Schriever, Bernard Adolph (1910–2005)
Aerospace engineer and administrator who figured prominently in American
missile development. Schriever earned a B.S. in architectural engineering
from Texas A&M in 1931 and was commissioned in the Army Air Corps Reserve
in 1933 after completing pilot training. He earned an M.A. in aeronautical
engineering from Stanford in 1942 and then flew 63 combat missions in the
Pacific Theater during World War II. In 1954, he became commander of the
Western Development Division (soon renamed the Air Force Ballistic Missile
Division), and from 1959 to 1966 was commander of its parent organization,
the Air Research and Development Command (renamed Air Force Systems Command
in 1961). As such, he oversaw the development of the Atlas,
Thor, and Titan
missiles, introducing a systems approach, whereby the various components
of the Atlas and succeeding missiles underwent simultaneous design and testing.
Schriever also instigated the practice of concurrency, which allowed the
components of missiles to enter production while still in the test phase,
thereby speeding up development. He retired as a general in 1966.
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• AEROSPACE
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