched the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO). In 1948 following the conflict that erupted between Israel and its Arab neighbors, who profoundly opposed the creation of a Jewish state. UNTSO quickly found itself overseeing the ceasefire lines between combatant parties. In the ensuing decades, as countries along the eastern Mediterranean engaged in a series of escalating military conflicts, UNTSO was continually challenged in its peacekeeping mission, often having to alter its configuration. Matters came to a head in 1982, when Israel invaded Lebanon for a second time, calling into question the efficacy of UN peacekeeping operations and US support for them. Framed by Lingamfelter’s personal experiences, the book examines the difficulties faced by UN forces wedged between warring sides with limited trust in their authority as well as the challenging dichotomy of a soldier trained for combat yet immersed in unarmed peacekeeping. Yanks in Blue Berets is a "boots on the ground" perspective of the building Arab-Israeli tensions and geopolitics preceding the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. The book is due to be released on 4 July 2023.

Professional Experience

Since retiring from the military, Lingamfelter has worked for the private sector focused on strategic planning in support of the senior leadership for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he has worked in the emergency management and homeland security arena in support of federal agencies, states and localities. He is the Former President of the Commonwealth Homeland Security Foundation, Abrams Learning and Information Systems Incorporated and a former consultant for Computer Sciences Corporation.

Personal life

Lingamfelter is married to the former Shelley Glick of Bridgewater, Virginia. They have three children and five grandchildren. Lingamfelter attends Christ our Lord Anglican Church in Woodbridge, Virginia. He is also a member of the Association of the United States Army, the Society of the 1st Division, and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Lingamfelter maintains an active website at www.copybookwarrior.com where he shares a weekly Copy Book Warrior Update commentary to subscribers and markets autographed copies of his books.

References

External links

Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter
Virginia General Assembly

Virginia Public Access Project: L. Scott Lingamfelter

2012 legislative session
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lingamfelter, L. Scott
1951 births
Living people
Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Virginia Military Institute alumni
University of Virginia alumni
People from Woodbridge, Virginia
United States Army officers
American Anglican Church in North America members
Politicians from New York City
Recipients of the Legion of Merit
21st-century American politicians