That wasn’ t his only embarrassment: “At the Signal Corps
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That wasn’ t his only embarrassment: “At the Signal Corps, |
accidentally flushed my top secret badge down the toilet. It took a lot of
official paperwork and the notation ‘irretrievably lost’ to finally get a
new badge. Also, in 1954, the McCarthy paranoia was paramount. |, and
fellow civilians--and military personnel, | assume--had to empty our
lunchboxes and briefcases for inspection every time we entered the
building.”
Five months after he had begun as a civilian scientist, George was
drafted. In the army, he was assigned to the 82" Airborne Division at Fort
Bragg in North Carolina. He was a “leg,” though. Instead of jumping out
of an airplane, his job was to maintain all radios, phones and electrical
equipment. He also started the U.S. Helicopter Square Dance Team to
demonstrate the mobility of helicopters. When assigned KP (Kitchen
Police), rather than peel potatoes, he scheduled helicopter square dance
practice.
Eight months after Sputnik, his team began working on the design
of the world’ s_ first communication _ satellite, SCORE (Signal
Communications Orbit Relay Equipment). “There were no reference
books, precedents, or Google for information. We were the pioneers. It’ s
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015429
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