Levin H. Campbell, Jr.

This article is about the U.S. Army General. For the U.S. Appellate Court Judge, see Levin H. Campbell.

Levin Hicks Campbell, Jr.
Major General Campbell at a press conference in December, 1942
Born	(1886-11-23)November 23, 1886 Washington, D.C.
Died	Annapolis, Maryland
Buried	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	World War I World War II
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal (2) Order of the British Empire
Other work	Business Executive

Levin Hicks Campbell, Jr. was a Lieutenant General in the United States Army. He was the Army's Chief of Ordnance from 1942 to 1946.

Biography

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, 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, 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.

In recognition of his superior service during World War II, General Campbell was promoted to Lieutenant General on the retired list in June, 1948.

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.

Sources

• U. S. Army Register, published by U.S. Army Adjutant General's Office, 1911, page 643
• Army List and Directory, published by U.S. Army Adjutant General's Office, 1919, page 77
• The Story of Ordnance in the World War, by Sevellon Brown, 1920, page 153
• Newspaper article, Give Dinner for Major Campbell, Davenport (Iowa) Democrat And Leader, May 26, 1927
• Magazine article, Army Chief for Ordnance, Time Magazine, June 1, 1942
• Newspaper article, Gen. Campbell is Nominated Army Ordnance Chief, Chicago Tribune, May 21, 1942
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), Ford's Richmond Assembly Plant, Chapter 4, http://www.rosietheriveter.org/FordBldgReport/Chapter4WWIIPart1.pdf
• Newspaper article, U.S. Rocket Developed: We Surpass Germans in Work on Weapon, New York Times, December 17, 1943
• Newspaper article, Joins American Steel Foundries, New York Times, November 21, 1948
• Military Times, Hall of Valor, List of Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal, http://www.homeofheroes.com/valor/02_awards/index_dsm/00_armyDSM-index.html
• Pentagon Politics, by William Haynie Neblett, 1953, page 34
• Who's Who in Commerce and Industry, 1953, Volume 9, page 242
• Newspaper article, Retired General Elected To Curtiss-Wright Board, New York Times, April 25, 1952
• Traffic Digest and Review Magazine, 1953, Volumes 1 and 2, page 20
• Newspaper article, Obituary, Levin H. Campbell, New York Times, April 16, 1955
• U.S. Army Register, U.S. Army Adjutant General's Office, 1962, Volume 1
• Newspaper article, Levin H. Campbell, Ordnance General: Administered Gigantic Armament Program for World War II, Foresaw Rockets Role, by Werner Bamberger, New York Times, November 18, 1976
• United States Naval Academy Cemetery Documentation Project, Levin Hicks Campbell, Jr. fact sheet dated June 15, 2005, http://www.usna.edu/cemetery/PDF%20Files/Section%203/0336-%20Campbell,%20L.%20H.,%20Jr.pdf
• U.S. Army Ordnance Corps web site, Hall of Fame Inductees By Year page, http://www.goordnance.apg.army.mil/sitefiles/HOFInducteesbyYear.htm
• U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Association web site, awards page, http://www.usaocaweb.org/awards.htm