William Felix Atwater

Background

William Felix Atwater was born on November 12, 1945, in Dallas, Texas, to William Felix Atwater and Dorothy Mae McKey Atwater. He grew up in the United States during the postwar period, when military history and technological change were increasingly connected with public education, national defense, and museum interpretation.

Atwater later combined military service with historical scholarship and public history. His professional identity developed at the intersection of Marine Corps experience, academic study of military history, and the preservation and interpretation of weapons and other military artifacts.

Education

Atwater graduated from Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science and a minor in philosophy and religion. Founded in 1853, Berea developed a distinctive educational tradition centered on liberal learning, interracial education, and service in the Appalachian region.

After his Marine Corps service, Atwater studied military history at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, receiving a Master of Arts degree in 1984 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1985. Duke, founded in its modern form through the transformation of Trinity College in 1924, had become a major research university in the American South; Atwater's doctoral work examined the development of joint Army-Navy landing operations from 1898 to 1942.

Career

After graduating from Berea College, Atwater was commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He served for approximately a decade, advancing to captain and undertaking assignments in several parts of the world. His service included combat in Vietnam, where he commanded a rifle platoon, and he attended military schools during his Marine Corps career.

During and after his graduate studies, Atwater taught in the Berea, Kentucky, public schools. In 1985 he became director of the Don F. Pratt Museum, the 101st Airborne/Air Assault Museum at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The museum interpreted the history and material culture of the 101st Airborne Division and the Army's airborne and air-assault traditions; Atwater directed it until 1989.

In 1989 Atwater became director of the United States Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, a position he held until November 2007. The museum housed a major collection of military hardware, including tanks, self-propelled guns, artillery pieces, rockets, and small arms. During his directorship, Atwater supported the refurbishment and rebuilding of large artifacts to meet environmental standards and the construction of climate-controlled storage for small arms.

Atwater also worked as a lecturer, technical adviser, author, and television expert. He spoke at institutions including the United States Military Academy, the Defense Intelligence College, the National Security Agency, and the Central Intelligence Agency. He advised Mark Bowden on Black Hawk Down and appeared in documentaries and television programs concerning firearms, artillery, tanks, ordnance, and military history, including History Channel productions.

Achievements

• As director of the United States Army Ordnance Museum, Atwater helped preserve and restore large military artifacts, including tanks and artillery, and supported the development of climate-controlled storage for the museum's small-arms collection.

• Atwater contributed historical and technical expertise to public education through lectures, book contributions, technical advising, and documentary appearances concerning military weapons, ordnance, and amphibious operations.

Works

• doctoral dissertation

  • United States Army and Navy Development of Joint Landing Operations, 1898–1942

    (Atwater's Duke University doctoral dissertation studies t...)

    1986

• encyclopedia entry

  • The Oxford Companion to American Military History

    (Atwater contributed entries on grenades, mortars, and lan...)

    2000

Views

Atwater's professional outlook emphasizes the preservation of military artifacts as historical evidence. His work at the Ordnance Museum treated tanks, artillery, small arms, and related objects as material records of military technology and institutional history, while his public appearances connected technical explanation with the broader study of warfare.

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• Colleagues and media descriptions have characterized Atwater as an authoritative expert on military weapons and ordnance, particularly in connection with his museum work and television appearances.

Interests

• Sailing.

Connections

Atwater married Laura Virginia Gonzalez on November 2, 1972. His parents were William Felix Atwater and Dorothy Mae McKey Atwater.

Father:

William Felix Atwater

Mother:

Dorothy Mae Atwater

Her maiden name was McKey.

Wife:

Laura Virginia Gonzalez

Atwater married her on November 2, 1972.

References

• U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame biography of William F. Atwater Official biographical account of Atwater's Marine Corps service, graduate education, directorships, and work with the U.S. Army Ordnance Museum.
  2008
• History Detectives: Black Tom Shell transcript PBS transcript documenting Atwater's role as a museum expert explaining a World War I British artillery shell and the development of quick-firing artillery.
  2011
• Annie, Get Which Gun? Article describing Atwater's technical commentary on M16 and ammunition performance and identifying him as a technical adviser on Black Hawk Down.
  2001
• Amphibious Warfare & Developments Between World Wars, 1919–39 U.S. Army Military History Institute bibliography documenting Atwater's doctoral dissertation as a source on American amphibious warfare.
  2010