Lt. Ewell Kirk "Jack" Jett, USN (March 20, 1893 – April 28, 1965) was chief engineer and later a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States in the late 1930s and 1940s, serving briefly as the Commission's chairman. He later managed Baltimore television station WMAR. Military career Jett enlisted in the U.S. Navy on June 8, 1911, under the name of John Raymond Smith of Lancaster, Virginia. He was sent to the Naval radio school at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; upon completing the course with high marks, he was appointed Electrician, 3rd class (Radio) in late 1912. He reenlisted in 1915, under his own name, rising to Chief Electrician (Radio) by 1917. He served at the Naval radio station NAA in Arlington, Virginia, in 1916, and on the USS Seattle, Sylph, and Michigan, among others, receiving the Mexican Service Medal in 1919 for his service on the Michigan. He was promoted to warrant officer as a Gunner (Radio) in late 1917. After the First World War ended, Congress quickly made significant reductions in the size of the military. While most men were simply discharged at the end of their term of enlistment, Congress provided for some sailors with specialized skills to transfer to the permanent Navy as officers. Jett was promoted to ensign in 1921. When Commander T.A.M. Craven was seconded to the Federal Radio Commission in 1929, he brought Jett, by then a lieutenant, along as his assistant; Jett remained with the Radio Commission when he retired from the Navy later that year. Jett became assistant chief engineer responsible for non-broadcast radio services (e.g., common-carrier wireless communications) under Craven in 1931. FCC career When the Federal Radio Commission was replaced by the Federal Communications Commission under the Communications Act of 1934, the FRC's professional staff was carried over into the new organization, and in 1937, when Craven was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to join the Commission proper, Jett was promoted to the chief engineer's post. In 1938, Jett served as a director of the Institute of Radio Engineers. He served on the U.S. delegation to numerous international radio conferences, including the 1937 Inter-American Radio Conference in Havana, at which the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement was negotiated. When Commissioner George H. Payne's term expired on June 30, 1943, Roosevelt initially renominated Payne for another seven-year term. However, for reasons unknown, Roosevelt withdrew Payne's