William Bell, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who spent decades consulting on military security, died peacefully Nov. 25, 2014. He was 85.
Bell graduated from West Point in 1953, and was commissioned into the infantry. He earned an MPA degree from the Woodrow Wilson School in 1960. He served a tour in Germany at the height of the Cold War working with NATO in preparation for any incursion from the Soviet Union.
He also served in Vietnam in the late 1960s during an intense period of combat. He was a member of a long-range planning group working on pacification and the long-term development of South Vietnam. Bell completed his Army career in Washington, D.C., serving in the Pentagon. He retired in 1973, with a Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit.
Upon retirement, Bell joined BDM, later owned by Northrop Grumman, where he worked for 30 years. He personally devised and maintained data files of the order of battle of up to eight different armies. He received a Balkan Service Medallion from George Tenet, then acting director of the CIA.
Bell is survived by Judith, his wife of 36 years; three daughters; and five grandchildren. A son predeceased him.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.