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Kenneth
Eugene Brant was born in Somerset, PA, to Gordon and Elsie Brant. In 1948, he
graduated from Somerset High School and then attended Phoenix College in Arizona
for one year. A congressional appointee from the 1st Congressional District of
Arizona, Ken entered West Point on 5 Jul 1950 with the Class of 1954.
As a
cadet, Ken participated on the Howitzer staff, Portuguese Club, Camera Club, and
the Debate Council. He especially enjoyed wrestling and won a monogram as a
member of the West Point intercollegiate wrestling team and the Brigade
Championship as a member of his company intramural wrestling team. With his
prior college attendance, innate thirst for knowledge, and industrious, yet
happy-go-lucky, attitude, he was known as a “semi-hive” by his classmates. At 12
p.m. on 8 Jun 1954, he graduated 241st of 633 cadets and, at 3 p.m., married his
fiancé, Joan Rossomando, in the Cadet Chapel.
Ken’s
active duty Army assignments included Ft. Benning, GA; Ft. Sill, OK; Ft. Bragg,
NC; and Aberdeen Proving Grounds (APG), MD. In 1960, he earned his master’s
degree in engineering at Purdue University, which led to his assignment to the
U.S. Army Ballistics Research Laboratories at APG as scientific research
officer. There, he solved problems associated with underground nuclear blast
wave propagation, improving the accuracy of conventional artillery firing
tables, and the development of rocket and missile fuels.
In 1963,
Ken transferred to the Air Force and taught mathematics at the Air Force
Academy, where he also conceived, organized, and served as officer in charge of
the Cadet Sport Parachute Club. In 1965, he was assigned to the Air Force
Institute of Technology Air University at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH.
In preparation for this assignment, he was selected for a Systems Research
Group Fellowship at Ohio State University. Returning to the Air University upon
completing his studies, he served as assistant professor for operations
research in the School of Engineering, then systems development engineer for
operations research in the Aeronautical Systems Division.
Next,
Ken was a risk assessment analyst in the Systems Management Analysis Branch,
Deputy for Systems. He was chosen as a U.S. delegate to the Sixth International
Federation of Operational Research Societies Conference, where he presented a
paper and was a panelist. This work brought distinction to the U.S. Air Force,
and Ken was recognized as an international authority in operations research
and risk analysis. Ken presented papers at several other national military and
professional meetings and symposiums, including at a NATO Scientific Conference
where he also served as chairman. He became editor of the PHALANX newsletter of
the Military Operations Research Society and continued to represent the Air
Force at other national, international, and NATO conferences, presenting papers
and chairing sessions. At a joint meeting of the Operations Research Society of
America and the Institute of Management Science, he presented a paper on risk
management and weapons system acquisition and chaired sessions on military
applications of operational research. In 1976, after eleven years of exemplary
service in operation research, Ken developed a heart condition and retired from
the Air Force.
Retirement from a tumultuous Air Force career, however, did not mean that Ken
was going to sit on the front porch in a rocking chair. His zest for living and
learning, plus his desire to share his knowledge with the next generation of
aspiring students, led him to secure associate professorships of math and
operations research at Wright State University in Dayton.
Ken
continued living life to the fullest. Very outgoing and always involved in
recreation and athletics, he rekindled his intense interest in and fascination
with parachuting and joined the local skydiving club, where he honed his
freefalling and team formation skills. He also loved dancing, especially
jitterbugging, even after the popularity of that form passed. While enjoying an
evening out with his children, he suffered his fatal heart attack.
A good
father, Ken took an active part in his children’s growth and development,
instilling his values of self-sufficiency, education, and discipline in them,
but still allowing them to pursue their own directions and goals. His leadership
contributed to their success in earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Ken had
a knack for knowing how to provide unique and special thrills for his kids. From
speeding down a county road at 60 miles per hour and experiencing the weightless
sensation of topping a rise and going airborne, to “flooring” the gas pedal
while the car is at a dead stop in order to “burn rubber,” he knew what kids
would find exciting. Other times, it was “cutting donuts” in an empty parking
lot during a rare snowfall.
There
were the times that he strung a monorail cable, and, for a warm weekend
afternoon, the kids became oblivious to everything but flying through the air,
holding onto the monorail handlebars, and experiencing those few seconds of
thrills that usually existed only in their dreams.
Then,
there was the time that he built a ramp from the garage rafters to the alley
floor so the kids could convert their red Radio Flyer wagon into their very own
roller coaster. There was also the time when he built a self-propelled tricycle
from an old lawnmower and the front of a bicycle. The quirky design provided the
kids with laughs. Turning left made the contraption go right, and turning right
made it go left. For a kid, negotiating a crowded alley with this machine was no
small feat. Ken’s children grew to respect their father’s character, and, as
they grew older, they took on his values and zest for life.
These
are precious memories; how they linger.
Kenneth
Eugene Brant was buried with full military honors in the Veterans Administration
Cemetery in Dayton, OH.
Soldier,
Scientist, Scholar. Well done, loved one. Be thou at peace.
—Family and classmates
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