Mr. Martens retired from the USAF with the rank of LtCol in 1990 after a career in the research, development, test and procurement field. He had assignments in Air Force Systems Command, Defense Nuclear Agency, Strategic Air Command and the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. Most of his career centered around the study of the effects of nuclear weapons and how to make strategic weapons systems more survivable against these effects. His Air Force Systems Command assignments were in the Minuteman ICBM Nuclear Survivability Division, where he planned and managed test and analysis programs on the system’s ability to survive nuclear attack, and the Air Force Weapons Laboratory where he planned and managed test and analysis programs investigating the effects of nuclear detonations. In the Defense Nuclear Agency he served as test bed engineer on underground nuclear effects tests and above ground simulation tests. His responsibilities at Strategic Air Command included developing requirements for future strategic systems survivability and evaluating current systems effectiveness. His last assignment was as the chief engineer and program manager for the Global Positioning Satellite and Control Systems where he was responsible for development, production, launch and operations of the GPS Satellites.
Since his retirement Mr. Martens has worked in a supporting and consultant role for the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. This support has focused on providing training for the new military and civilian staff on how system engineering and development should be managed as well as how future Military Space Systems should be architected to improve performance and reduce cost to the tax payers.
In his presentation, Mr. Martens will draw on this background to form his own personal thoughts on how nuclear weapons might be used by various possible nations and organizations in the post cold war world and how their use might affect us and our society. This presentation will not be technical in nature nor will it be based on current knowledge of intelligence reports. It will be based on a logical extrapolation of his understanding of what is technically possible, what might make strategic sense to the various possible users of these types of attacks, US capabilities to identify/prevent/clean up after these types of attacks.