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Ralph Gordon Allen, Jr.’s, story is a success story that can assure young scientists that a quick mind, dedication to hard work, sound training in the fundamentals of physics and mathematics, and a willingness to stray from the beaten path can lead to a very productive, distinguished and satisfying career, a career that well serves science, the scientist, and the nation. His story also describes those courageous and dedicated men and women who interrupted their education to serve their country in WWII, many of whom, like Ralph put their lives at risk. Returning to civilian life, aided by the GI Bill and knowing the value of hard work, they plunged into the task of educating themselves and resuming their march toward productive and creative professional careers. After completing his education, Ralph chose to return to the Air Force and there he was an exceptionally productive scientist, respected by his military colleagues, his commanding officers, and by a host of outstanding civilian scientists who were among his collaborators. His story will inspire all who take the time to know it.—Mel Oakes

Acknowledgment: The information and pictures in this account of the life of Ralph Allen came from a variety of sources. A memoir written by Ralph was invaluable. Chief among contributors were Ralph’s daughters Cynde Allen Gibson and Lynne Allen Sims. Ralph’s widow, Darlene Allen shared many of Ralph’s documents. Without their enthusiastic participation, this recognition of a distinguished scientist and soldier would have fallen far short of what he so richly deserved.

Ralph Gordon Allen, Jr. was born Sept 27, 1922, in Bexar County, Texas. He was the adopted son of Ralph Gordon Allen, Sr. (1889–1945) and Annie Ledufcia Merriman (1885–1972). (Shown at right.)

Ralph, Sr. was born in Alabama and worked as a brakeman and as a railway freight conductor in San Antonio.

Annie was likely born in Medina,Texas. Her father, James Eli Merriman, a stock farmer, was from Bristol, Connecticut. His father, a Yale graduate, was Eli T. Merriman, the first physician in San Marcos, Texas. Annie’s mother, Ledufcia Richardson, was from Palestine, Texas. James and Ledufcia were married in Banquette, Nueces, TX in 1874. Annie was one of six children. She died in San Antonio, TX, in 1972.

 

 

 

Ralph Jr., an only child, attended school in San Antonio. At the left we see Ralph with his classmates. Ralph is second from the right in the back row. Ralph attended Brackenridge High School, graduating in 1940. He was member of the National Honor Society, a Lt. Colonel in R.O.T.C., and member of the Rifle Club. His senior picture is at right.

 

Upon graduating, he entered St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. After a year he transferred to San Antonio College and graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in 1942.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following graduation Ralph married his high school sweetheart, Sylvia Mary Vidrine, on June 20, 1942, in San Antonio. Sylvia was born in San Antonio, December 19, 1923 to George Curtis and Hester M. Vidrine, shown at left.

George Vidrine (1893–1982) was born in Ville Platte, Louisiana. In 1919, George (at right) applied for a passport to accept a position with the Haitian-American Sugar Co. in Haiti. He had previously been a foreman of a rice pumping plant in Louisiana. He earned an industrial arts degree at Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute (now U. of Louisiana at Lafayette). George also earned a master's at Texas A & M in 1936. His thesis was entitled, Revision of Junior High School Industrial Arts Courses Determined by Pupil Needs. Eventually George became an industrial arts teacher in San Antonio and long time principal of Longfellow Jr. High School. He was also principal of Horace Mann Jr. High. His wife Hester (1897–1993) had two years of college.

 

 

 

 

 

Sylvia (at right) attended Brackenridge High School in San Antonio where she was an honor student and student leader. Sylvia was active in many student organizations, her picture appearing many times in the San Antonio Express. Sylvia was an Air Force wife and mother with the many demands that job required, however, Ralph’s position imposed other constraints. Ralph and Sylvia were married throughout his education, World War II experience, and throughout his entire military career. Sylvia was a full-time homemaker and Air Force wife who moved frequently with Ralph between San Antonio and Washington D.C. They lived briefly in Montgomery, Alabama, while Ralph went to Command and Staff College at Maxwell A. F. B. Otherwise, the family was only stationed in Oak Ridge, D.C. and San Antonio. Ralph was always traveling and all his work was highly classified. The family was never allowed to leave the country, as they were considered a security risk. Therefore, the family was never stationed overseas. Sylvia and Ralph divorced in 1974.

 

 

 

Sylvia, Ralph and their daughter Cynde are shown in picture at the left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In October 1942, Ralph entered the Army as an aviation cadet, completing aviation cadet training in August, 1943. Following time in San Angelo, Lubbock, Clovis, NM, and Langley Field, he arrived in the Mediterranean Theater in December, 1943. He served as a decorated pilot with heavy and light bombardment aircraft in the U. S. Army Air Corps during WWII with combat in heavy and light bombardment aircraft in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Ralph said, " As a result of this experience I developed a special empathy with air crews and their problems, and a lasting desire to contribute to their safety and success in an increasingly dangerous arena."

He flew the B-24 Liberator (shown at right), A-20 Havoc and A-26 aircraft. The B-24 was called a “Man’s Airplane” because the steering was done by the power of the pilot’s muscles. There were no hydraulics and no windshield wipers. The B-24 was a more modern design with a higher top speed, greater range, and a heavier bomb load; it was also more difficult to fly, with heavy control forces and poor formation-flying characteristics. The placement of the B-24's fuel tanks throughout the upper fuselage and its lightweight construction, designed to increase range and optimize assembly line production, made the aircraft vulnerable to battle damage. The B-24 was notorious among American aircrews for its tendency to catch fire. Its high fuselage-mounted “Davis Wing” also meant it was dangerous to ditch or belly land, since the fuselage tended to break apart. The cockpit was open to the elements. Flying at 20,000 feet, temperatures hovered at minus 40 degrees below zero. At those temperatures, the oxygen masks froze to the face of the crews. Ralph commented on the personal impact of working in these most difficult conditions, “As a result of this experience, I developed a special empathy with air crews and their problems, and a lasting desire to contribute to their safety and success in an increasingly dangerous arena.”

In 1945, Ralph was honorably discharged from the Army Air Corps. The GI Bill enabled him to enter the University of Texas at Austin to continue his education. In 1947, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics, with honors, and a Master of Arts degree in 1948. His master’s thesis was entitled, Modified radiometer and ionization gauges for low pressure measurements.

After accepting a regular commission in the Air Force in 1948, he was assigned to the Air Force Institute of Technology with duty as a student at the University of Texas.

 

In 1950, Ralph was selected by the President of the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. T. Painter, as the first graduate student to participate in studies at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The research for his Ph.D. dissertation was conducted at the ORNL under a fellowship from the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, and he was awarded a Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas in 1953. His PhD dissertation was, Measurement of the thermal neutron cross sections of gold, silver, indium, nickel, and nickel oxide using a crystal spectrometer.

A measure of the high regard that the faculty and Oak Ridge scientists had for Ralph can be revealed by examining those on his PhD committee. Ralph had a committee which consisted of UT Faculty and scientists at Oak Ridge. Seymour Bernstein was the supervisor of the work at Oak Ridge.

 

 

Seymour Bernstein was born on February 20, 1909, in Chicago to Isadore Samuel and Etta Sher Bernstein. He received a BS in engineering from the University of Illinois (1930) and a PhD in physics from the University of Chicago (1939).

 

Bernstein was an engineer for the city of Chicago from 1930 to 1934. He was an instructor at Austin College, Chicago, from 1939 to 1942. In 1942, he came to the University of Chicago as a research associate. In 1944, Bernstein left for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to work as their chief physicist. He returned to Chicago in 1964, to teach physics at the University of Illinois.

From 1955 to 1956, Bernstein was a visiting professor at the Israel Institute of Technology. From 1961 to 1962 he was a visiting professor at the University of Miami, Coral Gables. Bernstein served as a science delegate for the First International Conference on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1955. He was also a Fellow of the American Physics Society.

 

The second name on the thesis list is Clifford G. Shull (shown at right with lab book. Ernest Wollan is kneeling, 1950). “Clifford G. Shull was awarded the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics with Canadian Bertram Brockhouse. This was the longest time after the original work was completed that the Nobel Prize was awarded (broken by the 2012 physiology prize). The two won the prize for the development of the neutron scattering technique, a technique that reveals where atoms are within a material like ricocheting bullets reveal where obstacles are in the dark.

When a beam of neutrons is directed at a given material, the neutrons bounce off, or are scattered by, atoms in the sample being investigated. The neutrons' directions change, depending on the location of the atoms they hit, and a diffraction pattern of the atoms' positions can then be obtained. Understanding where atoms are in a material and how they interact with one another is the key to understanding a material's properties. "Then we can think of how we can make better window glass, better semiconductors, better microphones. All of these things go back to understanding the basic science behind their operation," Professor Shull, then 79, said on the day of the Nobel announcement.

He started [his pioneering work] in 1946 at what is now Oak Ridge National Laboratory. At that time, he said, "Scientists at Oak Ridge were very anxious to find real honest-to-goodness scientific uses for the information and technology that had been developed during the war at Oak Ridge and at other places associated with the wartime Manhattan Project."

Professor Shull teamed up with Ernest Wollan (signature also on list) and for the next nine years they explored ways of using the neutrons produced by nuclear reactors to probe the atomic structure of materials. Shull referred to Wollan on receiving the Nobel Prize, “I regret very much that Wollan's death in 1984 precluded his sharing in the Nobel honor that has been given to Brockhouse and me since his contributions were certainly deserving of recognition.”

Professor Emmett Hudspeth was Ralph’s UT supervisor. Others on the committee from UT were physics professors M.Y. Colby, D. S. Hughes, S. Leroy Brown and mathematician Homer Craig. Ralph acknowledged the help of Oak Ridge scientists, Drs. S. Tamor and G. Trammell, staff members R. Ward, Miss Thema Irene Arnette (shown at right), T. Stephenson, C. P. Stanford, W. Harrison, R. M. Steele and C. Feldman.

 

 

 

It should be noted that while working full time to complete his dissertation, Ralph, at left, was now the father of two daughters, Cynde, on his lap, and Lynne. (1953 photo)

After receiving his doctorate, he returned to the Air Force. Because of his interest in biology, an early assignment of Ralph’s was the feasibility of powering an airplane with a nuclear reactor and protecting the crew from radiation damage. He was appointed Chief of the Shielding and Bioeffects unit of the Aircraft Reactors Branch in Washington, DC. The US and Soviet Union pursued this research in the hopes of keeping bombers in the air for long periods, thus acting as a nuclear deterrent. ORNL was successful in achieving nearly full thrust with two engines, however, providing the necessary shielding of the crew from radiation sickness required too much weight. The US and the Soviets abandoned their programs.

 

 

 

 

Below, Ralph, extreme left, second row, is seen at Wright Air Development Center Headquarter at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Ralph describes the next phase of his education which set the pattern for most of his later work.

“I became directly involved in experimental studies of biophysics and the bioeffects of ionizing radiation when I was assigned to the USAF School of Aviation Medicine (USAFSAM-Wright Patterson Air Force Base) in 1957. Here I was associated with studies of the effects of gamma rays and neutrons, the prompt radiations of fission, and space radiations, primarily protons and intermediate and heavy primary cosmic ray particles. During this period, I was also a member of the teaching faculty of the USAFSAM and presented the basic physical concepts of radiation, electromagnetic and particle interactions with tissue, and radiation bio-effects to medical technicians, nurses, physicians in the Flight Surgeon course, and long course Residents in Aviation Medicine.

“During this assignment I conceived a plan of research and organized and led a team of scientists in a landmark study of the acute effects gamma radiation produces in primates. The objectives of this study were to quantify the dose regions at which the different pathogenic mechanisms of death (hematopoetic depression, gastrointestinal denudation, and central nervous system failure) were operant, and to characterize in detail the clinical and pathogenic syndromes associated with each of the mechanisms.

“It was also during this period that I became involved in the effects produced by the thermal emissions of nuclear weapons. Of particular interest to me were the interaction of thermal energy with the eye and the resulting permanent injury associated with retinal burns, the temporary and reversible effects described as flash-blindness, and the corneal effects produced by infrared and ultraviolet energies. This interest stemmed originally from my efforts to predict the effects on the eye of the thermal energy emitted by nuclear weapons detonated at high altitudes. As a result of my participation in Operation Hardtack in 1958 and the success of the predictions of safe exposure distances, I received the Air Force Commendation Medal for significant scientific contributions to the Air Force nuclear weapons program.”

Ralph’s work with Operation Hardtack and the Joint Task Force Seven, was published in September of 1985, Operation Hardtack. Project 4.1, Effects on Eyes from Exposure to Very-High-Altitude Bursts by J. E. Pickering, W. T. Culver, R. G. Allen, R. E. Benson and F. M. Morris, School of Aviation Medicine, Randolph AFB, TX, Technical Report, NTIS Issue No 8625. The primary objective of this project was to determine the extent of chorioretinal damage caused by exposure to very-high-altitude, high-yield nuclear detonations at distances of 50 to 350 nautical miles from burst point and to relate experimental data to yield strength of explosions. Ralph received a Commendation Medal for this work, it read, “Major Ralph G. Allen, Jr. distinguished himself by meritorious achievement during the period 15 March 1958 to 7 September 1958. During this period, he displayed outstanding professional competence in designing and directing the many functions involved in a chorioretinal burn experiment during 'Operation Hardtack I'. The accuracy of Dr. Allen’s calculation is reflected in the exceptional results derived from the project. The value of this experiment was acknowledged by all participating governmental and civil agencies and its magnitude recorded in congressional hearings. Dr. Allen’s high quality performance has definitely reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force and enhanced the research prestige enjoyed by the School of Aviation medicine in the field of biological effects of nuclear weapons.”

Ralph graduated from the U. S. Air Force Staff and Command College in 1960. In the spring and summer of 1962, he participated in Operation Dominic with the Joint Task Force 8. These tests were conducted in the Pacific over Johnston Island and Christmas Island where experimentation was performed to determine the effects of nuclear radiation to the eye. The work was reported in:
Report ADA995365, Operation Dominic: Christmas and Fish Bowl Series. Project Officers Report. Project 4.1, Allen, R.G., Jr., Project Officer, 30 March 1965.

Based on the data collected in these tests, Ralph was able to model the radiation damage to the eye from such nuclear test. As he mentioned above, his predictions led to new distant standards for observing nuclear test.

The remainder of Ralph’s career is best described in Ralph’s own words in a memoir he wrote,

“In 1960, after graduating from the Air Force Command and Staff College in residence at Maxwell AFB, I returned to San Antonio, Texas and served as the Chief, Plans and Analyses for the USAFSAM. At this time activities in space were at the forefront of science, and particularly in the Air Force scientific community. I was given the responsibility of preparing a detailed five-year plan for SAM participation in the Air Force Space Program. I was the editor for this plan as well as a major contributor in connection with the hazards of space radiations. The complete plan included studies in almost all of the problem areas associated with man in space and involved essentially all elements of USAFSAM, to one extent or another.

“When the Aerospace Medical Division was formed, I became the Chief of Plans and Analysis for this new Division of the Air Force Systems Command, and in 1962, I was detailed to Joint Task Force Eight as the Project Officer for Project 4.1--Ocular Effects Produced by Thermal Radiation from High Altitude Detonations. This was a major project of both Operation Dominic, an AEC test series, and Operation Fishbowl, an Air Force test series. These operations consisted of the detonation of a number of nuclear devices at both low and high altitudes. The prediction of safe exposure distances for retinal burns was a part of this assignment, and I developed a detailed mathematical model for this purpose which considered the characteristics of the thermal radiations emitted by the source, their time dependencies, transmission of the radiations through the atmosphere and, finally, the transmission through the clear media of the eye and absorption in the pigmented epithelium and choroid. During this assignment, I directed and supervised a multi-disciplinary team of approximately 35 professional personnel consisting of physicians, physicists, mathematicians, optometrists, engineers and technicians, and also planned and coordinated the positioning of 10 to 14 aircraft operated by approximately 95 Navy and Air Force air crew members. In addition to assessing the risks of eye injury and establishing safety zones, I supervised eye protective device tests and tests of special triggering circuits designed to activate eye protective devices. Using state-of-the-art instrumentation, comprehensive photometric and physical measurements were made of the thermal energy reaching each of the animals and device-exposure stations.

“In addition to the mathematical model developed specifically for this weapons test project, I began work on a more general approach, and arrangements were made for the development and improvement of a prediction model based on the solution of the partial differential equation for heat diffusion. This model has been refined and modified in the intervening years, primarily under my direction or direct supervision, to the point that it is the most detailed model available for the prediction of the occurrence of retinal burns, burn size, and severity for nuclear weapons as well as lasers. Concurrently with the development of the thermal model, a comprehensive program for the measurement of thresholds for burns in rabbits and primates was initiated. This data base still serves as the empirical data upon which the prediction of safe nuclear exposure distances depends. Important publications in this period consisted of a number of classified reports on the results of the retinal burn studies in the Pacific, and the documentation of the prediction model for safe exposure distances.'

“I was transferred to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Washington, D.C. in 1963 and served as the Chief of the Nuclear Physics Division until I retired on 31 November 1965. This assignment was filled with exciting educational experiences and offered the opportunity for extensive travel, both in the United States and in other countries in a large part of the world. I had the responsibility for guiding the Air Force program in basic research ($2,000,000) in some of the most fundamental and awesome areas in the Physical Sciences-- Relativity, Gravity, Cosmic Rays, Nuclear Structure, and High Energy Accelerators. In my two years with this program, I met some of the foremost scientists of the world, saw some of the giant facilities for carrying out high energy physics (accelerators, cosmic ray detectors, and radio frequency telescopes), and visited major universities in the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America. The learning experience was profound in many areas including science, awareness of the roles of scientists in government and academia, and the nature of basic research projects as they were conducted both inside government laboratories and inside universities. Pictured at left is Ralph with unnamed colleague.

“I served as a member of the Defense Atomic Support Agency (DASA) Medical Directorate Thermal Advisory Panel from 1963 to 1965, and after retirement from the Air Force, served for three more years as a consultant to the Medical Directorate on effects of thermal energy on the eye.

”Upon retirement from active duty in the Air Force in 1965, I was recruited by an aerospace company, Technology Incorporated, to be Director of Research for its Texas Division, and to revitalize this group and its research efforts which were being carried out primarily at Brooks and Kelly AF Bases. Thus began my education in another area of scientific activity. First there was basic education in science and mathematics, then research within the government (AEC, Air Force, DASA), followed by fundamental research in academia (non-profit research), and finally the conduct of research in industry, where research is conducted for profit. I was able to revitalize the Texas Division, diversify and enlarge its activities and make it profitable. For this I was promoted to General Manager of the Life Sciences Division which, because of its profitability, became one of the profit centers of Technology Incorporated.

“Although management responsibilities of the Life Sciences Division prevented continuous and intimate personal involvement with research, I was responsible for a variety of research efforts ranging from vertebral and head injury for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to cardiovascular monitoring instrumentation for astronauts in the manned space program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). I was particularly active in conceiving, organizing, planning, reviewing, and evaluating research proposals dealing with vision and radiation effects on vision, and during my association with Technology Incorporated developed a multi-agency basis for the support of these proposals.”

Ralph developed the ultraviolet guidelines for the visor used during the Apollo moon expedition.

 

 

 

 

 

—Resuming biography
Following retirement from the Air Force, Ralph dedicated some time to a number of his inventions related to his interest in hunting and optics. He filed and received patents for each. Here is a list of them and a description of each:

TELESCOPIC RANGEFINDING GUNSIGHT AUTOMATIC ELEVATION ADJUSTMENT
April 14, 1970 ALLEN 3,506,330
Filed July 18, 1967

INVENTOR RALPH G. ALLEN
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A telescopic gunsight having rotatable means for changing its magnification and a reference reticle such that adjustment of magnification so that the image of a target of known size bears a preset relation to the reticle is indicative of the distance to the target and means; actuated by the rotatable means for simultaneously changing the elevation of the line of sight relative to the gun.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to telescopic gunsights having means for changing the degree of magnification of the target operatively connected to means for determining the range to the target and automatically setting the proper elevation into the line of sight as a result of the change in magnification.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRAJECTORY GUIDE
April 23, 1963 R. G. ALLEN, JR, US3086705 A
Filed May 19, 1961
Inventor Ralph G. Allen
This invention relates to a shooting aid, and, more particularly, to a device for the rapid and graphic determination of the relation of the trajectory of a projectile or projectiles from a firearm with respect to a line of sight from the rearm. The line of sight may be that established with telescopic sights, iron sights, or the bore of the firearm. The device is particularly useful as an aid to hunters and sportsmen in facilitating accuracy of fire at ranges other than the sight-in range.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROJECTION SCREEN DEVICE WITH VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE DETACHABLE LEGS
May 26, 1964 Ralph G. Allen
Filed Sept. 15, 1961
Inventor Ralph G. Allen
United States Patent US3134299, 28 Rockland St., Roxbury 19, Boston, Mass. Filed Ser. No. 138,439 2,.Claims. (Cl. 884-24) 7 This invention relates to optical equipment, and more particularly to an apparatus for use in projecting motion pictures or other transparencies onto a screen so as to be clearly visible under daylight conditions or in the presence of artificial light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Returning to Ralph’s account of his career:

“In 1970, I was selected by Technology Incorporated Management to attend the 61st Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard University. The AMP is a concentrated course in management, designed for senior executives in both government and industry. It is recognized worldwide for its quality and usefulness to managers, and draws its attendance from all over the world.

“In 1972, I was recruited by the Commander of the USAFSAM to be the Branch Chief of the Laser Effects Branch -- a Branch that was not performing as well as desired. For a number of personal reasons, I wanted to remain in San Antonio, Texas, and I accepted the challenge of the Air Force position offered. In this position I became directly involved in studies of the effects of laser radiation on eyes and vision, and I concentrated on this relatively narrow technical field in contrast to the extremely broad involvement in research I experienced as Director of Research and General Manager of the Life Sciences Division.'

“I came directly from industry to the School of Aerospace Medicine as Chief of the Laser Effects Branch which, under my leadership, became one of the most productive and well-known laboratories in the field of laser bio-effects. However, over a number of years, administration and management responsibilities had gradually eroded currency in the fast-moving fields of instrumentation, computers, and new techniques that continued to appear in the voluminous literature pertinent to this field. In 1982, I requested to return to the “bench” to write, regain currency with modern instrumentation and computers, and to devote time to analyzing the effects of laser radiation on vision and to consider carefully the implications lasers could have on Air Force operations. This appeared appropriate--after 20 years of almost uninterrupted management. My request was honored, and I spent the next three and a half years in research, consulting, computer familiarization and updating my perspectives on laser bio-effects and vision. I wrote two key articles in this period. The first was Ocular Thermal Injury coauthored by Major G. O. Polhamus, and the second was Effects of Laser Radiation on Visual Function. These two papers provide a basic background and insight into the concepts governing ocular effects produced by intense lights and still guide a major part of the laser bio-effects program at USAFSAM. I was recently asked to again become involved in management in connection with biophysics, mathematical modeling, and laser eye protection. I was ready to return to management, and have done so, and I now welcome this opportunity to compete for the challenging position of Director of Research for the Radiation Sciences Division.

“I have presented concepts, experimental results, and modeling techniques at numerous scientific meetings, hazard evaluation groups, and special briefings. I currently provide consultation service to representatives of various government agencies as well as industry, and I served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio during the Spring and Summer Session of 1986. I am a referee for scientific papers submitted to the journals of health physics; Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine; Lasers in the Life Sciences; and Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.

Here is an account of Ralph’s work during this period from his long time friend, Dr. Charles Livingston, an Austin surgeon, “In 1972, I was finishing my engineering degree at UT and was set to enter medical school the next year. I needed a job badly, and Ralph was nice enough to give me a summer job at Technology Inc. TI was a private firm that was involved in research for various government agencies including NASA. Ralph was the president in charge and it seemed to me that he was always very calm, in control, friendly and not worried that the space program and the Apollo missions were winding down. He never exhibited any outward stress regarding this.

"The projects that I was involved with, under Ralph, included, for one thing, the "Contourogram' [CG}. As an MD and surgeon now, I can tell you that at that time there was little to no way to monitor patients in the operating room, only BP (blood pressure) cuffs and taking the pulse. The CG was a device that recorded remotely an astronaut's vital signs and displayed this on an oscilloscope screen at the same time storing the image of the vital sign reading as well as the EKG over time. The engineers felt the resulting running image resembled a contour line, hence the name. I think this was one of the first attempts to produce such a monitoring device and laid the ground work for modern patient monitoring systems. This was an early computerized device. It had to be as small as possible because one part of it needed to fly with the astronauts, The engineers designed the electrical circuits for the device which was fabricated right there at TI. Only 10 devices were produced for NASA. After the circuit was designed, I was asked to draft the circuit in schematic form using black ink so that a photograph of the circuit could be obtained and the circuit printed. I don't know if this was one of the first printed circuits.

“Another system that I was less involved in, but which Ralph oversaw, was the development of the use of lasers to treat eye disease. This was first done by one of the MD scientists at TI and used monkeys from Southwest Research Institute. Later, as I went through medical training, I watched with interest as this knowledge was applied to humans in the form of retinal laser treatment for diseases such as diabetic retinopathy.

“Another project that I was involved in had to do with measuring the cognitive and physical response of pilots to low oxygen situations. Some of us younger college guys were the subjects, and while breathing less than normal levels of oxygen, were asked to perform a variety of mental and physical tasks.

“Ralph also sent me on a project out to Brooke Aerospace. The Air Force had a huge centrifuge in which they would spin pigs in an effort to study the effects of force on this animal which shares physiology with our pilots and astronauts.

“Ralph was a great guy, always friendly to the young doctors and scientists that he met along the way. He encouraged me at a time when I was not sure if I could get into and pass through medical school and training. He obviously was involved in a great many interesting things in science. I consider it an honor and privilege to have known him and worked with him.”

Ralph married Darlene Fox on November 9, 1974. They are shown at right. Following this marriage, they acquired some land in Floresville, enough to let Ralph realize his life long dream to own land and raise cattle. He was involved with breeding Simmental cattle, a breed that originated in Switzerland. He explored cross-breeding of Simmental and Brahman, a breed known as Simbrah. Ralph loved to work with his hands; no task on the ranch was beneath or above him. Building fences, fixing his tractor, baling hay, inventing things, even wine making were part of his daily activity. Darlene was a participant in these ranch projects and chores. She was his partner and supporter during most of his civilian career following retirement from the military. She was a devoted caregiver during Ralph’s prolonged final illness.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr., Lt. Col. USAF Ret died at Wilson Memorial Hospital in Floresville, Texas on Wednesday, June 5, 2002 at the age of 79 years, 8 months and 9 days of age. He is buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.

 

Ralph Allen published over 55 papers and reports. The nature of Ralph’s work is evident from the titles of some of his publications:

The Calculation of Retinal Burns and Flashblindedness Safe Separation Distances, by Allen, R. G., et al., Life Sciences Division, Technology Incorporated, 1968, SAM-TH-104, 1968.

Spectral Dependence of Retinal Damage Produced by Intense Light Sources, by Mainster, M. A., White, T. J., and Allen, R. G., JOSA, Vol. 6, June 1970.

Retinal Damage From Long-term Exposure to Laser Radiation, by Gibbons, W. D., and Allen, R. G., Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 1977.

Retinal Damage from Suprathreshold Q-switch Laser Exposure, by Gibbons, W. D., and Allen, R. G., Health Physics 35, p. 461-469, 1978.

Evaluation of PLZT Goggles written with Everett O. Richey, and James L. Bower, USAF School of Aerospace Medicine , 1980

Retinal Thermal Injury, Allen, R. G., Proc. Soc. Photo-Opt. Eng., 229: 80–86 (1980).

Ocular Thermal Injury from Intense Light, written with Garrett D. Polhamus while at USAF School of Aerospace Medicine in 1982.

Ocular Effects of Pulsed Neodymium Laser Radiation: Variation of threshold with Pulsewidth. By Allen, R. G., Thomas, S. J., Harrison, R. F., Zuclich, J. A., and Bankenstein, M. F., Health Physics 49:685-692 (1985).

Visual Evoded Potential Correlates of Laser Flashblindness in Rheses Monkeys I. Argon Laser Flashes, by Previc, F.M., Blankenstein, M. F., Garcia, P. V. and Allen, R. G., Am. J. Optom Physiol Opt 62: 309-321 (May1985)

For a complete list of Ralph's publication go to the end of this page.

Ralph Allen's Professional Experience:

1948 Bachelor of Arts in Physics with honors, University of Texas, Austin, Texas

1948 Master of Arts in Physics/Math, University of Texas, Austin, Texas

Thesis: Modified Radiometer and Ionization Gauges for Low Pressure Measurements.

1953 Doctor of Philosophy in Physics/Math, University of Texas,
Austin, Texas; Dissertation: Slow Neutron Cross Sections of Au, Ag, In, Ni and NiO

1959 Nuclear Weapon Orientation Course, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

1959-60 Air Command and Staff College, in residence, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

1970-71 61st Advanced Management Program, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University

1973 Management Course for AF Supervisors

1973 How to Work with People

1978 Air Force Institute of Technology Laser Technology Course

1978 USAF Supervisors Course Part II

1979 Micro Processor Fundamentals

1980 Unacceptable Personnel Actions

1980 General Manager Appraisal System

1981 USAF Military Personnel Management Course

1981 Executive Seminar for Science, Technology, and Public Policy, Office of Personnel Management, Denver, Colorado

1983 Managing Untapped Resources

1983 Effective writing

1984 Executive Leadership Seminar for Science, Technology, and the Future, The Brooking Institute, Washington, D.C.

1985 Race Relations

1985 Test and Measurement Techniques Using Personal Computers

MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE: (as of 1987)

Chief, Air Force Special Projects Office, AEC Oak Ridge Operations Office, 1952-54; Chief, Shielding and Radiation Effects Unit, Atomic Energy Commission, Nashington, D£., 1954-57; Nuclear Research Officer, Air Force School of Aviation Medicine, 1957-59; Student Officer, Air Force Command and
Staff College, in residence, Maxwell Air Force Base, 1959-60; Chief, Plans and Analysis, USAFSAM, 1960-61, Chief, Plans and Analysis Directorate;
Aerospace Medical Division, 1961-63; Chief, Nuclear Physics Division, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Washington, D£., 1963-65; Director of
Research, Texas Division of Technology Incorporated; 1965-67; General Manager,Life Sciences Division, Technology Incorporated, 1967-72; Chief,
Laser Effects Branch, USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, 1972-82; Chief, Directed Energy Function, Visual Sciences Function, and the Biophysics
Function, all Functions of the Vulnerability Assessment Branch, USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, 1983-87.

SIGNIFICANT COMMITTEES: (as of 1987)

National Science Foundation, Nuclear Structure Physics, 1963-65;
National Science Foundation, Technical Committee on High Energy Physics, 1963-65;
National Research Council, National Academy of Science Committee onVision, 1968;
Defense Atomic Support Agency, Biomedical Effects Committee, 1963-65;
National Academy of Sciences;
National Research Council Committee on Nuclear Structures, (Liaison Member for USAF Office of Scientific Research), 1963-65;
American National Standards Institute Z—136 Committeefor the Safe Use of Lasers, 1975-1987;
National Research Council for Associateship Programs Research Advisor,
Office of Scientific & Engineering Personnel, 1976-1987;
Biotechnology Requirements Committee, 2000 A.D. 1982.

CONSULTATION SERVICES: (as of 1987)

Defense Atomic Support Agency, 1966-69; USAF School of Aerospace
Medicine, 1965; National Sciences Foundation, Science Faculty Professional
Development Program, Physics and Biophysics, 1978-79; Chairman, Bioeffects
Advisory Committee for the Personal Protection Interim Program, 1985-
present; informal consultation with numerous organizations, both inside and
outside of government, over the past 20 years

HONORS

Charles Donnel Rice Scholarship in Applied Mathematics; Fellowship in the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies; Sigma Pi Sigma Honorary Physics
Society; Sigma Xi Honorary Research Society; Judge and Keynote Speaker for\ the Awards Ceremony of the Alamo Regional Science Fair (1979); Sustained
Superior Performance Award, 1985-86; Otis O. Benson Award for the Greatest Scientific Contribution to the USAFSAM during 1986; and a Sustained Superior Performance Award, 1986-87.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS, ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS, AND GUEST LECTURES

Sigma Pi Sigma; Sigma Xi; Research Society of America, New York Academy of Sciences; Optical Society of America; Aerospace Medical Association;
Teaching Faculty, USAF School of Aerospace Medicine; Guest Lecturer for Bioeffects of Lasers and Laser Safety, Laser Institute of America; Guest Lecturer for Bioeffects of Lasers, Uniformed Services Medical School, Washington, DC; Adjunct Professor, Earth and Physical Sciences Department, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas.

Ralph Gordon Allen Photos and Memorabilia

 

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Ralph G. Allen Obituary

Dr. Ralph G. Allen, Jr., Lt. Col. USAF Ret passed away at Wilson Memorial Hospital in Floresville, Texas on Wednesday, June 5, 2002 at the age of 79 years, 8 months and 9 days of age.

Dr. Allen was born in San Antonio, Texas on September 27, 1922, the son of Ralph G. Allen, Sr. and Annie M. Allen.

Dr. Allen enlisted in the U. S. Army Air Corps on May 21, 1942, and served as a decorated bomber pilot in the Mediterranean Theater during World War II. He flew the B-24 Liberator, A-20 Havoc and A-26 aircraft. The B-24 was called a “Man’s Airplane” because the steering was done by the power of the pilot’s muscle. There were no hydraulics and no windshield wipers. The cockpit was open to the elements. Flying at 20,000 feet, temperatures hovered at minus 40 degrees below zero. At those temperatures, the oxygen masks froze to the face of the crews.

After the war, Dr. Allen attended the University of Texas at Austin where he received his Bachelor of Science with honors in 1947, a Master of Arts in 1948 and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Physics in 1953. His master’s thesis was entitled, Modified radiometer and ionization gauges for low pressure measurements. His PhD dissertation was, Measurement of the thermal neutron cross sections of gold, silver, indium, nickel, and nickel oxide using a crystal spectrometer.

Dr. Allen was a pioneer in nuclear weapons research while at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

After receiving his doctorate, he returned to the Air Force. While in the Air Force, he was involved in atomic and nuclear physics with the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D. C. where he was Chief of the Shielding Effects Unit; the Air Force School of Aviation Medicine at Randolph AFB, Texas, holding the position of Nuclear Research Officer; the School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks AFB, Texas, where he assisted with the U. S. space program and the Office of Scientific Research in Washington, D. C., where he held the position of Chief Nuclear Physicist. During this time, he spent two years traveling all over the world reviewing contracts. Dr. Allen was right in the middle of the “Who’s Who” of nuclear physics.

While in the Air Force, during the Spring of 1958, he participated in Operation Hardtack with the Joint Task Force Seven and in the spring and summer of 1962, he participated in Operation Dominic with the Joint Task Force 8. These tests were conducted in the Pacific over Johnston Island and Christmas Island where experimentation was performed to determine the effects of nuclear radiation to the eye.

After his retirement from the Air Force in 1965, he returned to San Antonio where he was General Manager of the Life Sciences Division of Technology Inc., in the San Antonio and Houston Branches.

During his time at Technology Inc., he was involved in the Apollo Space Program where he was instrumental in developing the visor used by the astronauts during the Apollo 11 moon landing. He was also instrumental in obtaining contracts from the National Institutes of Health, NASA and Brooks Air Force Base, where research was conducted concerning eye damage as a result of exposure to laser beams.

After Technology, Inc., he returned to Brooks Air Force Base as Chief of the Laser Effects Branch and later, Chief of Visual Functions. He was there to create the USAF, ANSI and NATO laser safety standards. He was there to define ocular protection standards for nuclear weapons. He was there when the alarm was sounded that lasers might be turned against our military as weapons. He was there when studies first showed that aircrews needed eye protection—a topic that still has the attention of today’s Chief of Staff of the Air Force. He was there when the latest generation of lasers, ultrashort lasers, made us rethink fundamental biological mechanisms. His research formed the basis of the retinal thermal diffusion model and the nuclear flash blindness model that still serves our nation today.

Again, he decided to retire to the love of his life, raising cattle, building fences and making hay on his ranch in Floresville.

Dr. Allen didn’t really understand the definition or concept of “retirement”. So after several years on the ranch, he was called upon to write a proposal to the government in order to obtain a contract concerning laser research. Due to his efforts, the organization was awarded an 8.3 million dollar contract for five years. After two years of work, he decided to retire from government permanently.

During his years of government and industry service and in his personal life, he held three U. S. Patents, all pertaining to hunting scopes, authored 55 technical publications and belonged to the following: Sigma Pi Sigma, The Society of the Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society of America, The New York Academy of Sciences, Optical Society of America and Aerospace Medical Association. He also received the Otis O. Benson Award on February 27, 1987 for Greatest Scientific Contribution, USAFSAM during 1986 and a plaque for 38 years of faithful and devoted Federal Service upon his retirement for Visionary, Pilot, Scientist and Teacher.

Dr. Allen was a pilot, a nuclear physicist, a world renowned and highly acclaimed scientist and inventor of many things including his three patents, a rally meter, a computerized radio transmitter for use in the cattle industry, a compact-portable casing head gas compressor-refrigeration unit and a really great sherry.

He was a man of compassion, love, humor, charm, curiosity, ingenuity and accomplishments beyond people's dreams. A man of substance—he contributed to the community, our Nation, even the world and mankind—as a soldier, a scientist and human being.

A celebration of his life was held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, June 7, 2002 at Porter Loring Mortuary in San Antonio with the Rev. Chuck Jennings officiating. Eulogies were given by his friends Stanley L. Perkins, Dr. Robert M. Cartledge and his granddaughter, Brooke Gibson, who spoke on behalf of his five grandchildren. Musical selections included “Ave Maria” and “Amazing Grace”.

Interment followed at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio with full military honors.

Serving as pallbearers were Jim Sims, Billy Gibson, Revel Sims, Chris Kleffner, Larry Jacobs, Jeffrey Jacobs, David Anderson, Jimmy Fietsam, Ted Barber and Gerald Stafford.

Survivors include his wife: Darlene Allen of Floresville; daughters: Lynne Sims and husband Jim of Los Angeles, California and Cynde Gibson and husband Billy of San Antonio; grandchildren: Cory and Revel Sims of Los Angeles, California, Nicole Kleffner and husband Chris, Brooke and Casey Gibson; and mother-in-law: Delpha D. Fox, all of San Antonio.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Wilson County Volunteer Ambulance Association, P. O. Box 595, Floresville, Texas 78114.

The family invites you to leave a message or memory in the Guest Book at www.porter-loring.com by selecting the Sign and View Family Guestbook icon.

 

Indian Prayer

Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there.
I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glint on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in morning hush, I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circling flight. I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there. I did not die.

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A Eulogy to Ralph Gordon Allen, Jr.

Delivered on the Day of his Funeral

By Dr. Robert M. Cartledge
Friend and Colleague

We come together today to mourn the loss of a remarkable man and to honor the works of a scientific pioneer. Our loss is tempered by our memory of a man who touched us as individuals, who quietly did his part to save a nation and to keep it safe, and who dedicated his being to the never-ending pursuit of knowledge.

His passing gives us pause today to reflect upon his life and times, particularly as memories, to use Tom Brokaw's words, of "The Greatest Generation", of which my Mom and Dad were part, begin to fade from the national consciousness.

Ralph began life in the early 1920s in San Antonio. Like many of his generation, there was little reason to believe that life in his America would be much different from the life of his parents and grandparents. How quickly that changed. He attended elementary school and high school during America's worse economic depression. He was in college in San Antonio when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

We will never know what his dreams and plans were before Pearl Harbor, but we do know that he answered the call to duty and service. Less than 5 months after Pearl Harbor and 5 months shy of his 21st birthday, he volunteered for the Army Air Force. After stops in San Angelo, Lubbock, Clovis NM, and Langley Field, he arrived in the Mediterranean Theater in Dec. 1943.

On the day that his first daughter was born in early December, Ralph was in the air as the co-pilot of a B-24 Liberator. His flight records do not indicate where he flew, but as part of the newly-formed 15th Army Air Force, commanded by General Jimmy Doolittle, his missions took him over Italy, Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia.

A moment to reflect what it meant to be a bomber pilot in WW II. Our image is disturbed by Hollywood and today's aviation. B-24 is called a Man's airplane. Steering was done by the power of the pilot's muscles (no power steering in that plane). No windshield wipers. Very cold. Open to the elements (no pressurized cabins). Flew at 20,000 feet where temperatures hovered at -40 degrees below zero. At those temperatures, oxygen masks would freeze onto the faces of the crews. Could not eat much as fingers would freeze to the food when the gloves were removed. Beer on a B-24 (Ralph would never have tolerated that aboard his airplane).

As D-Day approached, he was transferred to the 12th Army Air Force in England. Ralph shifted from heavy bombers (B-24s) to light attack bombers, the A-20 Havoc. This time Ralph was alone up front; one pilot on that plane. I would like to believe that Ralph preferred it that way. Again, Jimmy Doolittle was his Commanding General. The Chief of Staff was a young officer named Hoyt Vandenberg. Ralph traveled in class circles.

By early 1945, Ralph had left the European Theater and returned to Florida to train on A-26s, the Invader. I am certain to prepare for the invasion of Japan. As irony would have it, the weapon that would end the war, the weapon that allowed Ralph could return home to San Antonio and his family, would be the technology on which he would spend the next 20 years striving to understanding and harness.

End of the war. GI Bill. Ralph was off to Austin and the University of Texas. Being myself from the other university in the state, all I can say is one cannot always make the right decision. In a remarkable testimony to Ralph's intelligence and perseverance, a BS, MS and PhDin Physics and Mathematics--non-stop.

Like everything technical, Ralph stood above the crowd at UT Austin, so much so that he received a Fellowship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to conduct his experimental work for his dissertation. It was the golden era for nuclear physics. Ralph was right in the middle of those who were the who's who of physics. He had returned to the USAF by that time, and, following completion of this PhD in 1953, he stayed at Oak Ridge to begin a series of projects that would eventually lead him to Brooks and lasers.

The search for applications for nuclear technology was the order of the day. Ralph's task was to help develop, along with many others across America, one of whom is in this room today, a nuclear reactor aboard an airplane. Why? America needed an airplane that could stay aloft for days in the case of a nuclear war. It goes without saying flying an airplane next to a nuclear reactor might poise risks. Ralph's job was to build shielding to protect the crews from the radiation. Who better to meet that challenge than Ralph?

As best as I can learn, some of the technology challenges were overcome but there was still going to be health risks. Recall that Cold War was hot at the time, so any idea to get that airplane in the sky was considered. One idea was to use older pilots, so that the radiation effects would not be so catastrophic. Ralph, being in his mid-30s at the time and still a rated pilot, may have seen the handwriting on the wall, and discretion being the better part of valor, headed to the AF School of Aerospace Medicine at Randolph AFB. We all know this is not the reason, but it does make as good a story as Ralph the Sears salesman does.

Ralph did go to the school where he began to establish his mark in the biological effects of radiation. That led to his participation in a series of atmospheric tests in the Pacific. He developed a series of equationsanyone here surprised by that—that predicted eye injury distances from nuclear weapons. Those estimates helped to support a decision to move some of the tests farther away from inhabited remote islands. His work was so well respected and so important that the last atmospheric tests done by the US had a biological component. Ralph led a team of Navy and USAF personnel to the Pacific where tests were done with monkeys exposed to the nuclear detonations. Their eyes were evaluated for injury, their data validated Ralph's model. Those equations—I'm sure written out in a brown spiral notebook in handwriting only he could read--formed the basis of the retinal thermal diffusion model and the nuclear flashblindness model that still serve our nation to this day.

I began by saying he was a scientific pioneer. He was there to create the USAF, ANSI and NATO laser safety standards. He was there to define ocular protection standards for nuclear weapons. He was there when the alarm was sounded that lasers might be turned against our forces as weapons. He was there when studies first showed that aircrews need eye protection—a topic that still has the attention of today's Chief of Staff of the Air Force. He was there when the latest generation of lasers, ultrashort lasers, made us rethink fundamental biological mechanisms.

A moment about the man who touched us as individuals, both with the power of his intellect and the values he instilled. His values were exacting hard work, sacrifice, personal responsibility, and integrity. However, we cannot fail to mention others: stubborn, hardheaded, intolerant of mediocrity, analytical until the cows came home (a pun intended, Darlene) and opinionated. His wartime experiences had molded his thoughts about today's rules for dotting every "I" and crossing every "T" before experiments. "If one needs statistics to win the war, one won't."

One cannot count the number of people he influenced and mentored across a career that spanned nearly a half century. Many are in this room today. Many wish they could be here. Some call him the father of the laser laboratory.

Ralph kept us focused on the goal. While the science is fun and exhilarating, he would say, we must never forget why military laboratories exist: To keep ordinary Americans asked to do extraordinary things in defense of freedom alive in combat. His time in the skies above Germany taught that and he strove to teach us all that.

A word of caution, Ralph. God knows more physics than you do.

I close with a Proverb. “Good men must die, but death cannot kill their names.” Ralph is a good man. Ralph's name shall endure. Goodbye, my dear friend, and God Bless.

 

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Ralph Gordon Allen Publications

 

Ralph G. Allen, Jr. Slow neutron cross section of Au, Ag, In, Ni, and NiO,
Physical Review, Jan 1954.

John E. Pickering, H. T. Culver, Ralph G. Allen, Jr., R. E. Benson, F. N.
Morris, D. 3. Williams, R. H. Zel lmer, and E. 0. Richey. Effects on eyes

from exposure to very-high altitude bursts. Operation Hardtack IlR—1633,
Project 4.1,19S8.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr. The shadow and substance of space. Command and Staff
School, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, April 1960.

Ralph E. Allen, Jr., Frank A. Brown, Loren C. Logie, David R. Rovner,
Stephen G. Rilson, Jr., Robert ‘al. Zellmer. Acute effects of gamma radiation
in primates. SAM—lR—S9«41, April 1959. Radiation Research, Vol. 12, No. 5,
May 1960. Academic Press, Inc. (532-539).

Robert w. Zel lmer and Ralph G. Allen, Jr. Cosmic radiation—laboratory
observations. Presented to Symposium on Aerospace Radiobiology, Oct. 1961.
Published in Aerospace Medicine, Vol 32, No. 10, 942-946.

Frank A. Brown, Ralph G. Allen, Jr., and Bruce E. Jacobson. Determination
of the dissociation constants of chlorophenol red, paranitrophenol and
phenol red. SAM—TR 61—69, Oct 1961.

John E. Pickering, Ralph S. Allen, Jr., and Oskar L. Ritter. Problems in
shielding. Medical and biological aspects of the energies of space.
Columbia University Press. New York and London, 1961.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr., Everett 0. Richey, James F. Culver, et al. Production
of chorioretinal burns by nuclear detonations and tests of protective
devices and phototropic material s. Operation Dominic, Project 4.1, POIR,
Aug 1962, FCDASA 2014 SECRET RD.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr., Everett 0. Richey, James F. Culver, et al. Production
of chorioretinal burns by nuclear detonations and tests of protective
devices and phototropic materials. Operation Dominic, Project 4.1, POIR,
(Addendum), Nov 1962, FCDASA 2014-1, SECRET RD.

Robert W. Zellmer, Granville J. ‘rlomack, Richard C. Mcllee, and Ralph G.
Allen, Jr. Significance of combined stresses of G—forces and irradiation.
Presented to the Aerospace Medical Association Meeting in Atlantic City,
N.J., Apr 1962. Published in Aerospace Medicine, Vol. 32, No. 7, July 1963.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr., Everett 0. Richey, James F. Culver, et al. Production
of chorioretinal burns by nuclear detonations and tests of protective
devices and phototropic materials. Operation Dominic, Project 4.1 PDIR, Oct
1963. FCDASA, SECRET RD.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr., James F. Culver, and Everett 0. Richey. Chorioretinal
burns and protective devices. DASA Fish Bowl Symposium, Chicago, Illinois,
Nov. 1963. SECRET RD.

Ralph P. Allen, Jr. and Everett 0. Richey. Chorioretinal Burns-Chapter
Seven. Thermal Effects Handbook. AF Weapons Laboratory, 1963.

Ralph S. Allen, Jr., A. F. Mil ler, E. R. Lawler, Jr., and W. R. Bruce. An
examination of the production of chorioretinal burns in terms of temperature
distributions. Presented at the Aerospace Medical Association Meeting in
Las Vegas, Nevada, Apr 1965.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr. and Everett 0. Richey. Eclipse burns in humans and
laboratory threshold measurements in rabbits. SAM-TR—65~45, May 1966.

Ralph G. Al len, Jr., T.J. White, D. J. lsgitt, D. E. Jungbauer, J. H. Tips,
and E. O. Richey. The calculation of retinal burn and flashblindness safe

separation distances. SAM—TR—53—106, USAF School of Aerospace Medicine,
Brooks AFB TX, Sep 1968.

Martin A. Mainster, T. J. White and Ralph G. Allen, Jr. Spectral dependence
of retinal damage produced by intense light sources. Journal of the Optical
Society of America, 60(6k848—355, June 1970.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr., W. H. Bowie, W. R. Bruce, J. A. Nickel, J. H. Tips, B.
Ward, T.J. White and P.W. Wilson. Research to obtain eye effects data and
develop a mathematical model for eye effects predictions. Contract E41609-
70—C—O007 Final Report, USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Aerospace hedical
Division, Brooks AFB TX, Dec 1970.

William D.Gibbons and Ralph G.Allen, Jr. Evaluation of retinal damage
produced by long term exposure to laser radiation. SAM-TR-75-111, Mar 1975.

William D.Gibbons and Ralph G.Allen, Jr. Retinal damage from long-term
exposure to laser radiation. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science,
Vol 16, No.6, pp 521-529, June 1977.

William D. Gibbons, Robert E. Schmidt and Ralph G. Allen, Jr. Histo-
pathology of laser lesions produced by long-term laser exposure. Aviation,
Space, and Environmental Medicine, Aug 1977.

William D. Gibbons and Ralph G. Allen, Jr. Retinal damage from supra-
threshold Q-switched laser exposure. Health Physics, Vol 35, pp 451—469,
1978.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr. Thermal retinal injury. Proceedings, American
Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists, Symposium, Nov 1979, 151-
168.

W. R. Klemm, William D. Gibbons, Ralph G. Allen, Jr. and J. M. Harrison.
Differences among humans in steady—state visual evoked potentials:
evaluation of alpha activity, attentiveness, and cognitive awareness of
perceptual effectiveness. Neuropsychologia, Vol 20, 317—325, 1982.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr. and Nilliam D. Gibbons. Eyes, bright lights and eye

protection. Paper given at American Industrial Hygiene Conference.
Houston, May 1930.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr. Thermal retinal injury. Proceedings, Society of Photo-
Dptical Instrumentation Engineers Technical Symposium, Vol 229, Ocular
Effects of Non—Ionizing Radiation, April 1980, 80-85.

N. R. Klemm, N. D. Gibbons, R. G. Allen, Jr. and E. 0. Richey. Hemispheric
lateral ization and handedness correlation of human evoked "steady-state"

responses to patterned visual stimuli. Physiological Psychology 1980, Vol 8
(3), 409-416.

N. R. Klexzim, W. D. Gibbons, R. G. Allen, Jr. and J. M. Harrison. Perceptual
distortions in visual-evoked potentials. American Journal of Ophthalmology,
922708-713,1981.

E. O. Richey, J. L. Bower, and R. G. Allen, Jr. Evaluation of PLZT Goggles.
USAF Report — SAM TR-80-17, December 1980.

N. Jarish, R. Allen, Jr. and Hyu Kai. Signal analysis of visual evoked
potentials. Sixth European Meeting on Cybernetics and Systems Research,
Vienna, 13-16 April 1982.

R. G. Allen, Jr. and G. D. Polhamus. Ocular thermal injury from intense
light. USAF Report - SAM TR—80-25. September 1982.

R. L. Yolton, R. G. Allen, Jr. R. A. Goodson, D. L. Schafer, and N. D.
Decker. Amplitude variability of the steady-state visual evoked response.
Presented at Meeting of the American Association of Optometrists, Orlando,
FL, December 1981.

R. G. Allen, Jr. and J. Brakefield. A digital imaging processing system for
interpreting visually evoked potentials. Visual Evoked Response Symposium.
USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, 8-9 February 1982.

Ralph G. Allen. Effects of laser radiation on visual function. USAFSAM-TR-
83-10, (CONFIDENTIAL) 1983.

G. D. Polhamus, R. G. Allen, Jr. and K. L. Schepler. Measurement of the
point spread function in the rhesus eye. Proceedings of the 32nd Annual
Conference of Engineers in Medicine and Biology, Denver, CO, 6-10 October
1979, p. 238.

H. R. Klemm, R. A. Goodson, and R. G. Allen, Jr. Contrast and counterphase
frequency effects of the three primary colors on human visual evoked
response in anesthetized monkeys. Electroencephalography and Chemical
Neurophysiology, 1983, 55:557-566, Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland,
Ltd.

R. G. Allen, Jr. and G. D. Pol hamus. Ocular thermal injury. Chapter in 4th
Edition Lasers Applications in Medicine and Biology, Plenum Press. New
York, NY, In Review — 1986.

R. G. Allen, Jr. Perspective on low level ocular exposures to light.
Department of Health & Human Services, Food and Drug Administration,
workshop on Long—Term Visual Health Risks of Optical Radiation, September
1983.

Robert L. Yol-ton, Ralph G. Allen, Jr., Richard A. Goodson, David L. Schafer,
and William D. Decker. Amplitude variability of the steady-state visual
evoked response. American Journal of Optometry and Physiological Optics,
50, No.8, pp 694-704, 1983. —

Ralph G. Allen, Jr., Michael F. Blankenstein, Joseph A. Zucl ich, Scott J.
Thomas and Robert F. Harrison. Retinal damage from Q«switched neodymium
lasers. American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. Presentation at
1984 Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah.

John E. Fagan, Jr., Ralph G. Allen, Jr. and Robert L. Yolton. Factors
contributing to amplitude variability of the steady—state visual evoked
response. American Journal of Optometry and Physiological Optics, Vol 61,
No. 1, pp 453-464.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr., Scott J. Thomas, Robert F. Harrison, Joseph A. Zucl ich
and Michael F. Blankenstein. Ocular effects of pulsed neodymium laser
radiation: variation of threshold with pulsewidth. Health Physics, 1985,
Vol 49, No. 5, pp 685-692.

Fred H. Previc, Michael F. Blankenstein, Paul V. Garcia and Ralph G. Allen,
Jr. Visual evoked potential correlates of laser induced flashblindness in
rhesus monkeys 1. Argon laser flashes. American Journal of Optometry and
Physiological Optics, 1985, Vol 62, No. 5, pp 309~321.

G. D. Pol hamus, D. K. Cohoon, and R. G. Allen, Jr. Measurement of the point
spread function in rhesus monkeys. Submitted to the Optical Society of
America, 1986 — In Review.

\-lil l iam T. Ham, Jr., Ralph G. Al l en, Jr., Lynette Feeney—Burns, Michael F.
Marmor, Leonard M. Parver, Peter H. Proctor, David H. Sliney, Myron L.
wolbarsht. The involvement of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).
Proceedings of workshop on Long-Term Visual Health Risks of Optical
Radiation, Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug
Administration, 13 Sep 83.

Ralph G. Allen, Jr., Lasers and Vision. Presentation at the Lasers on the
Modern Battlefield, Letterman Army Institute of Research, 23-26 October
1984.

Fred H. Previc, Ralph S. Allen, and Michael F. Blankenstein. Visual evoked
potential correlates of laser flashblindness in rhesus monkeys to doubled
neodymium laser flashes. American Journal of Optometry and Physiological
Optics, 1985, Vol 62, Mo. 9, pp 625-632.

H. R. Klemm, R. A. Goodson, and R. G. Allen. Steady«state visual evoked
responses in anesthetized monkeys. Brain Research Bulletin, Vol 13 (2):
1984.

Michael F. Blankenstein, Joseph Zuclich, Ralph G. Allen, Harold Davis, Scott
J. Thomas, and Robert F. Harrison. Retinal hemorrhage thresholds for Q~
switched Neodymium—Yag laser exposures. Invest. Ophthalmology and Vis Sci.,
1986, Vol 27, No.7, pp 1176-1179.

Myron L. Nolbarsht and Ralph 3. Allen. New laser device for ophthalmology.
Applied Optics, 25, 15334534, 1986.

F. H. Previc, and—Ralph G. Allen, Jr. A comparison of visual evoked
potential and behavioral measures of flashblindness in humans. USAFSAM—TR—
87«‘2l May 1985, in press.

Ralph G. Allen, Michael F. Blankenstein, and Joseph A. Zuclich. Dose
quantifications of some retinal effects produced by .’J_—switched laser radia-
tion. Symposium on Effets Biologiques des Faisceaux Lasers et Normes de
Protection, Paris, France, 24-28 November i986.

Ralph S. Allen, Mary Jo Austin, James Brakefield. Eccentric vision during
laser produced glare. Presented at a Symposium on Lasers on the Modern
Battlefield, October 1986, Letterman Army Institute of Research, San
Francisco, California.

F. H. Previc, R. M. Cartledge, R. G. Allen, R. D. Gl ickman, and L. Mahaffey.
Effects of retinal hemorrhages on visual function. Lasers on the Modern
Battlefield, 19«23 October, 1987. Letterman Army Institute of Research, San
Francisco, California.

J.M. Gallas, R.G. Allen, E.T. Schmeisser, M. Eisner, P. Tolby. Thermal
properties of melanin determined from photoacoustic techniques. USAFSAM TR
(in review) 1987. '