LA Riots 1992 – Almost Trapped
LA RIOTS
My Day Surviving the LA Riots
One of the more exciting times I had at Northrop was the LA Riots. At the time, I was working in a building that Popular Mechanics called the most classified building in the country. I worked there on many of the highly classified contracts for Northrop. At that time, I was the Deputy Director of Engineering for the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile, or TSSAM.
To make matters even better, my manager was off-site on a special assignment, so I was responsible for 350 people in 35 organizations.
The workday started like any other. The issue had already started two miles from our plant. Some people were receiving calls from worried relatives, so we checked the news and found that riots were occurring around the plant, with many within a mile.
As the LA RIOTS progressed, more people became worried, and I met with the Program Manager, who was considering closing the facility and sending everyone home. He was aware of the danger around the plant. He contacted the Police Department and got current information in the area around the plant. We sent people to the top of the building to monitor the area. They reported back that multiple fires were burning along most of our typical routes to the freeways.
Fires were confirmed by the police and on the news, and we discovered that the Hawthorne Mall was on fire about half a mile away. It was clear to all the managers that we couldn’t just let everyone go because of the danger. Our only plan was to assemble caravans and help groups of people reach the freeways. Luckily, the Program Manager got three police cars to lead each of the routes.
I spent the next hour checking with the Program Manager and the updates he was getting from the police department. I organized the 350 people into four groups. People who lived locally and wanted to take their own paths to their homes. One group was heading west on El Segundo Boulevard to the 405 and then north, another was traveling east to the 110, and the last was going south through Hawthorne to connect with the 405 heading south. Each path was challenging. The people heading west to the 405 had to pass by the burning Hawthorne Mall; those going east passed near the center of the riots, and I was part of the group going south to the 405, where there was scattered rioting.
Luckily, everyone made it home okay. I remember seeing the rioting as we drove by, along with trucks full of furniture and TVs.
The LA Riots aren’t a couple of hours I want to repeat.
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Ray Jay Perreault Award-Winning Science Fiction Author
Ray is a prolific author who enjoys science fiction. He believes that genre is fertile ground for understanding ourselves and where we’re going. He has written a mix of Sci-Fi stories but tends to focus on narratives featuring strong female characters, computers, post-apocalyptic themes, and strong morals, loyalties, and drama.
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Ray was a Senior Pilot in the US Air Force and traveled to 27 countries worldwide. His C-130 assignments ranged from landing in a farm field in Paraguay to entering East Berlin and experiencing Russian controllers giving him false headings.
Ray’s other assignment was as a T-38 instructor pilot. “The T-38 is the best plane in the world; two pilots, two engines, and two afterburners.” Two of his remarkable experiences included training the first class of female pilots and receiving an Air Commendation Medal for saving a T-38 that blew an engine during a touch-and-go, thereby saving himself and the student pilot on board.
After his Air Force career, Ray went on to enjoy a long and exciting career with Northrop Grumman. During the 28 years at Northrop, some of the highlights included work as the Lead Wind Tunnel test engineer on the F-20, F-23, F-18, and B-2. His career progressed to be the Deputy Manager of Engineering for the Tri-Service Stand-Off Attack Missile (TSSM). Later, he was responsible for all the computers at Ryan Aeronautical and then for all the computers on the B-2 Bomber program.
Ray hopes you enjoy his work, and he looks forward to sharing many new and exciting stories with you.
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