United States Military Academy West Point - Howitzer Yearbook (West Point, NY)

On 28 June 1963, Major General James Benjamin Lampert. U.S.A.. became the 46th Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, in a line that has in- cluded such men as Sylvanus Thayer, Robert E. Lee, Douglas MacArthur and Maxwell D. Taylor. Born on 16 April 1914 in Washi ngton, D.C., General Lampert spent his boyhood in Wisconsin where he moved with his mother following the death of his father, Lt. Col. James G. B. Lampert, USMA 1910, in January 1919 while serving with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe. Upon graduation from public high school. General Lampert entered the United States Military Academy, where he was on the Board of Governors of the 1st Class Club, a fencer, a POINTER editor and a member of the Choir, graduating 36th out of 276 with the Class of 1936. Commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery, he transferred that same year to his father ' s old branch, the Corps of Engineers. Following ini- tial assignments and duties, one of which was to marry Margery Mitchell in June of 1937, Lieutenant Lampert entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, re- ceiving a M.S. degree in Civil Engineering in 1939. Now as a First Lieutenant, he was assigned to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where he graduated from Engineer School, Regu- lar Course, in 1940. With the advent of World War II, General Lampert, now a Major, was sent in June 1942 to the South Pacific as Battalion Commander of an Engineer aviation battalion in the Fiji Islands. After being transferred to Bougainville. Solomon Islands, in January of 1944 he was switched to the XIV Corps and it was as Corps Engineer that he partici- pated in the invasion of Luzon, Philippine Islands and the subsequent liberation of Manila in March 1945. Following the war. General Lampert served in both the Philippines and Japan before returning to the United States in March of 1946 to assume the post of Executive Officer to Lieutenant General Leslie R. Groves, Chief of the Manhattan Project (the atomic bomb project) and then to assist in the formation of the Armed Forces Spe- cial Weapons Project in 1947 which co-ordinated the military applications of atomic energy. From 1949 until 1962 General Lampert served in various posts to include a study of the water resources of the Southwestern United States, a study which later became the basis for large scale development of these resources in that area. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY Returning to the field of atomic energy in September of 1952, General Lampert functioned as Officer-in-Charge of the joint Army-A.E.C. Nuclear Power Program which studied the application of nuclear power plants to military needs. It was in this capacity that General Lampert di- rected the establishment of the first atomic power plant for military use at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Leaving Fort Belvoir in 1957, General Lampert at- tended the National War College, and was subsequently assigned to Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, where, upon his promotion to Brigadier General, he became Deputy C hief for Logistics for the military advisory group. In December I960, General Lampert returned to Washing- ton. D.C. to become Director of Military Construction of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, a post he held until his present assignment to the Military Academy. Among the General ' s citations and decorations are the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit. Bronze Star, and the Army Commendation Medal. MAJOR GENERAL JAMES BENJAMIN LAMPERT