VOL 21. NO 4 The China Laker Business Name Special points of interest:  Who was VADM Smith  President Eisenhower  Public Relations Corner Who Was... 1 President’s Message 1 Public Relations Corner 3 Presidential Timeline 4 Board of Directors 5 Pledge 11 Donation Application 12 Inside this issue: Early Years to World War II. VADM Levering Smith was the man largely responsi- ble for the contin- uing success of the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Ballistic Missile program, the Pola ris – Poseidon–Trident program. He was born in Joplin, Missouri on March 5, 1910. Because of his wavy red hair he acquired the nickname “Rosie.” After graduating from high school, he was appointed to the Naval Academy. Graduating 1932, he served aboard surface ships in a variety o f g e n e r a l l i n e assignments and then completed a postgraduate course in ordnance engineering in 1940. D u r i n g World War I I h e participated in eleven m a j o r campaigns, s u r v i v i n g the sinking of the USS Hornet (CV- 8) in the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on October 26, 1942 and the s i n k i n g o f U S S Northampton (CA-26) in the battle of Tassafaronga in November 30, 1942. From the Bureau of Ordnance to NOTS. In 1944 Smith was assigned to the Navy’s Bureau of O r d n a n c e ( B u O r d ) , beginning his career to become one of the nation’s top technical experts in WHO WAS: VADM LEVERING ‘ROSIE’ SMITH by Jack Latimer 20 October 2015 President’s Message The CLMF Annual Member- ship Meeting was held Sept 26 in con- junction with the Grand Re-Opening of our Gift Shop. We hope you received a letter in the mail about this event, please let us know if you are a Member and did not at 760 -939-3530. It was a fun social, well attended, and we had a banner sales day at our Gift Shop with the special 50% discount offer! A status presenta- tion of our Building Project was given to the Planning Commission by Laura Hickle, our volunteer grant writer, and was nicely reported in the 8/28/15 Daily Independent. Feedback (con’t page 6) explosives, propellants, ballistic missiles, and nuclear weaponry. He began directing programs in propellant development for guns and rockets and t h u s d e v e l o p e d relationships with NOTS Inyokern because of its role in rocket development. NOTS’ Technical Director, Dr. L. T. E. Thompson, took an interest in Smith and encouraged him to come to NOTS. He accepted Thompson’s offer and arrived at Inyokern in September 1947 and spent seven years at NOTS. Thompson appointed Smith as deputy to Dr. Bruce Sage, head of the Explosives Department. When Sage left NOTS, Smith became the Explosives Department Head, and because of his knowledge of explosives (con’t page 2) Newsletter Editor - Bettye Moody , OCR Text: VOL 21. NO 4 The China Laker Business Name Special points of interest:  Who was VADM Smith  President Eisenhower  Public Relations Corner Who Was... 1 President’s Message 1 Public Relations Corner 3 Presidential Timeline 4 Board of Directors 5 Pledge 11 Donation Application 12 Inside this issue: Early Years to World War II. VADM Levering Smith was the man largely responsi- ble for the contin- uing success of the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Ballistic Missile program, the Pola ris – Poseidon–Trident program. He was born in Joplin, Missouri on March 5, 1910. Because of his wavy red hair he acquired the nickname “Rosie.” After graduating from high school, he was appointed to the Naval Academy. Graduating 1932, he served aboard surface ships in a variety o f g e n e r a l l i n e assignments and then completed a postgraduate course in ordnance engineering in 1940. D u r i n g World War I I h e participated in eleven m a j o r campaigns, s u r v i v i n g the sinking of the USS Hornet (CV- 8) in the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on October 26, 1942 and the s i n k i n g o f U S S Northampton (CA-26) in the battle of Tassafaronga in November 30, 1942. From the Bureau of Ordnance to NOTS. In 1944 Smith was assigned to the Navy’s Bureau of O r d n a n c e ( B u O r d ) , beginning his career to become one of the nation’s top technical experts in WHO WAS: VADM LEVERING ‘ROSIE’ SMITH by Jack Latimer 20 October 2015 President’s Message The CLMF Annual Member- ship Meeting was held Sept 26 in con- junction with the Grand Re-Opening of our Gift Shop. We hope you received a letter in the mail about this event, please let us know if you are a Member and did not at 760 -939-3530. It was a fun social, well attended, and we had a banner sales day at our Gift Shop with the special 50% discount offer! A status presenta- tion of our Building Project was given to the Planning Commission by Laura Hickle, our volunteer grant writer, and was nicely reported in the 8/28/15 Daily Independent. Feedback (con’t page 6) explosives, propellants, ballistic missiles, and nuclear weaponry. He began directing programs in propellant development for guns and rockets and t h u s d e v e l o p e d relationships with NOTS Inyokern because of its role in rocket development. NOTS’ Technical Director, Dr. L. T. E. Thompson, took an interest in Smith and encouraged him to come to NOTS. He accepted Thompson’s offer and arrived at Inyokern in September 1947 and spent seven years at NOTS. Thompson appointed Smith as deputy to Dr. Bruce Sage, head of the Explosives Department. When Sage left NOTS, Smith became the Explosives Department Head, and because of his knowledge of explosives (con’t page 2) Newsletter Editor - Bettye Moody , China Lake Museum,China Laker - Newsletter,China Laker 2010s,China Laker 2015,Vol+21+No+4+Oct+2015.pdf,Vol+21+No+4+Oct+2015.pdf Page 1, Vol+21+No+4+Oct+2015.pdf Page 1