was not entirely blind, his vision was greatly affected; Grumman began to "become less visible" in the company. Postwar By March 1945, Grumman oversaw a production effort where all types reached a record 664 aircraft manufactured in one month, although Swirbul had "farmed out" production to a vast chain of subsidiary and licensed manufacturing plants. Like its competitors, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation experienced severe postwar downsizing, dropping from 20,500 to 5,400 employees immediately after the cessation of hostilities. It was an extremely hard decision because the company had been careful to cultivate a positive workplace culture; when a canvass was made of employees who wanted to "move on" at war's end, only 126 came forward. Swirbul realized his wartime expansion would have to be abandoned, and together with Grumman made the momentous call for a complete layoff of all staff. However, Grumman personally retained as many veteran employees as possible, calling back the most proficient and experienced "hands", predominantly those who had 10 years of service. Grumman stepped down from the role of company president in 1946, but continued to play an active role in management. Building with the core group, Swirbul and Grumman restructured the company, first solidifying its long-term contracts with the U.S. Navy, beginning a continuous line of new combat aircraft. Grumman's first venture into jet aircraft, the F9F Panther, became operational in 1949, although the company's most significant postwar successes came in the 1960s with the A-6 Intruder and in the 1970s with the F-14 Tomcat. Although the relationship that Grumman had established with the U.S. Navy was the hallmark of the company's success, a set of new projects were initiated with the development of an engineering department, set up in much the same way that he had started out, with a small core of eight engineers given the mandate to explore new technology. With Swirbul's death on 28 June 1960, Grumman lost not only a close friend but his "right hand" during a time when he was faced with critical decisions as to the company's future. He successfully guided the company into finding new markets for new products. In the move to diversification, he again entered the commercial civil aviation market, introducing landmark designs such as the Ag Cat aerial application and crop-dusting biplane and the Gulfstream I, Gulfstream II, Gulfstream III and Gulfstream IV series of executive turboprop and jet transport aircraft. Although his