The Coast Star
  August 11, 2005

Wall Township Historian Fred Carl [above] shows off a World War II rocket that can be viewed at Camp Evans. The German V-2 rocket was one of Hitler’s terror weapons during World War II, Mr. Carl said. Military officials at Camp Evans during that time were attempting to discover ways of interrupting its radio signal guidance system so it would crash into the ground without causing any causalities. Mr. Carl has devoted the last 12 years toward making Camp Evans a World War II memorial and science education center.
Photo by LAUREN PARKER, THE COAST STAR

Danish philosopher Søren Aabye Kierkegaard once wrote “history runs forward, but is seen backward.”

And that is precisely what is happening at Camp Evans in Wall Township.

Wall Township Historian Fred Carl is ensuring the vital communication technology center continues to serve a vital role in the community in the future while also serving as a museum for those who visit its grounds and want to learn about the past.

A man who grew up with a passion for science and history has worked feverishly to get the former Army testing installation in Wall Township up and running for, what he envisions, is its new role in the 21st century.

For the last 12 years, Mr. Carl, 51, has been a major player in the fight to clean up contaminants and mold at the century-old technology development site and prepare it to be transferred to the township and other entities to serve as an educational center for people of all ages.

Earlier this week, over breakfast at Happy Days, his favorite diner in Wall, his hometown, the energetic computer expert discussed Camp Evans’ — as well as his own — past, present and future.

“In the future, if a person who worked [at Camp Evans] during World War I or World War II looked around at the buildings he would see the same thing as he did then,” he said in reference to plans of maintaining the camp’s aging, but polished, appearance. “But inside there will be classrooms, exhibits and thousands of students coming [and going] every day.”

Mr. Carl was referencing the Wall Township Restoration Advisory Board’s [RAB] goal of cleaning up the site and transferring 37 acres of the grounds over to the Infoage Learning Center, of which he is the director. The center has already received 17 of those 37 acres from the Army.

Mr. Carl is also a member of the RAB.

Infoage is a group of cooperating nonprofit organizations dedicated to preserving information age technologies by honoring the pioneers of communications and sharing their stories with youngsters.

The group’s goal is to convert the camp from an abandoned Army installation into a center for learning based on the model of the Liberty Science Center, Mr. Carl said.

Camp Evans will be a site of learning technological history —from the advances of wireless communication first introduced to the public by Guglielmo Marconi to the breakthroughs of satellite communications in the mid-1980s, Mr. Carl said.

Mr. Carl’s fondness for Camp Evans’ past is matched only by his eagerness to share what is in store for its future.

Though he will make no predictions, Mr. Carl is hopeful technology companies will invest in the camp’s future.

Thus far, NASA and a defense contractor, Harris Corporation, have each poured money and materials into the ambitious project.

The project recently received a $3,000 grant from the space agency and another $15,000 from Harris to preserve a satellite dish at the camp that NASA once used for weather research, he said.

Mr. Carl is hopeful that Hewlett-Packard will commit resources to the camp because the company would realize — just like co-founder William Hewlett realized when he worked there during World War II — its potential as an educational tool.

“Hopefully, they will allow us to use their equipment or use their programs without having to pay royalties,” Mr. Carl said.

He explained how officials will hopefully attain future donations from NASA, like two-way digital television equipment, which could allow students to communicate with astronauts in space.

“He is the soul of the whole project,” said Mike Ruane, who handled the transition of the Camp Evans property from the Army to the township. Mr. Ruane now owns the the James Thomas Group, which serves as an emergency management and counterterrorism consulting firm in West Long Branch.

“The amount of time and money he’s devoted to get this thing off the ground in face of so many people who said it couldn’t be done is remarkable,” Mr. Ruane, who worked with Mr. Carl for 10 years on the Camp Evans project, added.

As a young boy, Mr. Carl’s interest in science stemmed from his grandfather, who was a science teacher. He also attributed his interest in the world of science, and the gadgets that inhabit it, to the days when his father owned an appliance store in Long Branch.

He attended Long Branch High School and transferred to Ocean Township High School his senior year, graduating in 1973.

He graduated from Monmouth College in 1977 with a degree in biology and education.

After completing college, he returned to the Long Branch and Ocean Township school districts as a part-time science teacher. While teaching science on a part-time basis Mr. Carl also enjoyed scuba diving and researching shipwrecks.

By the time 1980 rolled around, Mr. Carl was working for Continental Insurance as a computer programmer.

He received additional education in computers from the company’s nine-week technical training class and eventually earned his master’s degree in computer science in 1983 from Monmouth College.

While Mr. Carl was filling young minds with the wonders of science, he first came across a name he often discusses today — Guglielmo Marconi, the famous Italian scientist who was able to improve existing technologies that paved the way for other communication advances, like Morse code.

While researching shipwrecks one day, Mr. Carl said he came across the writings of Holmdel resident Dr. Harold Zahl, who detailed how Marconi was searching for ways to make sea travel safer.

In 1913, while Marconi was residing in New Jersey and operating the Marconi Wireless Company, he set up a pair of testing sites for his reception antennas — one at Camp Evans and the other in Highlands.

It was there the Italian tested his new radio technology on ships equipped with his apparatuses, Mr. Carl said, comparing Marconi to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Neither man invented the technology they are well-known for, but they were both able to successfully market their products, he said.

In 1983, Mr. Carl moved from Continental Insurance to the computer manufacturer, Amdahl, where he worked until 2001. There he was a computer troubleshooter and assisted a clientele that included big-name companies like AT&T.

Mr. Carl and his wife, Karin, who he married in 1980, purchased a piece of property in Wall Township on Morris Lane in 1986. There the couple built a house and raised two daughters, Amanda and Corinne.

Mr. Carl’s devotion to Camp Evans began in earnest in 1993, when he learned the Army had declared the property surplus and would be closing the camp.

“Some people looked at it as a bunch of old buildings. Too many for anyone to do anything with,” he said. “They considered demolishing them all at an estimated price of $3 million.”

Well aware of Camp Evans’ past and sharing Kierkegaard’s perspective on history, the former science teacher envisioned the property’s potential future by understanding its past.

A site that once brought some of the sharpest minds together to develop the leading technology throughout the 20th century could do so again.

“Everything fell together. Why can’t we save [the camp] for a historical sense and give it a new purpose for communication [technology],” Mr. Carl said.

He and other members of the community who shared his vision lobbied the local government to save the site.

He presented his idea to the Wall Township Committee in 1994, calling every official and asking them to allow him to get involved with the project.

“I can only say Fred is a tireless volunteer and has provided our residents with great representation,” Wall Township Administrator Joseph Verruni said.

The portion of Camp Evans that Mr. Carl has worked on has developed within the bounds of his vision, Mr. Verruni added.

Committee members finally gave him the OK to go ahead with the idea and eventually the RAB was created.

“He is tireless worker and is dedicated to the project at Camp Evans — he has a focus like a laser beam,” Wall Mayor Ned Thomson said. “His commitment to this project is more than anyone I have ever met.”

Perhaps, Mr. Carl’s vision came just in the nick of time — at least for local students.

Mr. Carl believes the Camp Evans site will be able to spark some students’ interest in science and math.

“My message to kids is to prepare them to have their moment of genius,” he said.

Two weeks ago, the summer science camp of Fort Monmouth Integrated Community Outreach Network [ICON] visited Camp Evans.

The young campers were given a chance to use a spark-gap transmitter, tap Morse code on a 1920s sounder, tune a 1920s radio and listen to 1930s vacuum tube based radios, he said.

Volunteers also showed the students how computer memory has improved from a magnetic donut core that cost over $1 million for a kilobyte of memory, to transistor memory that cost $1 million a megabyte, to today’s compact flash memory that costs around $50 for a gigabyte.

Mr. Carl also tries to interest visiting students in the world of science by giving a brief, but exciting spin on his his job responsibilities with his current employer Microstrategies.

Mr. Carl is also hopeful retired professionals from related science fields will volunteer their time at Infoage and share their experiences with students and collaborate on projects.

He estimated it will take the Army two to three years to complete the environmental remediation project at Camp Evans. In the meantime, he said perhaps more private parties will donate money and materials for Infoage’s historical and science education objectives.

On average, Mr. Carl estimated he spends 20 to 30 hours a week doing his part for Camp Evans. He said his boss at Microstrategies, Anthony Bonbiovanni, has also been understanding about his devotion to Camp Evans.

The company even donated $3,000 to the project recently, he commented.