Clifford E. Guinn went to work for Lockheed Missile and Space Company, Satellite Systems Division, October of 1958. He was assigned to work as a Structure Assembler and worked on such projects as the Agena Satellite structures.
He assisted in preparing the first capsule recovered from an orbiting satellite. He also worked with engineering to develop the first deployable solar arrays.
As a Satellite Development Mechanic Leadman, he led his team in building components for the Gemini-Atlas Target Vehicle, part of the first in-orbit docking.
In 1965 he was selected to help develop the follow-on project of the Corona Spy Satellite and was fully briefed. This eventually led to the manufacture of the KH-9 Hexagon Satellite, another highly classified project. Still holding the SDML classification, he provided the leadership in development of the initial engineering models and a full-scale mock-up. The development work completed, the project went into production and he was promoted to supervisor over various segments of the vehicle.
In 1972, he again led a team in the development of yet another follow-on to the Hexagon program, still classified. He continued working on various classified projects, reaching the level of Manufacturing Division Manager.
From 1986 to 1989 he was in charge of a manufacturing unit identified as the First Article Support Team (F.A.S.T.) in developing hardware for all projects within the scope of manufacturing. In 1989 he returned to the Spy Satellite projects as Lead Manufacturing Coordinator, responsible for estimating, budgets, scheduling and delivering completed vehicles. In June 1992, he suffered a severe heart attack and was on limited duty until he retired in October.
During his career, he was active in the development of many firsts in the space industry. He worked diligently to produce hardware on schedule and within budget for highly successful programs for the defense of our country, However, due to the highly classified nature of his duties, for twenty seven years was unable to share with wife, family or friends what was accomplished. All that was known was that he "worked for Lockheed".