Nanos, Pete
Oral history interview with Pete Nanos, 2021 July 9.
In this interview, Peter Nanos discusses: family background and childhood in New Hampshire; decision to study at the Naval Academy; fraternal culture at the Academy; experience as a Trident Scholar working with Ralph Goodwin; Ph.D. at Princeton as part of the Burke Program; working in Bob Dickes gravity group on the first large-scale measurement of the polarization of the microwave background; work on the timing of the crab nebula pulsar; thesis advisor Dave Wilkinson; getting feedback on his thesis pre-publication from Bob Wilson; working with Captain Al Skolnick on the Navy High Energy Laser Program to demonstrate the ability to down supersonic aircraft with the Mid-Infrared Chemical Laser (MIRACL); decision to stay with the Navy as an engineering duty officer (ED); various assignments as ED, including on the USS America; involvement in Operation El Dorado Canyon (1986 U.S. bombing of Libya); effects of Reagans increased military spending; power of nuclear deterrence in reducing worldwide war fatalities; work with and promotion to director of Naval Strategic Systems Programs (SSP); use of the first GPS; START Treaty; work with Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA); Drell commission to determine safety of the Trident II D5 missile; creation of the National Nuclear Security Administration; director position at Los Alamos; response to reports of lost nuclear material; explanation of laboratory shut down; position as associate director at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA); creation of R&D Enterprise at DTRA; investments in nuclear detection technology; experiences running exercises; work with the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins; and post-retirement consulting work. Toward the end of the interview, Nanos reflects on demanding technical excellence and on the value of his training and study of physics, the liberal arts of STEM.
American physicist and naval officer. Ph.D. physics, Princeton University (1974). Professional experience includes: technical director of strategic system programs, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, retired as vice admiral, United States Navy; from interim director to director, Los Alamos National Laboratory (2003-2005); associate director of research and development, associate director of operations enterprise, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) (2005-); fellow and temporary head in the National Security Analysis Department, acting head of the Global Engagement Department, managing executive of the Force Projection Department, Johns Hopkins University / Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) (2007-).
Dicke, Robert H. (Robert Henry)
Drell, Sidney D. (Sidney David), 1926-2016
Goodwin, Ralph A.
Nanos, Pete
Skolnick, Alfred, 1930-
Wilkinson, David T.
Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000
Johns Hopkins University. Applied Physics Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Princeton University
United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency
United States. National Nuclear Security Administration
United States Naval Academy.
United States. Naval Sea Systems Command
United States. Navy
Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (1991 July 31)
Bombing, Aerial
Chemical lasers
Cosmic background radiation
Global Positioning System
Lasers
Lasers -- Military applications.
Lasers -- Military applications -- Research -- United States -- History.
Laser weapons
Nuclear counters
Nuclear disarmament.
Nuclear weapons
Pulsars
Crab Nebula
Interviews. aat
Oral histories. aat
Transcripts. aat
Zierler, David, 1979-, interviewer.
AIP-ICOS
American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA