[time-nuts] HP Stories: Cesium Standards on Subs and Sperry

[Richard (Rick) Karlquist]

On 2/24/2019 5:37 AM, Rice, Hugh (IPH Writing Systems) wrote:
> While HP wasn't a direct defense contractor, we did sell a lot of test equipment to defense contractors.    The big American submarines had a Cesium Standard or two as part of their instrumentation systems.    I know little about the application, but heard it was part of the communication and/or navigation systems.    Maybe some of you have experience with this, and can add 

One of my jobs between college and HP was with Boeing.
The military half of Boeing, not the airplane manufacturer.
The head manager of test equipment told me that the
default test equipment vendor was HP.  They only looked
at HP competitors in the event that HP simply didn't
even make what was required.  Who knew I would someday
work for HP for 35 years?  My old Boeing buddies would
have been proud; they all told me to leave.

Part of the HP orientation process about "The HP Way"
covered how HP did a lot of military contracts during WWII.
When the war ended, so did the contracts and the post
war recession started.  Dave had lay off a bunch of
workers.  He stated that HP would never again get
involved (at least in any serious way) with government
contracts because "We don't want to be a hire and fire
outfit".

Boeing, of course, was exactly that.

Rick