Walter B. LaBerge

Walter B. LaBerge
Walter B. LaBerge
United States Under Secretary of the Army
	In office; July 1977 – February 1980
President	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Norman R. Augustine
Succeeded by	Robert Harry Spiro Jr.
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1944-1946
Rank	Captain

Walter Barber LaBerge (1924–2004) was an

executive who served as United States Under Secretary of the Army

from 1977 to 1980.

Biography

Early life

LaBerge was born in

salesman selling industrial brushes for the Osborn Brush Company. He was educated at Proviso Township High School in Maywood, Illinois, and the University of Notre Dame, receiving a degree in Naval Science

in 1944.

Career

After graduating, LaBerge joined the United States Navy (then in the midst of World War II) and was posted to the yard minesweeper USS YMS-165 based in Palau. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1946.

Upon leaving the Navy, LaBerge returned to Notre Dame, and shortly thereafter married Patricia Sammon of

Ph.D.

in Physics in 1950.

In 1950, LaBerge became Program Engineer for the

China Lake, California. He was promoted in 1955, becoming Program Manager

of the Sidewinder program.

In 1957, LaBerge moved to

Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. During this period, he worked closely with NASA officials, and got to know several of the original United States astronauts

. In 1963, he was promoted to director of the Philco Ford's Houston operation. He returned to Palo Alto in 1966 as division vice president, then vice president for the Electronics Group, at Philco Ford's Western Development Laboratories.

LaBerge returned to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (as the Naval Ordnance Test Center had been renamed) in 1971 as deputy technical director and then as technical director.

In 1973, President of the United States Richard Nixon nominated LaBerge as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Research and Development). He held this post until 1976, when he became Assistant Secretary General (Defense Support) at NATO in Brussels.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter nominated LaBerge as United States Under Secretary of the Army and he subsequently held this office from July 27, 1977, until February 28, 1980. On February 15, 1979, he also became Principal Deputy to the Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering), and continued to hold this post until 1981, even after he relinquished his office as Under Secretary of the Army.

Upon leaving the

executive at Lockheed, serving as corporate vice president of the Lockheed Missile and Space Company in Sunnyvale, California, from 1981 to 1985, and then as Lockheed's Vice President of Advanced Planning at Calabasas, California

, from 1985 to 1989.

Later years

LaBerge retired in 1989. In retirement, he served as chair of the

Defense Systems Management College at the Defense Acquisition University in Fort Belvoir, Virginia; and visiting professor of physics at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California

.

A genealogy enthusiast, LaBerge traced his genealogy back to Robert de La Berge, one of the original settlers of New France.

LaBerge died in Santa Cruz, California, on July 16, 2004. He was 80 years old.

References

Biography from website set up in memoriam of LaBerge
Profile from the U.S. Department of the Army at the Wayback Machine (archived January 19, 2004)
"Scientist, NATO Official Walter B. LaBerge", Washington Post, July 31, 2004

Government offices
Preceded by Norman Ralph Augustine	United States Under Secretary of the Army July 27, 1977 – February 28, 1980	Succeeded by Robert Harry Spiro, Jr.