Scotty Smiley

“The thing that really mattered was, Scotty cared about his Soldiers. He loved his Soldiers. And they knew it. And they knew it because he gave his time; he invested in them; he shared his feelings with them and they shared their feelings with him.”

– Jeff Van Antwerp

Serve Selflessly. Care Passionately. Pursue Inexorably.

Scotty Smiley, a Ranger and combat-diver qualified infantryman, was the Army’s first active-duty, blind officer. On April 6, 2005, he lost use of both eyes when a suicide car bomber blew himself up thirty meters in front of Scotty’s Stryker vehicle.  Since that day, Scotty Smiley has surfed in Hawaii, skied in Vail, skydived, climbed Mount Rainier, completed a triathlon, and graduated from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business with his MBA.  The Army Times named Scotty its Soldier of the Year in 2007 and in 2008 he won an ESPY as the world’s Best Outdoor Athlete. Scotty, a recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, recently taught the core course in leadership at West Point and now commands the Warrior Transition Unit at West Point’s Keller Army Medical Center. Captain Smiley is the Army’s first blind company commander.

Scotty and his wife Tiffany are both from Pasco, Washington where Scotty captained the Pasco High School Bulldogs to a Class 4A State Football Championship.  Tiffany, who played college soccer at Whitworth, is a registered nurse. Scotty Smiley and Tiffany Smiley are the proud parents of Grady Douglas and Graham Elliott.

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Scotty with Team USA Basketball from Doug Crandall on Vimeo.