As a career ordnance officer, he specialized in the engineering and production of combat vehicles, small arms, artillery, and ammunition.

He was commended for successfully automating the artillery ammunition assembly line at Frankford Arsenal, Pennsylvania, while assigned there from 1939 to 1940.

In 1940, Campbell was promoted to brigadier general and appointed assistant chief of ordnance for facilities, where he supervised the planning and construction of new munitions factories across the country, particularly for the production and chemicals and explosives, and the loading of ammunition.

He wrote The Industry-Ordnance Team in 1946 recounting the Allied effort to produce and deliver weapons, vehicles, and munitions for World War II.

After his military retirement, Campbell was involved with several civilian businesses, including appointment as Executive Vice President of the International Harvester company in Chicago, Illinois and serving on the boards of directors of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation and American Steel Foundries.

He was buried in Section 02, Lot 0336 of the United States Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland.