Bridge Chat

Video by Sean Kief

Dr. Walter S. McAfee - C5ISR Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Inductee

U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command

June 26, 2024 | 4:20

Dr. Walter S. McAfee served the Fort Monmouth community for 42 years, as a scientist, educator, supervisor, and mentor. From 1942 until his retirement in 1985, Dr. McAfee helped to create a vigorous, inclusive scientific community that was dedicated to advancing communications and electronics research, as well as paving the way for the advancement of minorities in the Federal workplace. In 1971, Dr. McAfee was the first African American employee of the U.S. Army to be promoted to GS-16, a “super-grade” civilian position with his appointment as Scientific Adviser to the Deputy for Laboratories, Army Electronics Command. He joined the Army Signal Corps Radar Laboratory at Camp Evans in 1942, where he was employed as a physicist in the theoretical studies unit of the Engineering Laboratories, Army Electronics Research Command. He gained special recognition in 1946 while with Project Diana at the Evans Signal Laboratory. This small team of scientists helped put man’s imprint on the moon for the first time with radar. This experiment made headlines on January 10, 1946, when the first contact occurred between earth and its satellite. Project Diana bounced an electronic echo from the moon’s surface back to an antenna at the Evans Signal Laboratory. McAfee’s theoretical calculations determined the feasibility of this original radar “moon bounce.” Many still regard it as the real beginning of the Space Age.