Lieutenant General
Marvin D. Brailsford

Lieutenant General Marvin D. Brailsford was born in Burkeville, Texas on January 1939 and graduated from Prairie View A&M University in 1959.

His Ordnance career began in 1974 when he assumed command of the 101st Ordnance Battalion, 60th Ordnance Group, VII Corps, U.S. Army Europe. In 1976, he became the Deputy Commander, Kaiserslautern Army Depot and in 1978, he served at the U.S. Army Armament Research and Development Command in Dover, New Jersey. As Assistant Project Manager for Logistics and later as Assistant Development Officer for Select Ammunition, he managed the acquisition of the M4831A1 155mm and M509E1 8-inch artillery projectiles. In 1982, he assumed command of the 60th Ordnance Group, 21st Support Command with operations in England, the Benelux countries, and Germany. Here he demonstrated a remarkable ability to plan for the receipt, issue, shipment, and maintenance of conventional ammunition stocks, and all explosive ordnance disposal. He next commanded the Armament, Munitions, and Chemical Command at Rock Island, Illinois. He began production of the first components of the M687 binary chemical weapon, fielded the M1059 Smoke Generator, and executed the fielding of major items, such as Copperhead and M16A2 Rifles. He also planned and coordinated on-site Soviet inspections in support of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces mission.

He concluded his active duty career as Deputy Commanding General for Materiel Readiness, U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) and as the Department of Defense Executive Director for Conventional Ammunition Readiness. He was the key participant in the transfer of the Army's Supply Distribution function to the Defense Logistics Agency and created a Competition Business Office within AMC. Throughout Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, he provided expert guidance and direction in support of the largest and swiftest strategic movement of munitions ever conducted. General Brailsford retired in 1992.