The Rise and Fall of Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories: An Update

Speaker:  Edward E. Altshuler, Ph.D. , Air Force Research Laboratory, Retired

It was the worst of times. World War II had begun in September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. Realizing that the United States may eventually be drawn into the war, it was decided that a research and development laboratory to study technologies that would be applicable for the war effort should be established. In October 1940, the government created the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Radiation Laboratory. The Rad Lab eventually grew in size to employ about 4000 scientists, engineers, technicians and support personnel. Another laboratory, which conducted research and development in the general area of radar countermeasures, was later established at Harvard University in 1942. It was named the Harvard Radio Research Laboratory. It reached a peak employment of close to 900 employees.
The end of World War II resulted in the closure of the MIT and Harvard laboratories. Since these labs had proved very valuable during the war years, the Army Air Forces decided to continue to support electronics research during peacetime. An interim laboratory would be established in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Army proceeded to send a team of Officers from Watson Laboratories in New Jersey to recruit the highly skilled workforce from MIT and Harvard. As of 3 September 1945, 852 people had been interviewed and 563 had tentatively agreed to work for the new Cambridge Field Station (CFS) to be located at Albany Street, Cambridge, MA.

Throughout its first 21 years, CFS, later named Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories (AFCRL), had developed into one of the finest research laboratories in the world as evidenced by its thousands of outstanding accomplishments. Scientists and engineers published annually an average of 200 papers in scientific journals, 250 technical reports, presented 300 papers at scientific conferences and obtained tens of patents, truly remarkable! Over 100 of these accomplishments are described in the book.

However, the following events, which are detailed in this book, would take place and would eventually lead to the demise of AFCRL.
• 1969-The Mansfield Amendment
• 1970-The closure of the Office of Aerospace Research
• 1974-The Chapman Report
• 1976-The splitting of the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories into the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory (AFGL) and the merging of the former Electronics Research Directorate into the Rome Air Development Center (RADC)
• 1990-Air Force Space Technology Center study to move AFGL to Kirtland AFB, NM.
• 1990-The further reorganization of RADC into Rome Laboratory and AFGL into Phillips Laboratory along with other Air Force research laboratories to form four “Superlabs”
• 1996 Program Objective Memorandum (POM) that would zero fund the Geophysics Directorate Exploratory Development (6.2) and Advanced Development (6.3) funding
• 1997-The consolidation of the “Superlabs” into one Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
• 1999-The attempted closure of the Electromagnetics Technology Division
• 2005-Finally, the announcement of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) of the Air Force Hanscom Research Site that led to its close in August 2011

I arrived at AFCRL in May 1960 to work in the Electromagnetic Radiation Laboratory. I was familiar with the Lab, since they had supported both my Master’s thesis on “Microwave Strip Transmission Lines” in 1954 at Tufts College and my Doctoral thesis on “The Travelling Wave Linear Antenna” in 1960 at Harvard University. As part of the Office of Aerospace Research (OAR), the emphasis was on conducting quality basic research and most important, publishing the results. Relevance to Air Force applications was not mandatory, so we had a research atmosphere similar to that of a university.

In my book I tried to focus on those accomplishments, which were most noteworthy and for which I also had sufficient information to document their details. In August, 1997, Major General Richard Paul, Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) decided to divert Science & Technology (S&T) funds to support the development of the Space Based Laser and Discover II Space Based Radar Programs. This loss in research funds would result in the closure of the Hanscom Electromagnetics Technology Division along with several Branches of the Battlespace Environment Division. This budget change infuriated many Congressional Delegations. Signed letters from these Delegations to the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Air Force and the President are included in this book. A letter from Senator Kennedy to the Secretary of the Air Force requesting a meeting on this issue resulted in Kennedy telling the Secretary that he should restore the S&T funds “or else.” The funds were restored.

I believe that the S&E”s who worked at the Hanscom Research Site should feel very proud of their legacy, since it was truly extraordinary. It was probably one of the most productive research laboratories in the history of our country. I will always treasure both the dedication and teamwork from my colleagues. When our Laboratory was previously threatened for closure or a move, the SAVE Committee always rose to the occasion and with the help of members of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation always managed to have our Laboratory remain at Hanscom AFB. Regrettably, BRAC 2005 was our downfall.
This presentation will review the AFCRL history and update the aftermath of the closure of the Hanscom Research Site. It will include information regarding the employees who have relocated to Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton OH and Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM. In addition it will summarize the changes that have taken place regarding other organizations on the base and the future of Hanscom AFB.

Edward E. Altshuler received the B.S. degree in physics from Northeastern in 1953, the M.S. degree in physics from Tufts in 1954, and the PhD. degree in applied physics from Harvard in 1960. After graduation from Harvard, he joined the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories (AFCRL), at Hanscom AFB. He left AFCRL in 1961 to become Director of Engineering at Gabriel Electronics, Millis, MA. However when Gabriel Electronics relocated to Maine in 1963, he returned to AFCRL as Chief of the Propagation Branch. He was a Lecturer in the Northeastern University Graduate School of Engineering from 1964 -1991. He has served on many committees and has received many honors over his very long and distinguished career. He was Chairman of the IEEE Boston Section Antennas and Propagation Society during 1965 -66 and served as Chairman of the 1968 International IEEE AP –S/ URSI Symposium in Boston. He was Associate Editor of Radio Science from 1976 -1978 and is a member of Commissions B and F of the International Radio Scientific Union (URSI). He has served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and was Chairman of the IEEE Boston Section from 1995 -1996. He served on the IEEE Life Members Committee from 2001-2003 and was Chairman of the NATO Research Study Group on Millimeter Wave Propagation and Target/Background Signatures from 1974 -1993. He was President of the Hanscom Chapter of Sigma Xi during 1989 –90, Chairman of the IEEE Boston Section Fellows and Awards Committee from 1993 -1994, Chairman of the IEEE Boston Section Life Members Chapter from 1998-2010. He received the IEEE Harry Diamond Memorial Award in 1997 and was awarded an IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000. He was selected to be a Fellow of the IEEE in 1984 and a Fellow of the Air Force Research Laboratory in 2000. Dr. Altshuler has authored 1 book, 3 book chapters, 44 journal articles, 73 conference papers, 20 technical reports and holds 3 patents. In 2010 his family established the Edward E. Altshuler Best Paper Award for the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine. They have also established endowments for the Northeastern University and Tufts University Physics Departments.

The meeting will be held at the Lincoln Lab Auditorium, 244 Wood Street., Lexington, MA at 4:00 PM. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM. Registration is in the main lobby. Foreign national visitors to Lincoln Lab require visit requests.

Please pre-register by e-mail to reception@ll.mit.edu and indicate your citizenship.

Please use the Wood Street Gate. For directions go to http://www.ll.mit.edu/. For other information, contact Len Long, Chairman, at (781)894-3943, or l.long@ieee.org. or Steve Teahan at steahan@comcast.net.

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(“The Rise and Fall of Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories” may be purchased from Amazon for $14.95)