Smatters

My dad Albert “Gene” Smith joined the US Naval Reserve in 1942. They put him to work teaching about radar, and eventually moved him over to the R&D side. Artifacts from his time in the Navy indicate he was mostly deployed in the Boston area. He worked in the “Fargo” building on the waterfront and collaborated with MIT’s Radiation Lab. We found a couple 16mm films he salvaged from the Radiation Lab, including one available online.

Dad was awarded two military ribbons, the World War II victory medal, and one for service in the “American Theater.” After the war ended, he was demobilized in 1946. He stayed in the reserves and was promoted to Commander in 1953.

After demobilization he took a job at the Office of Naval Research (ONR). He was familiar with high-speed microwave circuits, and such circuits were being used in these new-fangled R&D devices called “computers.” The ONR assigned him to review and oversee their computer research contracts. In 1954 he moved to the Bureau of Ships to oversee computers for shipyards. He retired from the Navy and the reserves in 1969.