Rear Admiral Wayne E. Meyer (April 21, 1926 – September 1, 2009) is regarded as the "Father of Aegis" for his 13 years of service as the Aegis Weapon System Manager and later the founding project manager of the Aegis Shipbuilding Project Office. He retired from the United States Navy in 1985 as the Deputy Commander for Weapons and Combat Systems, Naval Sea Systems, Naval Sea Systems Command and Ordnance Officer of the Navy.
Education
Meyer graduated from the University of Kansas in 1946 as a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He also holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a M.S. in Astronautics and Aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.
Early childhood
Wayne E. Meyer was born to Eugene and Nettie Meyer (now deceased) in Brunswick, Missouri, on 21 April 1926. His first four years of school were in Warden District School (eight grades in one room with a wood stove) under Helen Duncan. His father and family were livestock and grain farmers, plowing the land referred to by locals as the "gumbo". Meyer's father Eugene was displaced in the drought and the Great Depression and lost everything in 1935. He and his family of four children moved eleven miles into clay country five miles North of Brunswick. Wayne and siblings were enrolled in St. Boniface Catholic School, a 2-room schoolhouse. Sister Mary Joann was his teacher for the next four years with grades five through eight combined in one room.
Enrolled in the 140-pupil Brunswick High School in 1939, his primary teacher (and principal) was Miss Edith Marston. Under her tutelage, he and three other boys had been prepared by her to take a three day Armed Services competitive exam in January 1943, which all passed. In April they were called to Kansas City to examine their physical fitness for enlistment in a competitive college program created by President Roosevelt, called the V-12 in the Navy. Meyer passed the exam.
Early career
He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve on 12 May 1943 after his parents signed the required papers, as he was only 17 at the time. Meyer graduated from high school on 23 May as president of his class and valedictorian. In June he was called to active duty as Seaman Apprentice, USNR, reporting to the University of Kansas on 1 July.
Meyer was enrolled in the University's Engineering School as his primary duty. He completed eight semesters towards his degree on 1 February 1946. Later that month the Navy ordered the remainder of that Naval Unit (only 35 out of approximately 500 originally) to be commissioned as Ensign USNR, and the University awarded him a B.S. in Electrical Engineering (with Communications and Pre-Radar option). After 11 months at M.I.T. in Radar/Sonar training (and an additional B.S. in Electrical Engineering with an Electronics option), he was ordered to radar picket destroyer Goodrich . He qualified for Officer of the Deck underway at the age of 20. Meyer subsequently served as part of the Occupation Forces in the Mediterranean along with service in the Greek Civil War. He was part of the force supporting the creation of Israel in 1948. He was also accepted for transfer to the regular Navy that year.
Over the next two decades he served in the occupation forces in Japanese and in Chinese waters. His ship, the light gun cruiser Springfield , was in the mouth of the Huangpu River when Chiang Kai Shek's Nationalist forces fell to Mao Zedong's Red Army in March 1949. Probably the last U.S. warship in China, his ship sailed for home only to head to Hunters Point, San Francisco shipyard for decommissioning. From 1951 through 1955, he attended the Joint Guided Missile School, Fort Bliss, Texas, the Naval Line School, Monterey, California, and served as instructor at the Special (atomic) Weapons School, Norfolk, Virginia. He returned to sea as Executive Officer on USS Strickland followed by service on the Staff, Commander, Destroyer Force, Atlantic.
Later, he returned to Monterey to study Ordnance Engineering, followed again by M.I.T for 12 months. Here he was awarded one of the early master's degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics. Then he was ordered to the guided-missile cruiser Galveston as Fire Control officer and subsequently Gunnery Officer for her conversion as the first TALOS Cruiser. He has fired, in exercises and tests, more TALOS missiles than any other person.
Later career
In 1963, Navy Secretary Fred Korth chose then-Commander Meyer to serve in the Navy Task Force for Surface Guided Missile Systems, commanded by RADM Eli T. Reich. His work at the Terrier Desk led to his appointment to lead the engineering effort to shift the 30 Terrier-armed ships from analog to high-speed digital systems. Turning down a destroyer command to continue this prelude to advanced weapons system design, he was appointed an Ordnance Engineering Duty Officer the same year he was selected Captain. He was 40 years old. In 1967, he reported as Director of Engineering at the Naval Ship Missile Systems Engineering Station, Port Hueneme, California (now known as Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division or NSWC PHD).
In 1970, he was recalled to Washington and reported to the Naval Ordnance Systems Command as Manager, Aegis Weapon System. The Aegis project was begun by the Navy as the Advanced Surface Missile System (ASMS). Following the cancellation of the Typhon project, the Navy began work on ASMS to arm the fleet against the advanced Soviet air threats expected in the 1960s and 1970s. After receiving seven concept proposals from arms makers, the Navy Secretary recalled retired Rear Adm. Frederic S. Withington (a former Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance) to active duty to recommend one for development.
Withington delivered a report to the Secretary on May 15, 1965, recommending a phased array S-Band radar to search and track air targets, six slaved X-band radars for illumination and fire control, a digital control system compatible with the Naval Tactical Data System, a standard missile that could be directed in flight, and a dual-rail launcher. The report also recommended choosing a prime contractor to develop the system and improving existing missiles.
In 1969, RCA was awarded a contract to begin development. Meyer arrived in 1970, a leader experienced in system development, familiar with current fleet problems, and savvy enough to deal with the Navy and DoD hierarchy to see the project through to completion.
He insisted upon rigorous system engineering discipline throughout the project, and spent considerable effort ensuring that all participants understood what the system was required to do, and what their role was. Key to specifying and measuring system performance was the development of the three functional cornerstones (Detect, Control, Engage) and the five operational cornerstones:
- Reaction Time
- Firepower
- Electronic Countermeasure and Environmental Immunity
- Continuous Availability
- Area Coverage
Meyer's philosophy of "Build a Little, Test a Little, Learn a Lot" drove the testing and milestones of the Aegis system. Having witnessed problems with existing missile systems related to a lack of testing, tests that incorporated too many objectives, and failed system integration efforts requiring massive "get well" programs, he drove the project to conduct numerous tests in development and in delivery of production gear prior to ship installation.
Meyer was also named Project Manager (the final one) for Surface Missile Systems in 1972, and in July 1974 he was named the first Director of Surface Warfare, in the new Naval Sea Systems Command. He was selected for Rear Admiral in January 1975 at age 49. In July, he became the founding Project Manager, Aegis Shipbuilding, with project code PMS-400.
The first Aegis-equipped ship, USS Ticonderoga , was not decided upon in a day. Throughout the project's development, the size and armament of the ship was the subject of vigorous debate within the Navy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Congress. The proposed ships ranged from a 5,000-ton "austere" ship promoted by Admiral Zumwalt to a nuclear strike cruiser displacing three times as much. The type of ship, cruiser or destroyer was also a subject of debate. The Aegis system was eventually installed on a modified version of the Spruance -class hull, the first of which was designated as DDG-47, and later changed to CG-47. The ship was appropriated in 1978, and shortly after construction began at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. CG-47 was commissioned on 22 January 1983, and a short nine months later fired guns at Lebanon. Meyer and the project team were proud that the ship was ready to fight so shortly after commissioning.
A second class of Aegis ship began with concept studies in 1978. The class was to replace the aging DDG-2 and DDG-37 class destroyers and handle the same air threats as the CG-47 class. The project responsibility originally lay outside of PMS 400, in another functional code in the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA 93). However, by May 1982, the project was put under Meyer's control in PMS 400, with a lead ship awarded 1985 to Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine. Like the Ticonderoga , the ship was designed with an Aegis Combat System, modified for installation in the destroyer and less heavily armed. The ship was commissioned as USS Arleigh Burke on July 4, 1991.
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