A Sailor in the Los Alamos Navy

Technical Report · Tue Dec 20 04:00:00 EST 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1337140· OSTI ID:1337140

Judd, D. L. ^[1]; Meade, Roger Allen ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States

As part of the War Department’s Manhattan Engineer District (MED), Los Alamos was an Army installation during World War II, complete with a base commander and a brace of MPs. But it was a unique Army installation, having more civilian then military personnel. Even more unique was the work performed by the civilian population, work that required highly educated scientists and engineers. As the breadth, scope, and complexity of the Laboratory’s work increased, more and more technically educated and trained personnel were needed. But, the manpower needs of the nation’s war economy had created a shortage of such people. To meet its manpower needs, the MED scoured the ranks of the Army for anyone who had technical training and reassigned these men to its laboratories, including Los Alamos, as part of its Special Engineer Detachment (SED). Among the SEDs assigned to Los Alamos was Val Fitch, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1980. Another was Al Van Vessem, who helped stack the TNT for the 100 ton test, bolted together the Trinity device, and rode shotgun with the bomb has it was driven from Los Alamos to ground zero.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 1337140
• Report Number(s): LA--UR-16-29574
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS