Henry Arnold Karo (December 24, 1903 – May 23, 1986) was a vice admiral in the former United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, which is today known as the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ ...

. Vice Admiral Karo spent most of his working career in the

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (abbreviated USC&GS), known from 1807 to 1836 as the Survey of the Coast and from 1836 until 1878 as the United States Coast Survey, was the first scientific agency of the United States Government. It ...

, which provided coastal maps and charts for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He rose through the organization's bureaucracy to become the director of the Survey. "Vice Adm. H. Karo, 82, Dies; Headed U.S. Geodetic Survey,"
''New York Times.'' May 30, 1986. Karo had been involved in the Survey since 1923, but the advent of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

forced him to take on other duties. In this period, he rose to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

. At war's end, he returned to the Coast and Geodetic Survey. "Karo Heads Geodetic Survey,"
''New York Times.'' August 14, 1955.

World War II

Karo was transferred from the Coast and Geodeic Survey to the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in World War II, when he was commanding officer of the Air Force Aeronautical Chart Center in St. Louis. Initially, he was given the Army rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, and was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

during this period, but he returned to the Coast and Geodetic Survey as with the rank of rear admiral (see photo caption) at the end of the war.

US Coast and Geodetic Survey

President

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

named Rear Admiral Karo to succeed Rear Admiral Robert Francis Anthony Studds as Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1955. The recess appointment was subsequently made permanent by Senate confirmation. From 1955 through 1965, Karo directed the Survey. In 1957, Karo oversaw an organization with a $10-million budget, 17 ships and 2,000 employees. In that same year, the Survey's publications list offered over 2,000 aerial and nautical maps and guides; and over 44 million of its documents were issued.

Establishing the US standard mile

A mile is a

unit Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (alb ...

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

, usually used to measure

distance Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...

; however, the measurement varied amongst a number of national systems. There were (and remain today) some slight differences depending on whether a mile is construed in terms of

Imperial unit The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units (also known as British Imperial or Exchequer Standards of 1826) is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed thro ...

United States customary units United States customary units form a system of measurement units commonly used in the United States and U.S. territories since being standardized and adopted in 1832. The United States customary system (USCS or USC) developed from English units ...

, or

Norwegian/Swedish mil A Scandinavian mile (Norwegian and sv, mil, [], like "meal") is a unit of length common in Norway and Sweden, but not Denmark. Today, it is standardised as 1 being , but it had different values in the past. The word is derived from the same ...

. In the 1950s, Karo headed the project which established the ''U.S. survey mile'' (also known as ''U.S. statute mile'') of 5,280 survey feet which is slightly longer at approximately 1,609.347 219 meters (1 international mile is exactly 0.999 998 survey mile).Astin, V. ''et al.'' (1959)
''Refinement of values for the yard and the pound''
/ref> Karo was promoted to vice admiral just before he left the Coast and Geodetic Survey to help create a new government agency which would eventually merge the Survey with two other formerly independent agencies.

Environmental Science Services Administration

From 1965, until his retirement in 1967, he was the deputy administrator of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

's predecessor agency, the

Environmental Science Services Administration The Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) was a United States Federal executive agency created in 1965 as part of a reorganization of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission was to unify and oversee the meteorologica ...

.Clark, Evert
"Johnson to Merge 3 Nature Agencies; Johnson Submits 3-Agency Merger,"
''New York Times.'' May 14, 1965.

Later years

Karo died of respiratory failure at

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He was 82 years old.

Commemoration

The

Society of American Military Engineers The Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) unites public and private sector individuals and organizations from across the architecture, engineering, construction, environmental, facility management, contracting and acquisition fields and ...

Karo Award – a NOAA Association decoration presented annually as a group award to a field unit of the

National Ocean Service The National Ocean Service (NOS) is an office within the U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is responsible for preserving and enhancing the nation's coastal resources and ecosystems along the of ...

for an outstanding contribution in an engineering or scientific field – is named for Karo.

Notes

References

* Astin, V. and H. Arnold Karo. (1959)
''Refinement of values for the yard and the pound,''
Washington DC: National Bureau of Standards, republished on National Geodetic Survey web site and the Federal Register (Doc. 59-5442, Filed, June 30, 1959, 8:45 a.m.) * Karo, H. Arnold
"New Nautical Charting Methods Called an Aid to Yachting Safety,"
''New York Times.'' January 15, 1956. * National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karo, Henry Arnold 1903 births 1986 deaths People from Lyons, Nebraska Military personnel from Nebraska American geodesists United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps admirals Environmental Science Services Administration Corps admirals United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II