Page 127 - MY STORY

CONCLUSION

There are many stories to go with our publication of the

first Electron Fractography Handbook, ML-TDR-64-416.
It was my first entrance into managing DoD technical

contracts, and very frightening. Frightening, in part,
because the USAF assigned the losing contractor experts
as our advisory committee to “structure the Handbook”,
and I was a complete neophyte in the science of electron

microscope fractography. I knew I could be completely
overwhelmed and embarrassed if the advisory committee

elected to make my life difficult.

It turned out that the committee members did everything

they could to make our work successful and we became
fast friends. The finished report was a great success and
was in demand for years after its publication along with

the addenda from subsequent contract improvements. If
you’re interested there is a virgin copy on my bookshelf.

Along the way, we received funding additions for
innovative work and we worked closely with Sid B’s AIG
group at Norton on many USAF failure investigations.

We became very close to Sid, although some of the failed
pieces he brought us were somewhat mysterious from