During World War I, Cole was commissioned as first lieutenant in the United States Army in November 1917.

Cole was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 11, 1942, to a seat on the United States Customs Court vacated by Judge George Stewart Brown.

His service terminated on July 9, 1952, due to his elevation to the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.

[1] Cole was nominated by President Harry S. Truman on July 4, 1952, to an Associate Judge seat on the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals vacated by Associate Judge Joseph Raymond Jackson.

[2] Cole Field House at the University of Maryland, College Park is named in his honor.