"Combining his combat experience with a life-long study of men in direct combat, Bob Scales has written a classic. In this eye-opening and authentic work, he articulates a provocative yet sensible way for our nation to overcome its institutional neglect of the infantry. Let's apply now the wisdom of our top warrior-scholar who has demonstrated again his penetrating understanding of combat at the point of maximum danger."--Gen. James N. Mattis, USMC (Ret.), Commander, United States Central Command (2010‒13), Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command and Supreme Allied Commander Transformation for NATO (2007‒10)
"This book provides many well-developed recommendations put forward by leaders…" --On Point
"If we wish to be ready for the next war, two questions follow: whether we can improve our ability to predict the conflict and how we might better prepare our forces to win no matter what. In his latest book…Scales takes up both questions, and, with iconoclastic fervor, tears down the business-as-usual answers to each." - Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC)
"This is a very good, thought-provoking read" - The Journal of America's Military Past
"Enormously compelling, stimulating, thoughtful--and thought-provoking--reflections by one of America's foremost practitioners of scholars on contemporary soldiering and the American military. A brilliant intellectual capstone to General Scales' decades of seminal contributions to the most important defense debates of the day."--Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, (Ret.), Commander, Multinational Force-Iraq (2007‒2008); and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (2010‒2011)
"Before completing the next three sentences, stop what you're doing. Go online and purchase Scales On War: The Future of America's Military at Risk--an inevitable classic. Your MOS doesn't matter. Neither does your rank. If you're a Marine at heart--and subsequently believe that our Corps' foundation is built around our infantry units--read retired U.S. Army MG Robert H. Scales' new book as soon as possible. Go to a quiet place, get ready to take detailed notes, and commit to taking a hard, introspective look at ourselves courtesy of the man whom Gen James N. Mattis, USMC (Ret) considers our Nation's top warrior-scholar. His book provides our Corps an opportunity to critically look at ourselves, our priorities, and, most importantly, our close combat formation's true capabilities. Scales is spot-on in highlighting existing deficiencies, as well as in providing specific actions to take to eliminate them. Over the past 15 years of combat, the Marines who serve in these units have done their very best--and performed extremely well--in spite of not being the forefront of institutional prioritization and focus. Ideally, thousands of Marines very closely reading, thinking about, and discussing Scales On War will finally provide the long overdue catalyst required to get our Corps' priorities back in order."--Marine Corps Gazette
"Two decades ago, Bob Scales revolutionized how the United States thought about combat as Commandant of the Army War College. In the years since he has continued to write, teach, and learn. In Scales on War, he collects the lessons from a lifetime of thinking about man's most horrible endeavor. Those who read it will be better prepared to keep America strong, safe, and free."--Lt. Col. John Nagl, USA (Ret.), author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam and Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice
"Readers will appreciate Robert Scales' candid conversational style, mercifully free of military jargon or the usual defense policy platitudes. Gen. Scales may even surprise some readers as he casually debunks forecasts of imminent combat with the usual cast of suspects: Russia, China, North Korea or even Iran. But it is always the wars no one predicted that suddenly appear. They represent the greatest threats to American interests--and thus to the 'poor, bloody infantry' we typically dispatch to set things right. While his book is well-researched, Gen. Scales is his own best source. He presents American readers with a compendium of expert advice, the peerless result of a lifetime spent studying war and its demands on a free society."--The Washington Times
"You couldn't ask for a more eloquent spokesman for investing fully in America's overworked, underloved, close-combat contingents: tough Army and Marine infantry; our superb special operations forces; and their immediate running buddies, the medics, the forward observers, and the rest of those at the very tip of the spear. In Scales on War, the author marshals his considerable talents as a veteran combat soldier, gifted writer and incisive thinker to advance the case. To his credit, Scales also offers answers. His book provides a way ahead for a renaissance of U.S. Army and Marine infantry and special operations forces. He offers concrete examples of upgraded weaponry, useful technical solutions to enhance human senses, much more demanding training, and effective borrowings from the social sciences. If adopted, such reforms would compel a cultural change in our military and, indeed, in our broader society's expectations of our troops. That's what's required for our country to dominate the close fight embraced by our enemies. With a new administration in Washington, D.C., Scales is offering the hard-won, hard-edged military advice the incoming civilian leaders need to hear." -- Army Magazine
"General Bob Scales' book sizzles with insights on how to improve America's warfighting effectiveness. He sees it from the ground, through soldiers' eyes, gained through fifty years of direct experience, close study, and thoughtful analysis. This is a book for both today's warriors and the policymakers and planners who back them up."--Gen. Wesley K. Clark, USA (Ret.), NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1997‒2000) and author of Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo and the Future of Combat
"Scales is most convincing when he presents detailed arguments, such as specific equipment that would help the infantry and be cost-effective. The descriptions of the changing nature of war requiring boots on the ground among the population and sensitivity to public opinion are insightful. He also effectively criticizes the over-mechanization of war, charging that Washington forgets that it is the sweat and blood of soldiers that wins wars. Overall, Scales makes some strong points, particularly his advocacy for the infantry."--The Huffington Post
"Bob Scales has dedicated his life to helping young Americans win our wars. He understands that fighting and bureaucracy seldom work together. His commitment is to the fighter. The next cycle of leadership should read this book and implement its wisdom."--Newt Gingrich, 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
"The former commandant of the Army War College and occasional news-media military analyst (Fox News and NPR) weighs in next month with 'my last shot to tell the story of neglect, ahistoricism, intellectual hubris, corruption and ignorance about the nature and character of war that has left too many of our (mostly) soldier sons dead on our battlefields.' With two daughters in the Army, he fears that 'my grandchildren will fight with Reagan-era weapons' because the Department of Defense 'wants to buy big, expensive stuff that floats and flies' instead of equipping the boots on the ground. He believes 'war is inherently a human rather than technological exercise,' and he wants appropriate supplies--including officers who are selected early because they are 'promising strategists in the midst of their tactically competent brethren.'"--Military Times
"In this short, eminently readable, and deeply affecting blend of military analysis and memoir, Robert Scales, retired US Army general, artillery commander in Vietnam, and distinguished military historian, identifies the major trends shaping modern American warfare, the dynamics in American politics that are constraining our nation's influence abroad, and the practical solutions that can turn things around."--The Boston Globe
