SOLID SUCCESS On August 5, 1961, United Technology Corporation successfully test-fired the nation's first operational prototype segmented solid propellant rocket developing thrust in excess of 200,000 pounds. This major achievement is a significant milestone in the national program to develop multimillion-pound thrust boosters. Capability backed by four decades of propulsion experience UNITED TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION P. O. Box 358, Sunnyvale, California A subsidiary of United Aircraft Corporation CENTRAL DATA PROCESSOR for AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL traffic hour, approximately 200 aircraft flew over the New York area. Each year thi se. Yet, the Federal Aviation Agency will continue to assure safe and efficient control son... a data processor developed for the FAA by Librascope to quickly and accurate e clerical tasks now occupying most of the controller's time. The first 18-unit da nstalled at Boston in 1962. A note to Librascope outlining your control problems w swer from the country's most versatile manufacturer of computer control system atrol systems panding mind GP GENERAL DIVISION GENERAL PRECISION INC., GLENDALE 1. CALIFORNI AIR FORCE SEPTEMBER 1961 August 11, 1961 As a regular reader of AIR FORCE Magazine I look forward to this annual Air Force Almanac Issue. It is an invaluable reference for all interested in aerospace power. This year, as in the past, the Almanac Issue conveys a sense of the size of the United States Air Force, the complexity of its organization, the scope of its global mission. I would ask all to recall, however, a fact which we who know and love the Air Force so well sometimes forget. The Air Force is and must remain a means and not an end. It is an indispensable servant of our national policy, responsive to our national needs, reflective of our national spirit. So Air Force service can never be just a job. Rather it must be a dedicated fulfillment of the responsibilities laid upon all of us by a nation which is always needful of that service and trustful that it will be rendered. In this context, then, I recommend to you the proud history of accomplishment recorded in these pages. EUGENE M. ZUCKERT SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE 43 Zuckert, General LeMay, and former USAF Chief of Staff, General White, at latter's retirement. This process also magnifies the problems of national defense because the best people our nation produces are required for many national efforts. A democracy does not have nor condone the evil of forced labor. Thus the services must actively compete for quality people vital to the success of today's complex weapon systems. Despite the current fascination with computers and automation, the greatest computer devised is still the human brain. Man offers flexibility because of his ability to observe, discriminate, evaluate, and be a decision-maker. Man-made computers are different. A computer remembers. It answers when asked. It knows what should be going on and can correct the process to get it on track. But thus far man has not been able to build one that can come up with original thoughts or display courage and love of liberty. Nor can the machine be dedicated to God and country. Therefore man, by virtue of his brain and soul, is going to continue to be the most important element in our defense posture. Since the composition of the Air Force is changing constantly as we progress into the aerospace age, the numbers and qualities of people needed are also changing. The main reasons for the changing requirements in human resources are activation of missile squadrons; technical advancement of weapon and support systems; the complexity and cost of new weapon and sup |