Levin Hicks Campbell, Jr. | |
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Major General Campbell at a press conference in December, 1942
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Born |
Washington, D.C. |
November 23, 1886
Died | November 17, 1976 Annapolis, Maryland |
(aged 89)
Buried at | United States Naval Academy Cemetery, Annapolis |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/branch | United States Army |
Years of service | 1911 – 1946 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Service number | 0-3194 |
Commands held | Chief of Ordnance |
Battles/wars | |
Awards |
Distinguished Service Medal (2) Order of the British Empire |
Other work | Business Executive |
Levin Hicks Campbell, Jr. (November 23, 1886 – November 17. 1976) was a Lieutenant General in the United States Army. He was the Army's Chief of Ordnance from 1942 to 1946.
The son of U.S. Court of Patent Appeals Judge Levin Hicks Campbell, Sr. (1860–1955), Levin Hicks Campbell, Jr. was born on November 23, 1886 in Washington, D.C. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1909, and in 1911 was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army's Coast Artillery.
He later transferred to the Ordnance Corps, and served in the Office of the Chief of Ordnance during World War I.
After the war Campbell continued his service, including assignments at: the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, Washington, D.C.; Stockton Ordnance Depot, ; Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; and Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. As a career Ordnance officer, he specialized in the engineering and production of combat vehicles, small arms, artillery, and ammunition.
He was commended for successfully automating the artillery ammunition assembly line at Frankford Arsenal, Pennsylvania while assigned there from 1939 to 1940.
In 1940 Campbell was promoted to Brigadier General and appointed Assistant Chief of Ordnance for Facilities, where he supervised the planning and construction of new munitions factories, and was responsible for overseeing civilian industrial production of small arms, artillery, tanks, and ammunition.
In 1942 General Campbell was promoted to Major General. In 1943 he was assigned as the Chief of Ordnance, where he remained until his 1946 retirement. General Campbell's decorations included two awards of the Distinguished Service Medal. He also authored 1946's The Industry-Ordnance Team, his recounting of the Allied effort to produce and deliver weapons, vehicles and munitions for World War II.