120 Dahlgren 



short, the appropriation was reinstated and was approved. We got the compu- 

 ter lab. 



The restoration of that bill was primarily due to the efforts of two people in 

 Congress — Willis Robertson, who was then our United States Senator, and 

 Howard Smith, who was our Representadve. Willis Robertson never once — and 

 I saw the correspondence on this — asked anybody to do anything on this 

 problem just because the Laboratory was in Virginia and his constituents were 

 here. But he wrote to Senator John Stennis and said, "You and I were re- 

 cently on a trip down to such and such a place in Florida and we were on such 

 and such a submarine and it was there they were working on this POLARIS. 

 The programming for this is at the Naval Weapons Laboratory at Dahlgren and 

 that's the reason they need this facility, and you and I know what this means to 

 our defense effort." That was the basis upon which they got approval. We have 

 tried to keep certain sources informed of the technical aspects of programs for 

 which we need specialized facilities as opposed to trying to exert any political 

 influence or stressing what certain things mean to the economy of the local 

 area. I think thus far we have been fairly successful. 



Can you recall any specific individuals, either military or civilian, who you consider 

 produced major effects on either the Laboratory or the community during their tours here? 



I don't think there's any question about it. The first name that comes to my 

 mind is Admiral Joy. Admiral Joy, I think, was one of the finest men, personal- 

 ly, that I've ever seen here as a Commanding Officer. I'm not derogating from 

 others either, but he had a special talent. To me, his special talent was organiza- 

 tion. He understood it, he knew it, and he practiced it. He was great for 

 delegating authority. He got jobs done. He wasn't interested in the petty stuff 

 unless he got a complaint about somebody not doing his job, and he'd call them 

 in and say, "We got you in that job because you were supposed to be able to do it. 

 If you can't, you say so, and I'll get somebody else in it. If you don't produce, I'll 

 have you removed, and I'll have somebody else that will produce." And that was 

 it. It was as simple as that. Then he was followed by Admiral Kitts. Admiral Kitts 

 was a fighter up in Washington. Of course, he had his promotion to Admiral, so 

 he wasn't afraid of going up there and stepping on somebody's toes. 



Admiral Kitts was the one responsible for getting the Bank of Dahlgren 

 established off the Station. Until that time, we had no banking facilities either 

 on or off the Stadon except in King George or Colonial Beach. He went up 

 there and told them he was going to have a bank. They wouldn't give him any 

 help, and he came back and told us, "We'll do whatever is necessary within the 

 law, but we're going to get a bank here," and he did. He got that group of 

 people who were stockholders in the Bank of Westmoreland to create an inde- 

 pendent bank off the Station and built what is today the Bank of Dahlgren. As 



