Company Background and the Organization of the Florida Test Facility
Sturdivant Electric was a large manufacturer of electrical equipment for industry, the armed
services, and the consumer. The industrial electronics division specialized in radar and all types of
communications equipment. One of the subdivisions of this operation was engaged in the
development of missile guidance equipment. This group had a field test facility at the U.S.
government's Special Weapons Test Center in Florida. The purpose of the facility, which had been
Under construction and partial operation for 14 months, was to conduct performance tests on missile
Guidance systems.
Although located on a military base, the test facility operated as an independent entity; it
relied on military personnel and supply for support only. For instance, the buildings were within a classified area guarded by military police, but the company retained responsibility for security of the
project and could give or withhold permission for entrance to the test compound. Shipments were
unloaded wilder the direction of !:he company, but with !:he help of milltary personnel and
equipment. The military also supplied certain types of vehicles, which were driven by Sturdivant
employees unless some specialized skill was required. In general, the arrangement was intended to
allow the armed forces to provide services and facilities required by Sturdivant and the various other
contra ctors with test facilities on the base, and thus to avoid unnecessary duplication.
Orgal1izationally, the Sturdivant Electric test facility supervisor reported directly to the
manager of the missile control department at corporate headquarters in Allentown, Permsylvania.
Harris Johnson had been placed in charge of the Florida center when it was first set up. He took with
him several key people from Allentown who would form the nucleus of the field organization
In addition to the transplanted Pennsylvania personnel, Sturdivant employed several
technicians and others from the local area . These people lived either in their own homes or in
apartments nearby. The workday for the test facility staff, which numbered approximately 15, began
at 7 A.M. with a coffee break at 8:00 A.M. when the Post Exchange coffee wagon made a stop at their
building. The lunch period extended from 11:15 w1til 11:45 but, because of the nature of their work,
the personnel took the half-hour when it was convenient rather than observing a strict schedule. The
s taff members were very congenial and enjoyed many outside activities together such as b each
parties, fishing trips, and so forth. The workday ended at 3:30 P.M. except when overtime was
scheduled.
The bulk of the missile control equipment was built by the company in its Allentown plants
and then shipped to Florida. In order to assist in the start-up process, assistants had been sent from
Allentown on a temporary basis. These people reported to Johnson for administrative purposes while
in Florida, although any technical direction specifically relating to their equipment grouping came
from their respective supervisors at headquarters.
Several members of Sturdivant's computer group had also been assigned temporarily to the
Florida fa cility. Of this group, Bill Eden, the chief computer engineer, Al Abrams, the chief
programmer, and Fred Smith, assistant, had stayed with the project on a full-time basis, while other
temporary personnel rarely stayed more than a week at a time. These three men and their families
occupied adjoining two-room motel aparhnents at a tourist court not far from the military base.
Although their wives saw each other daily and their children played together, the families did not
share many common social activities. The apartments consisted of one bedroom, a large living room
which made up into a bedroom, a combination kitchen and dining area which opened off the living
room, and a bath. The motel was located on the ocean and, while reasonably comfortable, did not
constitute luxurious accommodations by any means. Transportation to and from work was generally
by company car, although because of the extended period of time they would be there, all three
families had brought their own cars to Florida.
The Computer
A central component of the test facility was a digital computer. Although Sturdivant had
prepared the performance specifications for the computer, it was the only major piece of equipment
not designed and built by the company. When the subcontractor delivered the machine to the test
facility, its installation and software development remained to be done. Consequently a group of
teclu1icians from the subcontractor accompanied the computer to help the Sturdivant staff bring it up
to operation. Eden, Abrams, and Smith had all spent a good deal of time in the design and
production stages of the computer project back and forth between Sturdivant headquarters in
Allentown and the subcontractor's headquarters in Concord, Massachusetts, s