United States Army Quotes
… demonstrated weakness in moral fiber
This vague criterion was in effect and was initially used to clear scientists at Los Alamos and their spouses who were part of the team that was to develop the Atomic Bomb. The Army security people however had never been in such a situation before. Few distinguished scientists wanted to come to Los Alamos to begin with as once there, they were there for the duration of the war and were cut off from friends and relatives. But there were very few people in the entire country who had the unique education and training. When the security people rejected a candidate before that time, another person was recruited. But for many of the scientists at Los Alamos, they were one of a kind. There were not two Enrico Femi’s or Luis Alverez’s. “Moral fiber” could mean anything and the American academic world has always tolerated a wider variety of behavior then most of the rest of society. Sexual activity, left wing views, parental irresponsibility, failure to pay debts, attacking religion or religious organizations all created problems. But the biggest problem was association with others of “demonstrated weakness in moral fiber” including communists and left wingers. In most university settings, with a norm or tolerance, almost all associated with “undesirables”. As a result many scientists or family members could not get cleared. But the project could not function without them, and if some were fired for that reason, many others might have quit. Finally, General Groves, relaxed the standards, yet the army security officers were constantly suspicious. This criterion was in use as late as the 1960s where a brilliant scientist working in the Executive Office of the President was threatened with dismissal for this reason. She had borne an illegitimate child years earlier.
United States Army, Criterion to withhold a security clearance, 1942
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Oppenheimer was cleared but many of the rest of the staff were including those with access to the highest, most critical secrets in the land. See {629854} for a greater understanding of the situation.
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution. As the oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States of America was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself to be a continuation of the Continental Army, and thus considers its institutional inception to be the origin of that armed force in 1775.
