Free Highways Into Space: A first-hand account of the beginnings of the human space program by Glynn S. Lunney Page B

compelling logic and reasoning to support any positions we took. It was a maturity lesson that we all internalized very well and enjoyed using to the fullest with our other colleagues who did not have the benefit of Tec’s coaching. He was a quiet spoken man, but did not shy away from pushing a discussion to what he thought was the correct conclusion. And he did it with grace, charm and a kind of impish style with which one could not be angry.
    All twenty-two-year-olds should have an engaging, talented role model like Tec to start their career with. We would all be better off. When I went to meet with Tec at my request, he often started with, “Well, Mr. Lunney, what are you trying to sell to me today?” Guilty as charged. To whatever extent I was successful at the art of framing and selling ideas, Tec was the teacher who got me started. I sometimes am unhappy with and disagree with what I say or write, but looking back on my oral history interviews, I was happy with these comments about Tec, only slightly edited for clarity.
     
    “So for a number of years, Tec was our leader and mentor and kind of a – not quite a father, but maybe an uncle figure – to a lot of us young fellows in the flight dynamics discipline and he was a tremendous help to Chris in putting together the Control Center concept in both of its locations. Tec was the original Flight dynamics officer at the Cape when they operated out of the Mercury Control Center. But he was such a gentle and yet demanding kind of guy – those two words don’t go together, but he was that. He was kind of gentle with people and also demanding of their performance, and because of his talents, he evoked a tremendous amount of confidence that people had in him, management had in him, and it was like he was a perfect match for us.”
     
    “We were a random group of young engineers that arrived from all over America and a little brash and a little hasty at times and sometimes a little emotional and he would counsel us along. After Tec died a few years ago, I wrote a note to Doris expressing my appreciation for all that Tec had meant to me personally, and I told her how much I and the rest of the men who worked for him had learned from him and how I felt that I used a lot of what I learned from Tec in raising our family. So I wanted her to know that there was some of Tec Roberts floating around here in Houston in the next generation of Lunneys. Tec was one of a kind and I felt blessed because Tec was such a jewel and he got to be our boss. We had a wonderful time learning from him, and he had a hell of a time dealing with us, I’m sure.”
     
    In May 1962, Chris Kraft was Chief of the Flight Operations Division (FOD). Tec ran the Mission Control Branch and I was head of one of his three sections with an overly complicated title of “Mission Logic and Computer Hardware.” There were two of us – myself and Cliff Charlesworth. John Llewellyn was not yet a formal member of this section, but that happened soon thereafter. This unit was the precursor to the eventual Flight Dynamics Branch (FDB), formed later. Tec had to leave Texas for reasons of health before that August 1964 change. With his departure and the growing workload, a division reorganization formed the Flight Dynamics Branch.
    Tec transferred to GSFC where he served in various management roles for the near-earth communication and tracking network that we used for manned flights. As expected, he was a great help to the network team and to us on the Houston end of the data lines. His example and teaching continued to make my life better long after he left us in Houston.
    In 1964, the FDB had twelve men besides myself – seven assigned to the upcoming Gemini and five to Apollo – a very small staff indeed for the total effort. As another indicator of their task, I was also selected as a Flight Director in October 1964, joining Chris, John Hodge and Gene Kranz. Cliff Charlesworth, who was the FDB deputy Chief,