Mickey Finn (inventor)

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Charles A. "Mickey" Finn (b. June 21, 1938) is an American inventor who specialized in designing and producing weapons systems for the U.S. military. He retired from defense work and began designing sporting equipment, including the Mickey Finn T-Bar™ Putter, a golf putter.

1 Background
2 Awards
3 Quotations
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] Background

For thirty years Finn designed weapons systems for the U.S. military and 'three letter agencies'. In the industry he was referred to as "Q", after the special weapons supplier Q in James Bond fiction, and the name of Finn's original research company Qual-A-Tec.^[1]

After extensive research into black operations, author Tom Clancy used Finn's name to add an extra measure of realism to The Cardinal of the Kremlin.^[2] Finn retired from the defense industry due to this public mention and started a business selling military and hunting knives.^[3]

Finn won the U.S. Army contract to design and build the M9 bayonet for the M16 rifle. Out of 49 companies that bid on the contract, Finn won because his bayonet was the only one tested that had zero percent test failure^{[citation needed]}. Finn and his M9 bayonet design were profiled in the January 5, 1987 issue of People magazine.

[edit] Awards

In 1987, Arthur Young Entrepreneurial Services honored Mickey Finn.

[edit] Quotations

"Everything I design is the best, regardless of cost. In the weapons industry, if what you make has defects it costs lives. I couldn't live with that type of guilt."^[4]