MG Vincent H. Ellis
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MG Vincent H. Ellis was born in Del Rio, Texas, on 9 November 1920. In 1941, he graduated from Kansas State College with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. He also earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1953. His military education included the Coast Artillery School in 1942; the British Military College of Science in 1950; the U.S. Army Ordnance School in 1951; the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1957; the U.S. Army Management School in 1961; and the Air War College in 1964.
General Ellis entered the Army as a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps Reserve in early 1942 and served at Fort Mason, California, and the Coast Artillery School, Fort Monroe, Virginia. He was then sent to the Far East Command where he served in staff and Ordnance Corps posts, including Nagoya and Kobe, Japan, from August 1946 to June 1947. After returning to the United States, he separated from the service. Shortly thereafter, however, he returned to active duty and was commissioned in the Regular Army. From November 1947 to September 1948, he was assigned to Ravenna Arsenal in Ohio. General Ellis was then selected to attend the British Military College of Science at Shrivenham, England. After graduating in October 1950, he again returned to the United States and continued his education. After completing his master's degree at Cornell University in 1953, he taught engineering mechanics at the U.S. Army Military Academy until June 1956.
For the next 10 years, General Ellis attended military schools and was also assigned to a variety of posts, including the U.S. Army Element of the Joint Military Mission at Ankara, Turkey; the Office of the Chief of Ordnance at the Pentagon; and the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In October 1967, he became the Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command in Warren, Michigan.
General Ellis had numerous other key assignments. He was the Senior Logistics Advisor to ROKA, Korea in 1968; Commanding General of the 8th U.S. Army Depot Command, 1969-1970; Commanding General of the U.S. Army Munitions Command in Dover, New Jersey, in 1973; and Deputy Commanding General for Logistics Support, AMC, in 1973. On 1 November 1973, General Ellis became Commander of the U.S. Army Missile Command, a post he held until 1 October 1975.
General Ellis' many decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal (Japan), the National Defense Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the World War II Victory Medal (with 2 Overseas Bars), the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for Korea, and the Vietnam Service Medal. General Ellis died on 16 December 1980.