The Pentagon's Brain (50 page)

1 U.S. Air Force brawn: Abella, photographs, (unpaginated).

2 game pieces scattered: Leonard, 339.

3 “credibility”: York,
Making Weapons,
89.

4 remarkable child prodigy: S. Bochner,
John Von Neumann, 1903–1957, National Academy of Sciences,
442–450.

5 “unsolved problem”: P. R. Halmos, “The Legend of John Von Neumann,”
Mathematical Association of America
, Vol. 80, No. 4, April 1973, 386.

6 “He was pleasant”: York,
Making Weapons,
89.

7 “I think”: Kaplan,
Wizards of Armageddon
, 63.

8 “all-out atomic war”: Whitman, 52.

9 maximum kill rate: “Citation to Accompany the Award of the Medal of Merit to Dr. John von Neumann,” October 1946, Von Neumann Papers, LOC.

10 “a mentally superhuman race”: Dyson,
Turing’s Cathedral,
45.

11 Prisoner’s Dilemma: Poundstone, 8-9, 103-106.

12 something unexpected: Abella, 55–56; Poundstone, 121-123.

13 “How can you persuade”: McCullough, 758.

14 Goldstine explained: Information on Goldstine comes from Jon Edwards, “A History of Early Computing at Princeton,”
Princeton Alumni Weekly,
August 27, 2012.

15 von Neumann declared: Dyson,
Turing’s Cathedral,
73.

16 “Our universe”: George Dyson, “‘An Artificially Created Universe’: The Electronic Computer Project at IAS,” Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (Spring 2012), 8-9.

17 secured funding: Maynard, “Daybreak of the Digital Age,”
Princeton Alumni Weekly,
April 4, 2012.

18 he erred: Jon Edwards, “A History of Early Computing at Princeton,”
Princeton Alumni Weekly,
August 27, 2012, 4.

19 Wohlstetter’s famous theory: Wohlstetter, “The Delicate Balance of Terror,” 1-12.

20 Debris: Descriptions of shock wave and blast effects are described in Garrison, 23-29.

21 Georg Rickhey: Information on Rickhey comes from Bundesarchiv Ludwigsburg and RG 330 JIOA Foreign Scientist Case Files, NACP. See also Jacobsen,
Operation Paperclip,
252.

22 a hospital, chapel, barbershop: Interview with Dr. Leonard Kreisler, March 2012. Kreisler was the post doctor at Raven Rock.

23 “land of the blind”: Keeney, 19.

24
the senators had questions: For testimony from the hearings, see U.S. Senate Committee,
Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Civil Defense of the Committee on Armed Services,
119–21.

25 speck of plutonium: Dyson,
Turing’s Cathedral,
podcast.

26 “Johnny was”: York,
Making Weapons,
96-97.

27 He theorizes: John von Neumann, “The Computer and the Brain,” 60, 74.

1 “successful satellite”: Details of this incident are from Brzezinski, 164-165.

2 “portrays a United States”: Cited in “Missile and Satellite Hearings.”
CQ Almanac 1958
, 14th ed., 11-669-11-671. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1959. The actual title was “Deterrence & Survival in the Nuclear Age,” York Papers, Geisel.

3 national hysteria:
DARPA: 50 Years of Bridging the Gap,
20.

4 presidential research committee: Gaither had to withdraw because of illness in September 1957.

5 “The issue”: For this account, see York,
Making Weapons,
98.

6 Russians were not preparing: Interview with Hervey Stockman, August 2009; Jacobsen,
Area 51,
86–89.

7 in error: Allen Dulles, “Memorandum from the Director of Central Intelligence to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council,” December 24, 1957, CIA. According to Dulles, the CIA’s information was “far more detailed than that contained in the Gaither report itself.”

8 “Soap operas sell”: Hafner and Lyon, 14.

9 He proposed: McElroy wanted to create the agency without authorization from Congress. He first ran the idea by his general counsel, who informed him that he did not have the authority to create such an agency. As per the National Security Act of 1947, McElroy would have to notify the chairman of the Armed Services Committee and present him with a proposal.

10 “vast weapons systems”: House Subcommittee on Department of Defense Appropriations,
The Ballistic Missile Program, Hearings,
85th Cong., 1st sess., November 20–21, 1957, 7.

11 “the new dimension”: Quotes and information in this section are from
The Advanced Research Projects Agency, 1958–1974
, Richard J. Barber Associates, December 1975 (hereafter Barber), II-1-22, located in York Papers, Geisel.

12 their service’s domain:
Aviation Week,
February 3, 1958.

13 State of the Union: Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union,” January 9, 1958, UCSB.

14
unpublished history: Barber, II-10–25.

15 grandfather made caskets: General Biographical History, Notes, Series 1: biographical materials, York Papers, Geisel.

16 “From the earliest times”: York,
Making Weapons,
7.

17 “I made my way with difficulty”: General Biographical History, Notes, Series 1: biographical materials, York Papers, Geisel.

18 von Braun’s 113 German colleagues: Jacobsen,
Operation Paperclip,
16–17, 88, 95–96.

19 “not acceptable”: Barber, II-25.

20 good for national security: Kistiakowsky, 198.

21 York explained: York,
Making Weapons,
117.

22 “Traitorous!”: Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb,
318.

23 “I formally proposed”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Letter to Nikita Khrushchev, Chairman, Council of Ministers, U.S.S.R., on the Discontinuance of Nuclear Weapons Tests, May 16, 1959, UCSB.

24 “If we stop testing”: “Lawrence in the Cold War, Ernest Lawrence and the Cyclotron,” American Institute of Physics, History Center Exhibit, digital collection.

25 about to get to work: Barber, IV-27. Vela started small, officially in ARPA’s second year. The scientific limitations in nuclear detection were not entirely clear at the 1958 Geneva Conference of Experts. It was after Project Argus that scientists first determined how difficult it was to detect nuclear explosions in space.

26 Vela Sierra monitored: Information about Vela follow-on programs can be found in Van Atta et al,
DARPA Technical Accomplishments
, Volume 3, II-2, III-4; Barber, IV-28–30.

1 York’s desk: Details from this section are from Herb York, Diaries Series, appointment books, date books, and wall calendars, York Papers, Geisel.

2 Keeney made public: Keeney, 22–33.

3 on account of a theory: Barber, II-27.

4 the “Christofilos effect”: Advanced Research Projects Division,
Identification of Certain Current Defense Problems and Possible Means of Solution,
IDA-ARPA Study No. 1, August 1958 (hereafter IDA-ARPA Study No. 1); interview with Charles Townes, March 2014.

5 Project Floral: DNA,
Operation Argus 1958,
3, 53.

6 code name, Project 137: IDA-ARPA Study No. 1; Wheeler oral history interview, 61–63.

7 “defense problems”: Finkbeiner, 29.

8
“its own special clearance”: Quotes are from interviews with Marvin “Murph” Goldberger, June–August, 2013. See also Goldberger oral history interview.

9 “ingenuity, practicality and motivation”: Finkbeiner, 28.

10 Astrodome-like shield: Barber, VI-II. For quotes from York, see
Making Weapons,
129–30.

11 unusual backstory: Melissinos,
Nicholas C. Christofilos: His Contributions to Physics,
1–15.

12 “responsible people”: IDA-ARPA Study No. 1, 19.

13 “The group has”: IDA-ARPA Study No. 1, 19.

14 Brazilian Anomaly:
Operation Argus 1958
, 19.

15 so many moving parts: Ibid., 22-26.

16 missile trajectory: Ibid., 48; list of shipboard tests and remarks, 56.

17 “Doctor Livingstone, I presume?”: Ibid., 34.

18 watched fireworks: Childs, 525.

19 “The President has asked”: Ibid., 521.

20 detection facilities:
DARPA: 50 Years of Bridging the Gap,
58.

21 Wissmer examined Lawrence: Childs, 526.

22 had Harold Brown participate: Supplement 5 to “Extended Chronology of Significant Events Leading Up to Disarmament,” Joint Secretariat, Joint Chiefs of Staff, April 21, 1961, (unpaginated), York Papers, Geisel.

23 “I could never”: Childs, 527.

24 Christofilos effect did occur:
Argus 1958,
65–68; Interview with Doug Beason, June 2014; “Report to the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack,” 161.

25 The telegram marked: Edward Teller, telegram to General Starbird, “Thoughts in Connection to the Test Moratorium,” August 29, 1958, LANL.

1 “Our job”: Interview with Gene McManus, October 2013.

2 “coldest thirteen miles”: Berry, “The Coldest 13 Miles on Wheels,”
Popular Mechanics,
February 1968.

3 twenty-four-hour operational mode: Richard Witkin, “U.S. Radar Scans Communist Areas: Missile Warning System at Thule Is Put in Operation on a 24-Hour Basis,”
New York Times,
October 2, 1960.

4 sitting in the NORAD War Room: John G. Hubbell,“‘You Are Under Attack!’ The Strange Incident of October 5,”
Reader’s Digest
, April 1961.

5 coming in from the BMEWS J-Site: Interview with Gene McManus, who arrived at J-Site three months later. The story was legendary at
BMEWS. The technicians involved were McManus’s colleagues.

A NORAD spokesman described the conversation for the
Reader’s Digest
magazine six months after the crisis.

6 the story broke: “Moon Stirs Scare of Missile Attack,” Associated Press, December 7, 1961.

7 closer to $900 million: This information comes from ODR&E Report, “Assessment of Ballistic Missile Defense Program” PPD 61–33, 1961 (fifty-four pages, unpaginated), York Papers, Geisel.

8 Twenty-six minutes and forty seconds: Ibid.

9 “The nuclear-armed ICBM”: Ibid.

10 “high confidence”: Ibid., Appendix 1.

11 “I started Jason”: Quotes are from interview with Murph Goldberger, June 2013. He passed away the following year, in November 2014.

12 had been entwined: Brueckner oral history interview, 4; Lukasik oral history interview, 27.

13 a little business”: Brueckner oral history interview, 7.

14 most significant inventions: Interview with Charles Townes, March 2014.

15 IDA served: Interview with Richard Van Atta, May 2014; Barber, I-8.

16 most respected colleagues: Interview with Murph Goldberger, July 2013.

17 “tremendously bright squad”: Kistiakowsky, 200–202.

18 contribute significantly: Interview with Murph Goldberger, June 2014. See also Finkbeiner.

19 official entity: Draft, DoD Directive, Subjects: Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, No. 5129.33, December 30, 1959, York Papers, Geisel.

20 Mildred Goldberger said: Interview with Murph Goldberger, June, 2014; see also Goldberger oral history interview.

21 “confuse satellite detection”: Drell oral history interview, 14.

22 “imaginative thinking”: Barber, V-24.

23 PENAIDS proof tests: Van Atta et al,
DARPA Technical Accomplishments,
Volume 2, IV-4–5; Hansen,
Swords of Armageddon,
Volume 7, 491.

24 “Pen X”: Ruina oral history interview.

25 deceptive MIRVs: H. F. York, “Multiple Warhead Missiles,”
Scientific American
229, no. 5 (1973): 71.

26 Ruina and Townes reached an agreement: Ruina oral history interview.

27 “instantaneous kill”: Barber, IX-31.

28 “whether you can use a particle beam”: Finkbeiner, 53.

29 Project Seesaw: Barber, IV-23, IX-32; for Christofilos, see York,
Making Weapons,
129–30.

30
“Seesaw was a sensitive”: Barber, IX-31. See also Jason Division, IDA,
Project Seesaw (U).

31 “Directed energy”: Interview with General Paul F. Gorman (retired), October 2014.

1 Thor Agena A: Ruffner,
Corona: America’s First Satellite Program
, 16.

2 “the best specimens”: Space and Missile Systems Organization, Air Force Systems Command, “Biomedical Space Specimens, Fact Sheet,” June 3, 1959, Appendix C.

3 “We don’t want to humanize”: Bill Willks, “Satellite Carrying Mice Fails,”
Washington Post,
June 4, 1959.

4 “dramatic rescue effort”: Ruffner,
Corona: America’s First Satellite Program
, 16.

5 classified spying mission: Ibid., x.

6 TIROS: Barber, III-15.

7 22,952 images: Conway, 29.

8 photographs of a storm front: John W. Finney, “U.S. Will Share Tiros I Pictures,”
New York Times,
April 5, 1960.

9 “no information”: Email correspondence with Mike Hanson, September 17, 2013.

10 story of intrigue: Files are from RG 330, Office of the Secretary of Defense, ARPA, Project Agile, NACP; RG 330, Records of Robert S. McNamara, 1961–1968, Defense Programs and Operations, NACP.

11 forged a brilliant record: Barber, V-37.

12 a limp: Interview with Kay Godel, September 2013. The limp was not always obvious.

13 “since Napoleon”: Spector, 111.

14 “The Vietnamese refused”: Ibid., 112.

15 “We hated to dig”: Quotes throughout this discussion are from Abboud oral history interview, 15–16; see also Bernard C. Nalty,
Stalemate: U.S. Marines from Bunker Hill to the Hook,
4.

16 Chinese land mines: Abboud oral history interview, 15.

17 both men came from privilege: All quotes in this section are from interviews and email correspondence with Joan Dulles Talley, March 2014–May 2015.

18 shadowy figure: Correspondence between Allen W. Dulles and Dr. Harold G. Wolff, New York Hospital, CIA; “Biographical Note,” Harold Wolff, M.D. (1898–1962), Papers, Cornell University Archives, digital collection.

19 spin out of control: Memorandum, Gordon Gray to Allen Dulles, October 29, 1951, CIA.

20
Godel convened: As per National Security Council directives NSC 10/2, NSC 10/5, NSC 59/1, Papers of Gordon Gray, Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, digital collection.

21 “mind-annihilating methods”: See “Forced Confessions,” Memorandum for the Record, National Security Council Staff, May 8, 1953, and “Brainwashing During the Korean War,” Psychological Strategy Board (PSB) Central Files Series, PSB 702.5 (no date), Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, digital collection.

22 “brainwashing”: This account is drawn from Marks, 133.

23 “insectivization of human beings”: Edward Hunter, “Brain-Washing Tactics Force Chinese into Ranks of Communist Party,”
Miami News,
September 1950.

24 Congress invited Hunter: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Un-American Activities, “Communist Psychological Warfare (Brainwashing),” March 13, 1958.

25 Joost A. M. Meerloo: Tim Weiner, “Remembering Brainwashing,”
New York Times,
July 6, 2008.

26 Schwable recanted: “Marines Award Schwable the Legion of Merit,”
New York Times,
July 8, 1954.

27 mental breakdowns: Officers such as Frank Olson, a biological weapons expert who committed suicide, or was killed, when he suffered a breakdown after being covertly dosed with LSD by his CIA bosses.

28 Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology: Marks, chap. 9.

29 even more powerful position: Official Register of the United States Civil Service Commission, 1955, 108.

30 Godel was praised: Document 96, Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Volume I, Vietnam, DSOH.

31 “collecting, evaluating and disseminating intelligence”: Document 210, Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Volume I, Vietnam, DSOH; IAC-D-104/4 23, April 1957, CIA.

32 Godel would say: Barber, V-36.

33 “bold summation”: Ibid., V-37.

34 outlined his observations: W. H. Godel, director, Policy and Planning Division, ARPA, Memo for assistant secretary of defense, Subject: Vietnam, September 15, 1960, RG 330, Project Agile, NACP.

35 “applying scientific talent”: Barber, V-39.

36 “anti-guerrilla forces at night”: Spector, 111–114.

37 ARPA-financed fighters: In May 1960 three U.S. Army Special Forces Teams of ten men each arrived in Vietnam to work with President Diem. With them were thirteen U.S. Army intelligence specialists and three
psychological warfare specialists. They trained Vietnamese soldiers for roughly two months; Spector, 353.

38 “Godel continued”: Barber, V-2, V-4.

39 departure of Herb York: For quotes, see York,
Making Weapons,
194, 203.