Due to the COVID-19/Coronavirus, AUSA has determined that it would be in the best interests of the community to postpone this event. Out of concern for everyone’s health and welfare, we regretfully have made the decision to postpone this event.
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: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War, veteran and former redleg of the First Infantry Division Artillery (otherwise known as the "Big Red One") Col. L. Scott Lingamfelter recounts the logistical and strategic decisions that led to a coalition victory. Drawing on original battle maps, official reports, and his and his comrades' 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.
Schedule
5:30pm-6:00pm: Reception & Networking
6:00pm-7:00pm: Program
About the Author
Colonel L. Scott Lingamfelter lives in Woodbridge, Virginia, and attended the Virginia Military Institute, where he earned a B.A. in History in 1973. After graduating from VMI, he was commissioned in the Regular Army and began a career as a Field Artilleryman and a Middle East Foreign Area Officer.
In 1981, he completed his M.A. in Comparative Governments of the Middle East and Soviet Foreign Policy from the University of Virginia. After many assignments in Europe, Asia, and Middle East, both in command and staff positions, he retired in 2001 to pursue a second career as a legislator in the Virginia General Assembly where he served from 2002 to 2018.
Colonel Lingamfelter accumulated significant experience in the war-torn Middle East as a military observer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. He later served with the 1st Infantry Division during Operation Desert Storm as the Executive Officer of the Division Artillery that planned and executed the largest field artillery assault on enemy forces since WW II.
A 1997 graduate of the US Army War College, Colonel Lingamfelter now devotes his time to writing professionally and routinely contributes to The Washington Times on national security topics.