Lieutenant General Eugene J. D’Ambrosio was born in Yonkers, New York on April 13, 1921. As a young Ordnance officer, he designed the first Army standardized stock accounting system, which was ultimately adopted by all of the technical services. As project manager for the first operations research effort to review and revise rebuild practices for Army materiel, he developed the economics life philosophy used today concerning inventory and research and development items.
As the G-4 of the 1st Infantry Division in 1965, he prepared the Division for
movement to Vietnam and for conducting combat logistical operations there, setting precedents for all follow-on divisions.
As a Brigadier General in 1971, he restructured the Army Depot Maintenance system by combining maintenance depots in CONUS, Europe, and the Far East into a single structure under the command and direction of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. While serving as the Director of Supply and Maintenance in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics in 1974, he implemented the first Army-wide Integrated Logistics System (ILS) for the support of new weapons systems.
He was the first Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command from 1976 to 1979 and made significant contributions in this position. He established the Depot Systems Command, to command and control the Army’s supply and maintenance depotsworldwide. He established the Army Materiel Readiness Agency at Lexington, Kentucky and designed and implemented the first readiness reporting system for the U.S. Army wholesale logistics command. He had direct control of all the Materiel Readiness Commands, with an inventory of over $37 billion. General D’Ambrosio retired in 1979 and became the Honorary Colonel of the Ordnance Corps in 1990.
D’AMBROSIO, EUGENE J., LT.GEN., USA (Ret.)
On January 17, 2004 of North Wales, Pennsylvania. Husband of Martha “Marge” L. (nee Simon); father of Robert J. (Joanne Connor) and Barbara Gene Smith (Karl); brother of Robert L.; grandfather of David and Kathleen D’Ambrosio. Relatives and friends are invited to the viewing Saturday, January 24 at 10 a.m. at St. Rose of Lima Church, 428 S. Main St., North Wales, Pennsylvania, followed by Funeral Mass at 11 a.m.
Interment Arlington National Cemetery on March 10, 2004 with Mass at the Fort Myer Old Post Chapel at 12::45 p.m. In lieu of flowers, remembrances in Gene’s name may be made to the American Heart Association.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard