I was at the right place, at the right time
by Ralph G.
After graduating from the University of
Florida in 1953, I went to work for the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore,
Maryland. Mr. Martin was still alive at the time. For the next four years, I
worked on a variety of missile projects, including the MGM-1 Matador, the P5M
Marlin, the P6M SeaMaster, the Titan and the MGM-18 Lacrosse. It was Lacrosse
that brought me back to Florida to help open a new facility in Orlando in 1957.
A year later, the
company acquired a new digital computer (wow, it was big). I was transferred
for a “minimum of one year” to be a computer programmer. That year turned out
to be 30 years, and my duties grew. During that time, computers became more
prominent, a new part of the company was formed, and I was one of the earliest
employees of Data Systems. Those 30 years resulted in a completely new part of
my education. The company name changed from the Glenn L. Martin Company to the
Martin Company and then to Martin Marietta. Progress was made, and for 35 years,
I was a small part of that.
