Among early tours, Wertheim served as engineering, communications, and CIC officer in the USS Hyman (DD-732) when she was involved in American occupation forces in Japan, and in the USS Bordelon (DD-881) in operations with Task Force 77 in Far East. In 1964 he received an MS in science from MIT. He was military assistant for strategic weapons in the Department of Defense and then became Technical Director, Strategic Systems Project Office—responsible for the development of Polaris, Poseidon, and Trident missile systems. Discussions in his memoir include: work at China Lake on the Chaparral system; work with the atomic bomb assembly team; the leadership of Polaris pioneer Vice Admiral William F. Raborn Jr.; and development of the Navy's strategic weapons systems.