Ralph Tildon graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1968 and served in Vietnam as an Infantry Officer in the Americal Division from 1969 to 1970. After serving in Germany and earning a Master’s Degree, he returned to West Point, where he worked in the Admissions Office until transitioning into the Reserves in 1978. In 1982, he earned a PhD from Columbia University. He retired from the Reserves as a Colonel in 1998.