Debra Scullary entered the Air Force in 1980 as a direct appointee. While on active duty, she served as an assistant staff judge advocate and then area defense counsel at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C. Following active duty, she served twelve years in the New York Air National Guard as an assistant staff judge advocate and then staff judge advocate at Stratton Air National Guard Base, Scotia, N.Y. During that time, she was also command counsel to the New York State Adjutant General. General Scullary transferred to the Air Force Reserve in 1996 where she was assigned to the Air Force Legal Services Agency until January 2006. She retired in 2011 as a U.S. Air Force Brigadier General.