Growth of the Air Force Metrology and Calibration Program and Reasons for Changes in the Program

摘要

This paper traces the growth of the Air Force Metrology and Calibration Program from World War II through the 1970s. Although airmen used measurements and standards well before the war, rapid technological advances, during the war created a need for a formal calibration program. Mechanics, technicians, and operators had to be assured that their complex tools and equipment were calibrated to the most accurate standards in the country. The paper describes how the formal calibration program provided this assurance through a means of comparing field-level standards with the most accurate standards in the nation--those from the National Bureau of Standards. The paper discusses program growth that followed in the '50s, '60s, and '70s and concludes by detailing the impetuses for program changes from the '40s to the '70s. (Author)