A native of Wynne in Cross County in eastern Arkansas, Ford was married to Carol Ann Ford and had three children, David, Doug, and Clay, and seven grandchildren. He served in the infantry in the United States Army, the Army Reserve, and the Arkansas National Guard from 1955 to 1988, having advanced through the ranks from private to colonel. He studied at the United States Army War College in Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania and the United States Air Force War College in Frankfurt, Germany.
