is correct j that technical information for operation and main- 

 tenance is adequate, and that operation is not only satisfac- 

 tory but carries out the basic ideas which lay behind the 

 development originally t This is also true of techniques; the 

 applications must be appropriate , 



The Job of the Field Engineer , 



The responsibility of getting new equipment into effective 

 use is three-fold o The operator asks that someone help him to 

 obtain new tools., The developer designs the tools „ Between 

 the needs of the operator and the work of the developer there 

 is a gap which the field engineer must bridge. 



In bridging the gap , the field engineer must be concerned 

 with problems of installation;, operation and maintenance. Fie 

 becomes an appraiser, serves as liaison agent. He carries 

 to the operator an appreciation of the problems of the de- 

 veloper; he brings back to the laboratory the operator's 

 opinions on service requirements and operating conditions, 



Finally, In wartime, the field engineer must also train 

 personnel how to operate and maintain new devices, so that 

 they will gain the maximum benefit from their equipment. 



In the case of antisubmarine and pro- submarine warfare, 

 operations are conducted on the threshold of an instrument's 

 performance. Since first contact is extremely Important, It 

 is necessary to extract the last ounce of performance from 

 the equipment.-, 



This, of course, Implies the coordination of men and 

 equipment o Men using the equipment must operate as a teaim 



Men are usually trained to use equipment at the train- 

 ing centers. But the coordination and integration of the 

 equipment is usually accomplished in actual service, There 

 are man:/- different kinds of equipment, made by different 

 manufacturers, at different periods. It becomes the duty of 

 a properly trained field engineer to weld this equipment into 

 a coordinated system, and, in some cases, it is his duty to 

 coach the men, as well, into an efficient team. 



■ * 



In carrying out his manifold duties, the field engineer 

 becomes a diagnostician and a doctor. Often he is a specialist, 



119 



