Dickinson, N.D. (KXNET)- He grew up in western North Dakota.But Scott Decker was one of the first troops on the ground for the start of the Gulf War.Decker is now the mayor of Dickinson, but prior to that, he served over 20 years in the U.S. Army. "I walked in and he said, 'the Air Force guy's not here.' And I said, 'I'm not here to talk to him.' And he said, 'what can I help you with?' and I said, 'I want to jump out of airplanes'. For Dickinson native Scott Decker, a life in the military didn't happen right after graduation. When I came home from MEPS, and I said I signed up for airborne infantry, my parents thought it was crazy. My mother was not happy. MEPS is short for Military Entrance Processing Station. Soon after that, Decker was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia in 1989. "One of the things they always tell you in the army is, 'don't volunteer for anything'. I volunteered for everything," Decker said. By volunteering, Decker's marching orders happened quickly, as he was placed in the 197th Separate Brigade. It landed him a spot on the 18th battalion's competition rifle team, where he placed near the top in competitions, but the real fighting was just about to begin with the Persian Gulf war. "We weren't actually supposed to go. So, Gen. McCafferty at the time, went out looking for a unit that could backfill that, and he selected us to the round out brigade for the 24th infantry, and we ended up being in Gen. Schwarzkopf's right hook in the desert. It meant a late-night flight to Saudi Arabia where thousands of fellow infantry members were camped waiting for a battle that wouldn't even last a week. "And they had no idea we were sitting in the middle of the Saudi Arabian desert ready to go up through the middle of Iraq and cut off their supply chains and basically come through the back door. We cut through those units fast. That's why that only lasted four days," Decker said. Decker says the hard fighting was over, but the mission wasn't finished they soon were tasked with manning a checkpoint along the 'Highway of Death'. "One of the things, we're pulling them (Iraqi soldiers) out of trenches and bunkers and they're begging us not to eat them," Decker said. "Because they're only given a canteen cup of water a day and maybe a couple of spoonfuls of rice to eat." Decker says the Desert Storm conflict was just the start of a major learning curve for the military, but it offered him some unique opportunities, including a visit from the Commander in Chief. "We're over in the desert, George Bush comes over, giving a big 'rah rah' speech. We build him a dining hall out of sandbags," Decker said. You may have heard the expression, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Well, Decker got to do a bit of both. In fact, he got to play horseshoes with president bush. "He gets up on this podium. He picks up a set of horseshoes. I'd really like to play horseshoes. Have a contest, and whoever wins, you're coming to the White House to play. I told Billy Goolsby, we're going to the White House," Decker said. Decker says he got to bring his family on the trip, where he and his team partner were then defeated in the match by the competitive George Bush, Sr on the White House lawn. Meanwhile, Decker stayed busy. He injured his back in a training mission, recovered and in 1995, received orders to deploy to South Korea. "That's an interesting way, for a whole year, knowing if they come south, you can fight, but you're probably not going to be able to fight for long," Decker said. After that deployment, Decker then worked on the Land Warrior Project, a military test project to plug in teams of soldiers to be connected to one another in real time.But it was orders for a second deployment to Korea that put an end to Decker's army service since he couldn't bring his family.He and his family would soon return to North Dakota. "I love this city, I love this state, my wife used to say, you never smiled until we got back to North Dakota. And she's probably right," Decker said. Decker then spent time as a recruiter for the North Dakota National Guard. He retired from the service in 2010 and became more active in local politics in Dickinson. "So, in 2012, I ran and I lost by 300 votes," Decker said. "And the funny thing, I thought, where are all these people who wanted me to be mayor? They won't even elect me to be the commissioner." Decker was then elected commissioner two years later, and then mayor in 2016.A position he continues serving to this day. Every day when people ask me, 'how are you?' I say, 'I'm great I'm still breathing. It's a great day', it is! Every day is given," Decker said. Decker admits he did not get many opportunities to jump out of airplanes, but his brother Mark did, as he served with the 82nd Airborne Division.