Colonel Leon B. DeLong

Leon DeLong worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II designing temporary platforms for military use. After the war, he developed the concept of a jackup platform which the Army used to solve logistical problems in Thule, Greenland. In 1952, he formed the DeLong Corporation which became a key producer of jackup barges and drilling rigs for the offshore industry. he also helped construct the Texas Tower, an early offshore radar station off the Georges Banks in the Atlantic Ocean.