James W. Ball

Ball was born in Columbia, Mississippi, on February 10, 1939. He completed high school in 1956 and attended Mississippi State University. He was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity and a member of Scabard and Blade. An industrial management major and a member of ROTC, he graduated in 1960 as a Distinguished Military Graduate.

Ball completed the Infantry Officer School Basic Course and was a Platoon Leader and Assistant S4 with the 2nd Airborne Battle Group, 187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division Fort Campbell, Kentucky. After transferring to the Ordnance Corps, he served as the Project Officer and the Executive Officer with the Procurement and Product Directorate, U.S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Following a tour in France, Ball spent six months as the S-4 for the 62nd Maintenance Battalion in Vietnam before completing a year as Commander of the 149th Maintenance Company of the 62nd Maintenance Battalion. In 1968, he completed the Ordnance Advanced Course at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and, following an assignment with the Defense Contract Administration Services District in Atlanta, he attended the Command and General Staff College course at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1970. For the next three years, he served as the Logistics Staff Officer for the Deputy Chief of Logistics, U.S. Army Europe and, then, as a student at the U.S. Army Logistics Management Center at Fort Lee, Virginia. While at Fort Lee, Ball completed an M.S. degree in Contract and Procurement Management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1974.[1]

As a Lieutenant Colonel, Ball served for nearly a year as a Logistics Staff Officer with the Defense Attache Office in Saigon, Vietnam, and was one of the last American officers to leave Saigon before the North Vietnamese entered the city on April 30, 1975. Following tours as Commander of the 782nd Maintenance Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division and, later, as Commander of the Division Material Management Center, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Ball attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. Next, he served as Chief of the Procurement Programs and Budget Division, Materiel Plans and Programs Directorate, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development, and Acquisition at Pentagon, Ball spent four years in Europe as Commander of the 3rd Armored Division Support Command, 3rd Armored Division, and later as Deputy Commander, 2nd Corps Support Command, VII Corps.

In 1983, Ball began an assignment as Project Manager for Training Devices with the Office of the Deputy Commanding General for Research, Development and Acquisition, U.S. Army Materiel Command, in Orlando, Florida. In July 1986, he was selected for promotion to Brigadier General and was assigned as the Program Executive Officer, Combat Support Systems, U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Command in Warren, Michigan.

Ball became the 24th Chief of Ordnance and Commandant of the Ordnance Center and School in August 1988. During his tenure, the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy was re-certified and the Ordnance Museum was readied for re-certification after an effort of several years. With consistent effort by the entire staff, the caliber of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) graduates attending the Ordnance School underwent substantial improvement. Ball concentrated on improving the second half of the Warrant Officer Basic Course offered at the Ordnance School, which students attended after they completed the first half at Fort Rucker, Alabama.[1]

Following his assignment as Chief of Ordnance, Ball served as Director for Supplies and Maintenance, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, U.S. Army. He retired in 1993.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army.