Aberdeen Proving Ground - Yearbook (Aberdeen, MD)

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HARRY R. KUTZ Baiqacfiea Qeneaal

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uavm H. cAMPBEu., Jn. General Campbell was born in Washington, D. C., on November 23, l886. He was graduated from the United States Naval Academy on June 7, l909. On December 2, l9lI, he was appointed a Second Lieutenant, Coast Artillery Corps. General Campbell was promoted to First Lieutenant on July l, l9I6g to Captain on M-ay IS, l9l7, to Maior ltemporaryl on May ll, l9l8g to Lieutenant Colonel itemporaryt on October I0, I9l8. He reverted to his regular rank of Captain on March l5, l920, and was promoted to Maior on July I, I92Og to Lieutenant Colonel on August I, I935g to Brigadier General ltemporaryt on October I, I940g to Maior General ltemporaryl on April I, I942, and to Maior General ipermanentl on June I, l942. General Campbell first served at Fort Monroe, Virginia, followed by duty at Fort Williams, Maine, until the autumn of l9l5, when he was ordered to the Panama Canal for duty with Coast Artillery troops. He returned to the United States in April, I9l8, and was ordered to duty in the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, in Washington, D. C. In September, l920, he was'ordered to Stockton, California, for a study of artillery material production at the Holt Manufacturing Plant. He remained at Stockton until the summer of I92I, when he was transferred to the Ordnance Department and served to September, l923, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, as a proof officer in charge of tanks, tractors, self-propelling mounts and mobile artillery. He then became Officer in Charge of the Design Section at the Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. In April, l926, General Campbell was ordered to Washington D. C., to take charge of the Automotive Section, Artillery Division, Office of the Chief of Ordnance, remaining on this duty until June I930, when he returned to Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, as Officer in Charge of Manu- facture. He served to June, l935, when he was ordered to Frankford Arsenal, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he had charge of the Artillery Ammunition Department until the summer of l940. He was then ordered to Washington, D. C., for duty in the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, as Assistant Chief of Industrial Service Facilities. On October I, l940, he was placed in charge of Development of Facilities, Office of the Chief of Ordnance, Washington, D. C. General Campbell became Chief of Ordnance on June I, l942, for a four- year term, with headquarters in Washington, D. C.

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STUHY UF BEHDEE PHU EHUU Aberdeen Proving Ground is a huge combinaTion oT display room and experimenTal and research laboraTories, manned by highly Trained scienTisTs and engineers, skilled mechanics and machinisTs To whose ears The roar oT cannon and blasT oT bomb are commonplace, and The sharp bark oT smaller arms is no more Than The noise oT TraTTic. IT is The duTy oT These Technical men To know exacTly whaT can be expecTed oT every Type oT Ordnance maTeriel and ammuniTion used in The various branches oT The UniTed STaTes Army. MainTained by The Ordnance DeparTmenT, The very siTuaTion and Terrain OT The Proving Ground lend Themselves To The work. NaTure endowed The 67,700 acres wiTh everyThing needed buT a hill, and The DeparTmenT soon Took care oT ThaT by building iTs own. The Proving Ground is locaTed along The wesTern shore OT The upper arm OT The Chesapeake Bay, a wisely chosen siTe, Tor iT provides a waTer surTace Tor approximaTely TiTTy per cenT oT The vasT acreage. The esTablishmenT came inTo being in l9I7, when The limiTed scope OT The old proving ground aT Sandy Hook, New York, handicapped The TesTing oT maTeriel and ammuniTion during World War l. Congress approved The pur- chase oT land in OcTober, l9I7, and wiThin a Tew days The necessary survey was sTarTed. ln all 53,500,000 were spenT in acquiring The PosT, which included a Three-mile righT-OT-way Tor a GovernmenT railroad and highway To connecT wiTh The Pennsylvania Railroad aT Aberdeen, The Town Trom which The proving ground Took iTs name. When The TirsT TesT shoT was Tired on The new reservaTion, New Year's Day, l9I8, There were buT Three dozen oTTicers sTaTioned There. April, l9l8, Tound l2O oTTicers on The posT, and aT The close oT World War l The work had proved so valuable ThaT The miliTary complemenT was greaTly enlarged and There were abouT 900 civilian workers, ex- clusive oT conTracTors' employes on The reservaTion. Since The TerminaTion oT The TirsT World War, and especially during The pasT decade, The original Temporary build- ings have Tallen beTore The march oT progress, and a modern and beauTiTul posT has arisen in Their sTead. In general The recenT consTrucTion has been in Tield sTone oT disTincTive design, while The shop buildings and laboraTories are oT sTeel and brick, and are equipped wiTh every conceivable Tool and machine To expediTe The work. Recognized Today as one OT The greaTesT Ordnance PosTs in The world, The proving ground is also The home OT The Ordnance School, The Ordnance ReplacemenT Training CenTer, and The Bomb Disposal School. The primary TuncTion oT The proving ground is The TesTing oT Ordnance maTeriel and ammuniTion. ConsequenTly, The requiremenTs Tor This work were given The TirsT consideraTion in deTermining The size oT The reservaTion, selecTing iTs siTe, and providing iTs TaciliTies. The basic duTy on The posT is To make developmenT, accepTance, surveillance, and experimenTal TesTs. These Tour general headings break down inTo The Tollowing specialized groupspsmall arms, arTillery, bomb, and auTomoTive. Realizing ThaT improvemenTs in Ordnance maTeriel and ammuniTion are To a large exTenT made possible by The resulT oT research, The Ordnance DeparTmenT supporTs a greaT amounT oT such work aT The Proving Ground. A sTaTT oT highly Trained engineers and scienTisTs is mainTained on The PosT, lT is Their duTy To creaTe new Tools and machinery needed To expediTe The producTion oT arms, To Tind Tlaws in weapons and ammuniTion and To correcT iT, as well as To be versed in all phases oT baIlisTics. When Ordnance maTeriel and ammuniTion has compleTed The TesTs aT Aberdeen Proving Ground and is accepTed Tor use by The Army, ThaT maTeriel and ammuniTion is righT. The proving ground personnel may never meeT The enemy, buT when peace comes again They will have done more Than Their share in keeping him Trom American shores. Theirs is The diTTiculT, unsung iob oT experimenT and research: Theirs is The baTTle oT paTience and oT Trial and error. Wherever American arms are Tound on The world's Tar-Tlung baTTleTields, The men oT Aberdeen Proving Ground saw and Tried Those arms TirsT. They know They are The TinesT weapons on earTh and ThaT They are worThy oT The men who use Them.