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Up for sale the "16th Chief of Ordnance" Levin H. Campbell Jr Hand Written Letter Dated 1944.
ES-6855
Levin
Hicks Campbell Jr. (November 23, 1886 – November 17. 1976) was
a Lieutenant General
in the United States Army. He was
the 16th Chief of
Ordnance for the U.S. Army
Ordnance Corps. 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. Upon graduation, he resigned from the Navy and accepted a job with United
States Steel. In 1911, he joined the Army and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in
the Army's Coast Artillery. Campbell's first Ordnance assignment came as a
Captain in April 1918 when he served in the Office of the Chief of Ordnance
during World War I. After the war Campbell continued his service in
the Ordnance Branch; including assignments at: the Office of the Chief of
Ordnance, Washington, D.C.; Stockton Ordnance Depot, Stockton, California;
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 across the country,
particularly for the production and chemicals and explosives, and the loading
of ammunition. Most were built by the government and operated under contract
for the Ordnance Department. In January 1942, he was placed in charge of all
industrial production and was promoted to Major General in Spring 1942. On June
1, 1942, Campbell was named as the 16th Chief of Ordnance. Among his major
accomplishments in that post was the development of what he called the
'Industry-Ordnance Team'. To improve manufacturing techniques, Campbell brought
in some of the best people from science and industry. The development,
production, and maintenance of Army Ordnance became a $30 billion-a-year
industry during World War II. By decentralizing his department's administrative
structure, Campbell was able to overcome many of the unprecedented difficulties
faced by the Ordnance Department in its responsibilities to arm and equip the
Army in World War II. Given the temporary rank of Lieutenant
General in April 1946, Campbell retired as a Major General in May 1946. He was
advanced to Lieutenant General on the retired list in June 1948. Campbell's
decorations included two awards of the Distinguished
Service Medal. He wrote The Industry-Ordnance Team in 1946
recounting the Allied effort to produce and deliver weapons, vehicles, and munitions
for World War II. After his military retirement, Campbell was involved with
several civilian businesses, including appointment as Executive Vice President
of the International Harvester company in Chicago, Illinois and serving on the boards of directors of
the Curtiss-Wright Corporation and American Steel Foundries. He was also
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Automotive Safety Foundation. General
Campbell died in Annapolis, Maryland on
November 17, 1976. He was buried in Section 02, Lot 0336 of the United States
Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1972 Campbell was
inducted into the Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame. The U.S. Army Ordnance Corps
Association's Levin Hicks Campbell Jr. Distinguished Award of Merit is named
for him.