AFRL Directed Energy Directorate’s first director dies

  • Published
  • By Jeanne Dailey
  • Air Force Research Laboratory
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  R. Earl Good, former Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate director, died Dec. 10.

Good became a resident of Albuquerque in 1993 when he moved from Boston to become the executive director of Phillips Laboratory, which became AFRL.

"I knew Earl for nearly 30 years from my time both at Hanscom Air Force Base and here at Kirtland," said David Hardy, the current Directed Energy Directorate director. "Dr. Good left an indelible mark on the Air Force Laboratory community through his outstanding leadership and public service over a long and successful career."

Good was born in 1936 in Sterling, Ill., and moved with his family to Edinburgh, Texas, in 1946.

He received a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas and a master's in that discipline from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961.

Good's federal career began in 1958 when he became a research engineer with MIT's Naval Supersonic Laboratory. He received his doctorate in astrogeophysics from the University of Colorado in 1974. After receiving his doctorate, Good returned to Hanscom, where he progressed from staff scientist to director of the Geophysics Directorate, one of the three directorates within Phillips Laboratory.

While at Hanscom, Good was part of an experimental effort that used more than 100 sounding rockets to characterize conditions in the upper atmosphere. He also conducted experiments to better define how atmospheric turbulence effects laser beams. That helped advance the Air Force's airborne laser program.

In 1993, Good was appointed as executive director of Phillips Laboratory at Kirtland. At that time there were significant personnel and budget reductions. Good helped reorganize the laboratory and established the Directed Energy and the Space Vehicles Directorates that became part of the Air Force Research Laboratory, which was created in 1997.

Maj. Gen. Dick Paul, the first AFRL commander, selected Good as the first director of the Directed Energy Directorate. There have been a total of five directors for the Directed Energy Directorate, and Good holds the distinction of serving the longest, from Oct. 31, 1997 to April 3, 2003.

"Dr. Good placed a premium on encouraging scientists and engineers taking risks as the way to advance science and technology in the areas of lasers and high power microwaves," Hardy said. "Most importantly, Earl understood the importance of people in the process, always treating them fairly and with respect. He will be deeply missed."

Good's survivors include his wife Carolyn; daughter Cynthia Good and her husband Alan Pratt; son Robert Good and his wife Jackie; four grandchildren; and brother Paul.