Colden Ruggles

Ruggles as a brigadier general after World War I

Ruggles served as an Ordnance inspector at the Bethlehem Steel Company in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, from February 1900 to July 1903.[4] In 1903, he graduated from Lehigh University with an E.E. degree (electrical engineering).[7] He was an inspector at Watertown Arsenal, Massachusetts, from July 1903 to August 1908 and was promoted to major on June 25, 1906.[4] He served as professor of Ordnance and Gunnery at the United States Military Academy from August 1908 to June 1911, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 13, 1911.[4] In 1910, Ruggles published Stresses in Wire-Wrapped Guns and in Gun Carriages, a technical work which was used by Army Ordnance and Artillery officers.[8]

From June 1911 to July 1913, Ruggles was assigned as Ordnance officer for the Army's Western Department and commander of Benicia Arsenal, California.[4] He served in the Philippines from September 1913 to October 1915, assigned as Ordnance officer of the Philippine Department and commander of the Manila Ordnance Depot.[4] From December 1915 to March 1918, Ruggles commanded Sandy Hook Proving Ground, New Jersey, and he was promoted to colonel on May 15, 1917.[4]

From 1987's Quarters One, Aberdeen Proving Ground

While serving as commander of Sandy Hook Proving Ground, Ruggles planned and oversaw construction of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, which he commanded from October 1917 to March 1918.[4] From March 1918 to January 1919, Ruggles served at the Ordnance Department's headquarters in Washington, D.C., first as Chief of the Supply Division, then as Chief of the Inspection Division.[4] He was promoted to temporary brigadier general on August 8, 1918.[4]

From October to December 1918, Ruggles served on temporary inspection and observation duty with the American Expeditionary Forces in England and France.[4] At the end of the war, he received the Army Distinguished Service Medal in recognition of his efforts to create Aberdeen Proving Ground.[4] The citation for the medal reads:

For especially meritorious and distinguished service. The conception and construction of the Aberdeen Proving Ground and its operation during the early and most difficult period of its history are a monument to his sagacity and unremitting labor.

After the war, Ruggles was assigned as Chief of the Ordnance Department's Technical Staff.[4] He served in this position from January 1919 to July 1921.[4] In March 1919, he reverted to his permanent rank of colonel.[4] He was a student at the United States Army War College from August 1921 to June 1922 and after graduating he returned to his post as Chief of the Technical Staff at the Ordnance Department.[4]

From August 1923 until retiring in August 1930, Ruggles served as Chief of Ordnance Department's Manufacturing Division and Assistant Chief of Ordnance.[4] On March 28, 1927, Ruggles was again promoted to brigadier general.[4] From April to June 1930, Ruggles served as acting Chief of Ordnance.[4]

In retirement, Ruggles was a resident of Charleston, South Carolina.[4] He was a member of the American Society of Automotive Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Association.[9] He was a member of the General Society of Colonial Wars, The Huguenot Society of America, and American Legion.[9] He was also a hereditary member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.[9]