Benjamin Harrison was born in 1928 in the small town of Trumann, Arkansas. His father died when Ben was just 10 years old. Midway through the 11th grade, he entered Arkansas State College and then transferred to the University of Mississippi. At age 17, he enlisted in the Army in January 1946. His ability was apparent from the start — he was promoted to Sergeant First Class at age 19 and was the enlisted honor graduate of his airborne class.
He returned to Ole Miss and in 1951 was called to active duty as a military personnel psychologist. In September 1951 he married Carolyn Algee, his college sweetheart. In 1952, at his own request, he returned to the infantry and was assigned to the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, where he served as aide de camp to Brigadier General A.S. Newman.
In 1970, Harrison commanded the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division during the last major U.S. ground battle of the Vietnam War — the Battle of Firebase Ripcord. That battle has been documented by Keith Nolan in his book Ripcord: Screaming Eagles Under Siege, Vietnam 1970. Following command of the 3rd Brigade, Harrison served as Senior Advisor to the Commanding General of the 1st Infantry Division, ARVN, during the Lam Son 719 operations into Laos.
In two tours in Vietnam, Harrison flew 1,842 combat hours and was the only officer in Vietnam to command a combat aviation battalion for 12 continuous months. He graduated from flight school in 1958 at the top of his class and was also first in his class at instrument school.
Keith Nolan’s book Ripcord, published in 2000, did not provide much detail of the North Vietnamese Army’s side of the battle. Harrison took it upon himself to fill that gap. He gathered official People’s Army of Vietnam books and publications, had them translated, and made trips to Vietnam in 2001 and 2004 — interviewing seven former enemy officers, including Major General Doi, who commanded the NVA division surrounding Ripcord from May until July 23, 1970.
Harrison’s book, Hell On A Hill Top, details a far larger North Vietnamese Army operation against Ripcord than had previously been known. It was published by iUniverse in November 2004 (ISBN: 0-595-66675-2).
Major General Harrison retired from the U.S. Army after 28 years of commissioned service as an infantryman, aviator, and educator. For three years he was the academic and administrative head of the Command and General Staff College, where one of his lasting contributions was consolidating all TRADOC constructive simulations and creating a family of battle simulations from platoon through corps level.
His final assignment before retirement was commander of the Soldier Support Center and Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, where he directed studies on unit cohesion and decentralization of personnel management that had major impact on today’s personnel policies. He also directed the one-year Review of Education and Training for Officers (RETO) that created the Combined Arms and Services Staff School (CAS3) and the Military Qualifications Standards (MQS) system.
In 1982, the TRADOC commander asked Harrison — then already retired — to lead a review of Army Aviation. That four-month study resulted in the creation of Aviation as a separate combat arms branch and the centralization of all aviation doctrine, materiel, and training development at Fort Rucker.
After retirement, Harrison served as a consultant in the defense industry, conducted 38 training programs for the CIA in the 1980s, and was a certified trainer and adjunct staff member of the Center for Creative Leadership from 1980 until full retirement in 1997.
- Distinguished Service Medal
- Silver Star — two awards
- Distinguished Flying Cross — two awards
- Legion of Merit — two awards
- Soldier’s Medal
- Air Medal — forty awards
- Numerous U.S. and foreign decorations
- Member, U.S. Army Aviation Hall of Fame
- University of Mississippi Army ROTC Hall of Fame
- Honorary Colonel, Third Aviation Regiment
- Listed in Who’s Who in America since 1981
- National President, Army Aviation Association of America, 1993–95
University of Mississippi, BA, Psychology, 1951 • University of Missouri at Kansas City, MA, Counseling and Education Psychology, 1963 • Auburn University, MBA, 1969 • Harvard Business School, AMP, 1971 • U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 1961 • Armed Forces Staff College, 1965 • USAF War College, 1969
