The Honorable L. Scott Lingamfelter
Past Member, Virginia House of Delegates
Colonel, US Army (Retired)
L. Scott 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.
In particular, Colonel 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 in the midst of 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, Colonel 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 will unfold if hostilities erupt on the Korean peninsula.
Among his numerous 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; two Joint Service Commendation Medals; the Army Commendation Medal; the National Defense Service Medal with service star; the Southwest Asia Service Medal with three battle stars; the Army Service Ribbon, the Army Overseas Service Ribbon, the Kuwait Liberation Medal; the Saudi-Kuwaiti Liberation Medal; and the United Nations Service Medal.
After retiring from the military, he has worked for the private sector focused on strategic planning in support of the senior leadership for the US Missile Defense Agency in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he has worked in the emergency management, homeland security, and border security arena in support of Federal agencies, states, and localities.
Elected to the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 to 2018 representing Prince William and Fauquier Counties, then Delegate Lingamfelter is an adherent to the Founders’ vision of constitutional and limited government. He was a prominent voice for both fiscal and social conservatism in the General Assembly.
Since retiring from the General Assembly, he authored his first book, Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War (University Press of Kentucky, 2020) and a second book Yanks in Blue Berets: American UN Peacekeeping in the Middle East that will be released on 4 July 2023 (University Press of Kentucky). He has started another book on reviving the revolutionary spirit of America’s founding fathers in today’s culture. Colonel Lingamfelter routinely contributes to the commentary page of The Washington Times on a range of political and national security topics.
In 2023 Colonel Lingamfelter was officially notified by the United States Field Artillery Association that he will be inducted into the Field Artillery Hall of Fame.
Colonel Lingamfelter and the former Shelley Glick of Bridgewater, Virginia have been married for the past 43 years. They have three children and five grandchildren and are active members of All Saints Church in Woodbridge, Virginia.