40 years of service: The engineer who gave China Lake two weeks
January 05, 2026
January 05, 2026
PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland, Jan. 5 -- The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command issued the following news release:
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40 years of service: The engineer who gave China Lake two weeks
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Mark Hilde gave China Lake two weeks.
It was June 1985, and the temperature topped 110 degrees when he arrived in Ridgecrest. His first day brought another surprise: no desk, no office, and no one who remembered an intern was coming. After traveling halfwa . . .
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40 years of service: The engineer who gave China Lake two weeks
*
Mark Hilde gave China Lake two weeks.
It was June 1985, and the temperature topped 110 degrees when he arrived in Ridgecrest. His first day brought another surprise: no desk, no office, and no one who remembered an intern was coming. After traveling halfwa . . .