<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<p><em>Philip Harrison “Phil” Enslow Jr.</em> was born in Richmond, VA to Colonel Philip Enslow (USMA 1923) and Charlotte Enslow. Phil entered the U.S. Military Academy well prepared, having attended the Virginia Military Institute for one year while waiting for a presidential appointment to West Point, since his father was in the Regular Army. At least he knew how to shine his shoes, and the “rat year” at VMI was good preparation for plebe year at the Academy.</p>
<p>Cadet Enslow was a Company M-2 flanker and early on showed an aptitude in his Juice classes. Electrical engineering labs often involved connecting large pieces of equipment running high voltages in just the correct way; the fear of electrocution helped Phil become a sought-after lab partner. A common sight was Phil standing in the lab with long connector wires looped around his neck, confidently plugging them into the equipment, invariably leading to perfect scores for his lab partner. Thus began a lifelong career of leadership in the field of electronics.</p>
<p>The day after graduation, Phil married Dianne Gormlie, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel George Gormlie (U.S. Army Retired) and Dorothea Gormlie. Dianne and Phil raised two daughters, Dorothea and Dana.</p>
<p>Phil was commissioned in the Signal Corps and began to apply his growing expertise in electronics at several postings. In 1959 he earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering (EE) from Stanford University; in 1965 he earned his Ph.D. in EE, also from Stanford.</p>
<p>In April 1967 Major Enslow was transferred to Vietnam. For his first six months in-country he traveled throughout South Vietnam and parts of Thailand setting up one of the early data communications networks, which provided the backbone communications for all South Vietnam. As part of this effort Phil was given a special assignment to support Secretary of Defense McNamara’s “Electronic Wall,” which was being installed to detect the movement of North Vietnam forces and supplies to the south. In October 1967 Phil was assigned as the signal officer of the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate), known as the “Sky Soldiers,” during their combat missions in the Central Highlands near the border with Cambodia and Laos.</p>
<p>One evening, Phil was returning in a helicopter to brigade HQ at Dak To during some intense Vietcong shelling when the chopper was suddenly slammed sideways by a very large explosion. A VC mortar had directly hit two containers of C-4 explosive next to the Dak To airstrip; the explosion blew an enormous 40-foot-deep hole in the ground, reportedly the largest explosion of the entire Vietnam conflict. This explosion had two major impacts on Phil’s life. First, the C-4 containers happened to be in the midst of the food supply, and for several days all the troops had to eat were Spam and cheese sandwiches. For many years it was difficult for Phil to even look at a can of Spam. Second, Phil’s right ear received the brunt of the explosion’s shock wave, greatly affecting his hearing in that ear. In later years Phil was reminded of that incident every morning as he adjusted his hearing aids.</p>
<p>Phil returned from Vietnam in April 1968 to the Washington, DC area. In 1970 he began working in the Office of Telecommunications Policy within the Executive Office of the President to establish national policies on computer networking and data communications, part of the effort to break AT&T’s monopoly on telecommunications.</p>
<p>After two more years of service in London, Lieutenant Colonel Enslow retired from the Army in 1975 and became Dr. Enslow. He moved his family to Atlanta and began his civilian career as a researcher and instructor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the School of Information and Computer Science (ICS). During his time at Georgia Tech, Phil established a comprehensive educational program in telecommunications within ICS and, in 1990, helped guide the transformation of ICS into the College of Computing (CoC), a recognition by Georgia Tech that computing was a major discipline on the same level as engineering, science, etc. In addition to his teaching duties, Phil was very active in recruiting new faculty to the CoC, helping establish Georgia Tech as one of the premier worldwide centers of excellence in computing and telecommunications. In August 2000, Dr. Enslow retired from Georgia Tech and was appointed a professor emeritus.</p>
<p>Phil authored several books during his career and was one of the founders of the first international journal of telecommunications, becoming world renowned in the field. In 1988 the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands, awarded Dr. Enslow the Blaeu Prize for his role in helping to promote international cooperation in the development of telecommunications technologies.</p>
<p>Phil continued to honor his service as a USMA graduate in his retirement years, becoming very active with groups such as the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association (AVVBA) and the West Point Society of Atlanta. Around 2007, Phil and the AVVBA began working with the Atlanta History Center’s Veterans History Project (VHP), which seeks to record interviews of veterans of wars from Korea to present for posterity. Phil, in particular, used his technical talents to benefit the VHP, storing hundreds of recorded interviews on hard drives connected to his trusty Apple workstation. His passion for the project was evident as he went above and beyond the requirement, putting together a DVD for each veteran that contained not only their interview but also photographs, details of medals earned, and other personal information. The interviews are available to the public on the Atlanta History Center website.</p>
<p>Following a full military honors ceremony, Phil’s remains were interred at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA.</p>
<p><em>— Family and friends</em></p>
</body>
</html>