Curtis Michael Scaparrotti American military leader, US Army general Date of Birth: 05.03.1956 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Military Beginnings
2. West Point and Commission
3. Overseas Assignments and Field Experience
4. Command and Staff Roles
5. Afghanistan Command
6. US Forces Korea Command
7. Personal Life

Early Life and Military Beginnings

Curtis Michael Scaparrotti was born on March 5, 1956, in Logan, Ohio, to Betty Brown and Michael Scaparrotti. Inspired by his father, a retired Sergeant Major who served in World War II and the Ohio National Guard, he developed an early interest in military service. He attended Logan High School in southeastern Ohio, graduating in 1974 despite struggling with mathematics.

West Point and Commission

In 1978, Scaparrotti graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army. His time at West Point instilled in him a strong work ethic, physical fitness, and a determination to succeed. He went on to serve as an anti-tank platoon leader, operations officer, and company commander in the 3rd Battalion, 325th Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Overseas Assignments and Field Experience

In 1983, Scaparrotti, now a Captain, made his first trip to Europe. He graduated from the Infantry Officer Advanced Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1984, and later earned a Master's degree in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina. In 1985, he returned to West Point as a Tactical Officer and Adjutant to the Superintendent until 1988, when he furthered his education at the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

In July 1989, he became the Operations Officer of the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, before moving into the division staff as Chief of Operations. From May 1992 to May 1994, Scaparrotti served in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army, G-1, in Washington, D.C. He was inducted into the Logan High School Hall of Fame in 1994.

From May 1994 to April 1996, Scaparrotti commanded the 3rd Battalion, 325th Airborne Combat Team of the Southern European Task Force in Vicenza, Italy, leading the battalion during operations Support Hope in Zaire/Rwanda, Joint Endeavor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Assured Response in Liberia. His experiences in these global conflicts shaped his military perspective. Scaparrotti witnessed the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide firsthand, stating that his soldiers could not establish a base camp due to the abundance of human remains scattered across the land.

Command and Staff Roles

In May 1996, Scaparrotti returned to Fort Drum as the Operations Officer of the 10th Mountain Division and attended the US Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. In 1998, he became the Army Initiatives Group Chief for the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, G-3, in Washington, D.C. In 1999, he returned to Fort Bragg to command the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division and served as Deputy Assistant Director for Joint Operations within the Joint Staff from July 2001 to July 2003.

From July 2003 to July 2004, he served as Assistant Division Commander of the 1st Armored Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom. From August 2004 to July 2006, Scaparrotti held the position of 69th Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. From August 2006 to September 2008, he was the Director of Operations for US Central Command, responsible for overseeing the conduct of military operations across the full range of security challenges in the Central Command Area of Responsibility, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia.

Afghanistan Command

From October 1, 2008, to August 2010, Scaparrotti commanded the 82nd Airborne Division, headquartered in eastern Afghanistan, serving as the Commanding General of Combined Joint Task Force 82 and Regional Command East. On June 3, 2009, a transfer of authority ceremony took place at Bagram Air Base, with the 82nd taking over from the 101st responsibility for 14 provinces in eastern Afghanistan along the Pakistani border.

On October 15, 2010, Scaparrotti assumed command of I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Fort Lewis, Washington. Concurrently, he served as Commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force Joint Command and Deputy Commander of US Forces-Afghanistan from July 11, 2011, to June 12, 2012. On May 1, 2012, he welcomed US President Barack Obama to Bagram Air Base as he arrived to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. Scaparrotti was then the second-in-command of American forces in Afghanistan.

Under his leadership, NATO troops, numbering over 140,000 at their peak, including 100,000 Americans, inflicted significant casualties on the Taliban during Operation Enduring Freedom, but the gains proved unsustainable, and insurgent attacks resumed after most NATO forces withdrew in 2014. Scaparrotti believed that the greatest obstacle to lasting peace in Afghanistan was ethnic and tribal militias, whose members deeply mistrusted those from other backgrounds.

US Forces Korea Command

On July 3, 2012, Scaparrotti became the Director of the Joint Staff, and Lieutenant General Robert Brown succeeded him as Commander of I Corps. On October 2, 2013, Scaparrotti was promoted to four-star General and assumed the positions of Commander of United Nations Command, Commander of Combined Forces Command, and Commander of US Forces Korea, replacing General James Thurman. Amidst growing instability in Northeast Asia due to North Korea's nuclear program, Scaparrotti oversaw an increase in the number of allied troops in South Korea, monitoring the Korean armistice, to 28,500.

On November 13, 2014, Scaparrotti received his 5th degree black belt in taekwondo and was awarded the Korean honorific surname So Han Thaek, which roughly translates to "one who secures South Korea and leads it to peace." On April 29, 2016, at a ceremony at the South Korean presidential residence, Cheong Wa Dae, President Park Geun-hye bestowed upon Curtis Scaparrotti, who was retiring from his post as USFK Commander, the Tong-il Medal of the Order of National Security Merit (1st Class) "in recognition of his contributions to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula." The transfer of command from Scaparrotti to General Vincent Brooks took place on April 30 at Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul.

Personal Life

Scaparrotti is married to Cindy Scaparrotti (née Bateman; from Logan, Ohio) and has two grown children: Michael (a graduate of Bowling Green State University) and Stephanie (a graduate of Ohio University), as well as two grandchildren.