Colonel Clifford H. Ford attended Officer Candidate School, Class 267, at Fort Benning, Georgia, and graduated on 9 July 1943. His first assignment was as a Rifle Platoon Leader and Mortar Platoon Leader for the 103d Infantry Division at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana.  He moved with the unit to Camp Howze, Texas, where he served as a machine gun platoon leader.  Later he went overseas to Southern France and Germany with the 103d and became the battalion S3. In 1945, he was promoted to Captain and became a battery commander with the 17th Field Artillery Battalion. He later became Communications Officer for the 6th Tank Destroyer Group and the 5th Constabulary Group in Germany. After a few years in the Inactive Reserve, Colonel Ford returned to active duty as an Assistant Professor of Military Science of Mississippi State University, and in 1959 was assigned as G3 of the 25th Infantry Division in Korea. He accompanied the 25th to Hawaii, where he became a company commander for one year, and returned to Fort Benning, Georgia, to the 3d Infantry Division. While serving with the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning as an Assistant Operations Officer of the Weapons Department, he was promoted to Major and subsequently attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1962, he became part of the U.S. Army Element Military Assistant Advisor Group, Iran, and was advisor to the 10th Iranian Infantry Division.  Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, he became Team Chief of Command Analysis Team for the Office of the Comptroller of the Army in Washington, D.C. In 1965, he returned to Germany as Executive Officer of the 1st Brigade, Third Infantry Division, and later assumed command of the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry, Third Infantry Division, where in 1968 he became the division’s Executive Officer. Colonel Ford completed a tour as Duty Director of Plans and Training at the United States Army Infantry Center, Fort Benning, Georgia and was President of the jury in the Calley court-martial, one of the most controversial and poignant trials of our time. After this assignment Colonel Ford returned to the Republic of Vietnam. | Colonel Ford’s awards and decorations include: The Bronze Star with two oak leaf Clusters; Meritorious Service Medal; Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf Clusters; the Combat Infantryman Badge; and the Army General Staff Medal.