Back to the InfoAge Homepage 
Back to the Cultural Resources Report Contents
Back to the InfoAge Homepage
Back to the Cultural Resources Report Contents|
AT FORT MONMOUTH, NEW JERSEY: CONTEXT FOR COLD WAR ERA, REVISION OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES DOCUMENTATION, AND SURVEY OF EVANS AREA AND SECTIONS OF CAMP CHARLES WOOD by Mary Beth Reed Mark Swanson NEW SOUTH ASSOCIATES Stone Mountain, Georgia Subcontractor for Geo-Marine, Inc. and Rebecca Procter Marsha Prior June 1996 |
NUMBER 125 Geo-Marine, Inc. 550 East Fifteenth Street Plano, Texas 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth District 819 Taylor Street Fort Worth, Texas
|
Fort Monmouth played an influential role in the Cold War, particularly in the late 1940s and 1950s. Not only was it a vital electronics facility, but it was also in the forefront of the political squabble between the Army and Communist-hunter Joseph McCarthy in 1953-1954. As a result, any claim that Fort Monmouth is of historical significance in the context of the Cold War is well-justified.
Unlike many Army installations, Fort Monmouth did not close in the wake of World War II. Although the number of personnel dropped considerably in 1947, funding levels remained high throughout the late 1940s (Buchanan and Johnson 1984:59). As a result of the burgeoning Cold War, the Selective Service Act was passed by Congress in 1948, bringing a return to conscription (Lender 1991:99).
If Fort Monmouth saw little disruption from World War to Cold War, it was largely because science was now recognized as essential to the development of a technological nation. This recognition pertained to both applied and pure science (Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories 1945). It was also recognized that, in any contest with the Soviet Union, science and technology would always provide the greatest edge.
Making sure that this edge was honed were the four laboratory sites at Fort Monmouth: the facilities at the Main Post (Squier Hall), the Coles Signal Laboratory, the lab at Charles Wood (Watson), and the Evans Signal Laboratory. Harold Zahl served as research director for these engineering labs (Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories 1947; Zahl 1949). At Fort Monmouth, and at Evans in particular, research was conducted in a number of areas. The most important, however, were related to radio: communications systems, radar, electron tube research (thermionics), and component improvements. There were other areas of research as well: meteorology (which then included the study of rockets), proximity fuses, and photography (Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories 1945; Signal Corps Research and Development Labs ca. 1947; Zahl 1949:5a). Theoretical and long-term research was also conducted, especially in the area of “wave propagation,” which concentrated on ionospheric studies (Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories 1951; Zahl 1949).
During this period before the Korean War, much of the research at Fort Monmouth centered around the integration and improvement of military communications in both wire and radio (Zahl 1949:11). This emphasis was pushed by Major General S. B. Akin, then Chief Signal Officer (Signal Corps Research and Development Labs ca. 1947), and included many levels of research: improvements to wire, component research, and harsh weather testing, for example.
The need for harsh weather testing was one of the lessons of World War II, where major campaigns were conducted in both cold and tropical climates (Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories 1950:5). At least three special chambers were constructed to test for weather conditioning and other experiments. Two of these chambers were the tropical rainforest room and the cold chamber (Buildings 292 and 293), both located on the Main Post and capable of accommodating vehicles. There, experiments were conducted to determine the best ways of halting fungus growth on electronic equipment. In addition to the weather rooms, there was a silent or anechoic chamber in the Evans area, adjacent to Building 9037 (Dr. Richard Bingham, personal communication 1995; Signal Corps Research and Development Labs ca. 1947).
At the root of all the work on radios and communications systems was the realization that better, smaller, cheaper, and sturdier components were needed. Thermionics research sought ways to improve the vacuum tube, while other research was conducted in the production of finer quartz crystals and even the manufacture of synthetic quartz (Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories 1947, 1950). But the answer to the need for smaller components would stem from earlier World War II research into new component materials which contributed to the invention of the transistor in 1947 by Bell Laboratory scientists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. During this period, Signal Corps labs invented ways to mass-produce the materials needed to manufacture transistors and other small-scale electrical circuitry. All of this led, in 1949, to the development of component miniaturization suitable for mass-production. Then known as “auto-sembly,” it was a “dip-soldered printed wiring technique,” that would later prove vital to the mass-production of integrated circuits (ERADCOM 1960s). Though greatly improved since the late 1940s, this technique is still used today in the manufacture of computer chips (Dr. Richard Bingham, personal communication 1995).
Research and development in auto-sembly was partially interrupted by the first year of the Korean War, as Fort Monmouth scientists again concentrated on improving war equipment. Automatic mortar-locating radar, developed in 1946, was used in the Korean conflict (ERADCOM 1980), and additional improvements were made in radio. For the first time in war, FM handie-talkies and the backpack-sized walkie-talkies were in widespread use. There were also new mobile radio teletype units (Jerk-26, e.g. AN/GRC-26) and new radar sets (e.g. AN/CPS-9) (Shalett 1952:10; Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories 1951). In addition, improvements to the quality of communication wire were made. During World War II, copper wire was covered with rubber and cotton braid, saturated with asphaltic material. During the Korean war, wire was encased in nylon and plastic (Shalett 1952:11).
The Korean War did not radically alter the laboratory arrangements at Fort Monmouth, but personnel greatly increased. By 1953, there were some 17,000 military and civilian personnel, with 4,500 of these working in the Signal Corps labs. The old World War II buildings were often used to house the facilities. In addition, there were training programs to keep abreast of the new equipment and technology (Buchanan and Johnson 1984:59; U.S. Army Signal Training Command and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey 1961:27-29). Squier Signal Corps Lab handled the component and quartz research; Coles Signal Corps Lab concentrated on radio and television technology and communications systems; and Building 2525, formerly Watson Laboratory in the Charles Wood Area, concentrated on aviation electronics (avionics). Evans Signal Corps Lab continued its vital work on radar, vacuum tubes, and meteorological devices (Dr. Richard Bingham, personal communication 1995; Shalett 1952:3; Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories 1952).
At Evans, however, a new addition was initiated in 1951 (Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories 1951). This was the radiation lab, identified as part of the Nucleonics Branch by the end of the Korean War. This included the Atomic Effects Section, Electronics Laboratory, and Radiac Instruments Section (Building 49, now 9049), as well as the Radiochemistry and Dosimetry Section (Building 45/9045) (Telephone Directory 1953). Small wonder that with so much concentrated science in one place, Fort Monmouth was often referred to as the Army’s “House of Magic” (Shalett 1952:3).
It was also known in some quarters as the “house of spies.” By the fall of 1953, right on the heels of the Korean War, some United States senators were openly suggesting that security at Fort Monmouth had been compromised since World War II by a spy ring established at the facility by Julius Rosenberg. To understand the origins of these charges, it is important to go back to the early days of the Cold War, when the nation was rocked by Communist advances in Europe and Asia, and by the specter of espionage at home.
Page updated December 30, 2003
page created December 27, 2000
Copyright© InfoAge 1998-2001 InfoAge. All
rights reserved.
Back to the InfoAge Homepage
Back to the Cultural Resources Report Contents