Bureaucratic squares were rounded, and they found the long haired youth 

 supporting the project were people after all. Midnight "dialogues" became 

 vital. People melded into friendships that will last for years to come. 



TEKTITE II had its moments of alarm and anxiety. Equipment failure is a way 

 of life in such a place. The problem of meandering hurricanes kept watch 

 directors and project managers pouring over charts--and very much on the 

 qui vive. 



The feeling of humor, esprit, and elan--that kept support functions ticking-- 

 served equally to oil the vital judgment mechanism that was so important to 

 the program's undersea missions. Little happened of an unexpected nature that 

 took anyone by surprise. There was never any panic, for no one had cause to 

 over-react to crises. Since who could do what was well known, it was always 

 easy to muster a gang of the right people to tackle any chore--above and 

 beyond assigned duties. 



Strangers might witness what seemed to be an unwarranted casualness on every- 

 one's part, but casualness it wasn't. Rather they had a handle on things that 

 helped them find the broadest and most knowing approach possible in solving 

 what often seemed to outsiders insurmountable problems. This hidden confidence 

 coupled with a basic rapport and commitment is what kept scrubbed missions to 

 a minimum and enabled TEKTITE II to enjoy a perfect safety record. 



TEKTITE II is over, and the members of its unique society are gone. Some left 

 reluctantly, for they knew full well what they were leaving behind. Those few 

 who left eagerly--to realize, too late, what they got out of it--suffer the 

 most: They now wish they'd made better use of their time. 



TEKTITE III was born at Lameshur Bay. Not by program plans, or by decrees, 

 but in the wishful minds of those who had so rewardingly exercised their newly 

 discovered "best" at TEKTITE II. It was only natural to hope an opportunity 

 to repeat such successes would offer itself. It was this "best" in people that 

 was brought out by the informal manner in which operations at TEKTITE II were 

 executed, and that contributed so much to the success it was. The impact of 

 this on those who helped make it successful is eloquently echoed in many of the 

 letters that have since been exchanged by them: 



"...we are finally managing to absorb the. . .cultural shock of re-entry... 

 A necktie is very like a noose, isn't it?" 



"I really did so enjoy my sojourn... I will never be that which I was 

 before." 



"For sure, in retrospect those wet, buggy, insane islands look better 

 and better as the days pass." 



"...most of us no longer respond to organizational 'imperatives' in a 

 way our superiors understand." 



And in all their letters there is the unspoken regret that it now seems so long 

 ago and far away. If ever there is a TEKTITE III, a host of veterans from 



IV-17 



