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AT FORT MONMOUTH, NEW JERSEY: CONTEXT FOR COLD WAR ERA, REVISION OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES DOCUMENTATION, AND SURVEY OF EVANS AREA AND SECTIONS OF CAMP CHARLES WOOD by Mary Beth Reed Mark Swanson NEW SOUTH ASSOCIATES Stone Mountain, Georgia Subcontractor for Geo-Marine, Inc. and Rebecca Procter Marsha Prior June 1996 |
NUMBER 125 Geo-Marine, Inc. 550 East Fifteenth Street Plano, Texas 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth District 819 Taylor Street Fort Worth, Texas
|
Beginning in October of 1957, the U.S. Army Signal Research and Development Laboratory at Fort Monmouth and a few other large radar and radio installations began to pick up signals that appeared to come from everywhere and nowhere. At first thought to be preliminary to some sort of invasion, the signals were soon found to emanate from outer space. Tentatively identified as “alpha” and “beta,” the signals were tracked by large antennas at the Project Diana site. Within days, it was clear that the signals were broadcast from one and then two Soviet satellites, the first that had ever been successfully launched into orbit around the earth (Zahl 1960:320-321). “Sputnik,” the first satellite, kicked off the space-race, a contest between the Soviets and the Americans that would not end until American astronauts landed on the moon in July of 1969.
Spurred by Sputnik, the Eisenhower administration and Congress made huge allocations to the American space program, still in its infancy. One of the first new developments was the creation of the Institute for Exploratory Research, set up at Fort Monmouth. Based in the Evans area, the Institute was directed by Harold Zahl and was divided into at least three divisions. Kronenberg served as head of Division C (Fred Gentner, personal communication 1995; Dr. Stanley Kronenberg, personal communication 1995; Zizos 1994). One part of Division C was the Astro Observation Center, and most of those facilities were located at the Deal Test Site (Figure 14) (Deal Test Site ca. 1982; Electronic News 1961).
The early days of the satellite race were hectic as Fort Monmouth scientists worked long hours to put an American satellite in orbit. Months later, with the American space program well underway, this led to the honorary “Royal Order of Sputnik Chasers,” awarded to the Monmouth scientists who worked well beyond the typical eight-hour day (Zahl 1960:320-321).
The first U.S. satellite, “Vanguard,” was launched by
the Army on 17 March 1958, and much of the electronics work for the project
was done at Fort Monmouth. Other satellites followed in rapid succession:
“Score,” December 1958; “Vanguard II,” February 1959; “Tiros I,” April
1960; and “Courier 1B,” October
Figure 14. Fort Monmouth
during satellite era, showing Deal Test site (Courtesy, CECOM Historical
Research Collection, Fort Monmouth).
1960. “Vanguard II” and “Tiros I” were weather
satellites, the first that had ever been launched. A large part of
the work done on these projects was performed by the Army Signal Research
and Development Laboratories at Fort Monmouth (ERADCOM 1960s; U.S. Army
Signal Training Command and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey 1961:56).
In order to carry out these projects, part of Fort Monmouth was reorganized by the Institute for Exploratory Research. The Project Diana area was turned over to the Astro Observation Center. Even earlier, the Diana area had been revamped. A large 50-foot dish-antenna, known as the “Diana Dish,” had been erected in the mid-1950s just yards from the site of the original 1946 antenna. The Diana Dish was employed to keep track of the early satellites and, in 1958, received signals from Europe that had been bounced off the moon. The Diana Dish was soon joined by a 60-foot dish, known as the “Space Sentry,” built in 1957 and also employed to track satellites (Bingham ca. 1990; Headquarters, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey 1958). Other parts of Fort Monmouth, besides the Deal Site and Evans area, were important in the early days of the space race. For example, the solar cells used to power the first satellites were designed in the Hexagon, as was the first television weather satellite (CECOM Historical Office 1994:5).
Satellite operations at Fort Monmouth began to wind down in the early 1960s as the Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) took over the Army’s role in the space race. Many scientists left Fort Monmouth to work for NASA, and soon communications satellites were overshadowed by manned space flights. Deal Test Site, home of the Astro Observation Center, was particularly hard hit; the Army would relinquish its lease in 1973. The Institute for Exploratory Research hung on until the mid-1970s, when it too was disbanded (Deal Test Site ca. 1982; Dr. Stanley Kronenberg, personal communication 1995).
Reorganization and Achievements, Early 1960s
In 1961, the Eisenhower administration was replaced by that of John Kennedy, and it soon became clear that the new Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, intended a complete reorganization of the U.S. Armed Forces. At that time, Fort Monmouth’s main tenants were the U.S. Army Signal Research and Development Laboratories, the Army Signal School, the Signal Radio Propagation Agency, and the Signal Materiel Support Agency (U.S. Army Signal Training Command and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey 1961:63-65). In 1962, about the time NASA was assuming control of the space program, the Army itself was reorganized according to McNamara’s modernization plan. Many of the functions of the old Signal Corps were assumed by a new series of organizations. Under the umbrella of the Army Materiel Command (AMC), most of the functions of the old Signal Corps laboratories were assumed by an AMC subordinate, the U.S. Army Electronics Command, commonly known as ECOM.
AMC was established to oversee all logistics work and research and development for the Army. Under AMC, the ECOM assumed many of the responsibilities of the old Signal Corps, the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, and the Signal Research and Development labs. ECOM inherited the old Signal Corps headquarters at Fort Monmouth and most of the former Signal Corps personnel (CECOM Historical Office 1994:1). Fort Monmouth itself was attached to ECOM. The Signal Corps School remained at Fort Monmouth during the 1960s, but was removed in 1974.
These changes, which officially began in 1962, continued through 1964 (CECOM Historical Office 1994:7). By that time, ECOM was well-established and would last until the next round of reorganization begun in 1978, in the wake of the Vietnam War. During this period, however, little actually changed at Fort Monmouth; all of the labs and most of the missions remained in place.
In 1962, the Signal Research and Development Laboratory changed its name to the U.S. Army Electronics Research and Development Laboratory, headquartered in the Hexagon. By this time, the Hexagon contained over 600 lab rooms and half of the Laboratory’s labor force. The Laboratory continued its work on equipment development for the Army. Among the achievements of this period were the silicon transistor, improved solar cells for use in outer space, communications satellite work, and hand-held radar for use in combat. Work was also conducted on “lasers,” an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation” (ERADCOM 1960s).
During the 1960s, the Institute for Exploratory Research, located at both Deal and Evans, became more devoted to pure research in such fields as plasma physics, chemistry, nuclear physics, propagation research, and computer theory (ERADCOM 1960s). Stanley Kronenberg, director of the Institute of Exploratory Research, worked in Building 9401 as an applied researcher, analyzing the effects of nuclear weapons on Army equipment and operations. In 1962, he won an Army award for advances in neutron spectrometry. Ten years later, when Kronenberg won an award for directional sensing of nuclear radiation, he would be affiliated with the Electronics Technology and Devices Laboratory (Key Signal Corps Systems and Projects 1962; ECOM Information Office 1973:inside end cover).
Also located in the Evans area was the new EWL (ERADCOM 1960s). Organized by 1965, the EWL assumed much of the old Signal Corps radar work done at Evans. During the 1960s, much of this work was devoted to the electronic protection of aircraft, a task that was soon heightened by the Vietnam War (EWL ca. 1981).
Despite the achievements made, the Evans area in general began a slow but steady decline in the early 1960s. A large portion of the satellite work was transferred to NASA and the Air Force, and removed to Florida and Texas. Along with the shrinking of funds came a decrease in personnel. Though barely noticeable in the 1960s, this trend accelerated in the 1970s and 1980s, and was checked only briefly by the Vietnam War (Dr. Stanley Kronenberg, personal communication 1995).
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