Rear Admiral Caleb Barrett Laning (born 27 March 1906,
Kansas City, Missouri; died 31 May 1991,
Falls Church, Virginia) was a highly decorated naval officer, writer, and technical adviser. Laning is buried in
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...
.
He was the nephew of four star Admiral
Harris Laning
Harris Laning (October 18, 1873 – February 2, 1941) was a prominent officer in the United States Navy who eventually rose to the rank of Admiral. He was the uncle of Caleb Barrett Laning, who also achieved that rank.
Naval career
Laning graduat ...
.
Combat Information Center role
Laning was involved in the development of the U.S. naval
Combat Information Center
A combat information center (CIC) or action information centre (AIC) is a room in a warship or AWACS aircraft that functions as a tactical center and provides processed information for command and control of the near battlespace or area of op ...
(CIC) during World War II. The idea was taken "specifically, consciously, and directly" from the spaceship ''Directrix'' in the
Lensman novels of
E. E. Smith
Edward Elmer Smith (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965), publishing as E. E. Smith, Ph.D. and later as E. E. "Doc" Smith, was an American food engineer (specializing in doughnut and pastry mixes) and science-fiction author, best known for the '' ...
, Ph.D., and influenced by the works of his friend, collaborator, and Naval Academy classmate, fellow Missourian
Robert Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
,
[Wysocki Jr., Edward M]
“A Flight of Speculation”
, ''The Heinlein Journal'' 1998, Retrieved July 2011 but for bureaucratic reasons the source of the idea was not disclosed.
See also
*
Worldwide Military Command and Control System
The Worldwide Military Command and Control System, or WWMCCS , was a military command and control system implemented for the command and control of the United States military. It was created in the days following the Cuban Missile Crisis. WWMCCS ...
References
Writers from Kansas City, Missouri
United States Navy admirals
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
1906 births
1991 deaths
{{US-navy-bio-stub