CMSgt Albert R. Beyerchen was born 22 June 1924 in East Detroit, MI; he died29 May 2003 in Mt. Clemens, MI.

Chief Beyerchen served from 1942 to 1945 in the Army of the United States, stationed primarily at Freeman Field, Indiana where he worked in aerial photography. He was recalled from the reserves into the US Air Force in 1955 and performed radio and radar repair with the 74th Fighter Interceptor Squadron in Thule, Greenland. He continued in the same field upon transfer to Strategic Air Command for his next assignment, at Lake Charles AFB, Louisiana.

He was soon among the initial class to train specifically in metrology and calibration at the Dayton Air Force Depot in Ohio, on the way to Vandenberg AFB, California. At Vandenberg from 1958 to 1964, he rose to be the Non-commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of one of the first Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratories in the US Air Force. Precision measurement was critical to the launches of ballistic missiles and during testing and boosting of satellites into orbit at a time when computers were just entering their development stages. Since increasingly precise measurements of many quantities were critical to aerospace and electronic development in general during these years, he often represented the Air Force in meetings at the National Bureau of Standards and in the aerospace and computer industries. He remained in precision calibration while stationed at Little Rock AFB, AR, Ramey AFB, PR, and Grissom AFB, IN before retiring in 1973.

He served as a Wing Command Chief Master Sergeant and received many commendations over the course of his career.

After retirement, he set up a precision measurement program for Ford Motor Company research and testing facilities in Michigan.

In 1943 he married Eleanor E. (Sexton) Beyerchen in a whirlwind, wartime romance that lasted 59 years. He was survived by Eleanor (died 29 August 29 2012), son Alan Beyerchen, daughter Ellen Knuerr, and Ellen's children and grandchildren.