He is best known for his service in the Southwest Pacific Area during World War II where he was Chief Engineer under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.

In 1942 he made three treks across the Owen Stanley Range in Papua and New Guinea on engineer reconnaissance missions into enemy-occupied territory, for which he was decorated with the Silver Star and the Distinguished Service Medal.

[3] After arriving in New York City on 7 December 1914, he entered Augsburg College, Minneapolis, in September 1916, and graduated with his Bachelor of Arts degree in May 1918.

While there he took advantage of a regulation waiving the normal five-year residency requirement for members of the armed services seeking to take out US citizenship.

The US Army then sent him to the Field Artillery's Officer Training Center at Camp Zachary Taylor, near Louisville, Kentucky, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 18 January 1919.

Parcel had tenure at Minnesota for a long time and was reluctant to sever his ties completely, but eventually, he decided to join the new company, taking an unpaid Sabbatical from the university for one year.

[11] Initially the young firm struggled, with no contracts for major jobs lined up after the Hermann bridge, and by early 1929 it faced insolvency.

A project to generate electricity from tidal power at Passamaquoddy Bay brought Sverdrup into contact with Captain Hugh J.

[14] In October 1941, the War Department ordered work to commence on a chain of airstrips to enable heavy bombers to be flown from the United States to the Philippines.

On 16 November, Sverdrup arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii and signed a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for architectural and engineering services in connection with the construction of the airstrips on the route that lay in British, French and Australian territory.

Accordingly, he arranged for the Australian workmen there to complete it as an emergency field only and for development of the major airbase to be carried out at Plaine Des Gaiacs Airfield.

[18] Southern Seas, along with other company property, was taken over by the U.S. Army and Sverdrup recommended the ship be operated to support the airbase construction in the islands, including doing required survey work.

On 30 December 1941 the Southern Seas was purchased from Pan American Airways by the U.S. Army Hawaii District Engineer for the sum of one dollar while settlement was reached on value of the ship.

[19] Captain Norman Miller in I Took The Sky Road describes a meeting with Sverdrup during a stop in Nouméa harbor on the return flight of XPBS-1 from Java where the seaplane had delivered high priority supplies including torpedo exploders: The luxury of the Southern Seas was a far cry from the cramped quarters of the old XPBS, and I remained aboard over night, reveling in comforts previously enjoyed by Pan Am's customers.

[21] In January 1942 Sverdrup signed a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide architectural and engineering services to US Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA).

[25] Initially, the construction effort focused on bases in northern Australia but after the Battle of the Coral Sea, MacArthur was convinced that the Japanese would make another attempt to capture Port Moresby and ordered improvements to the airfields there and the construction of new bases at Merauke and Milne Bay in order to cover the approaches to Port Moresby.

The commander of Allied Air Forces, Lieutenant General George Brett called for 12 additional airstrips: four each at Port Moresby, Milne Bay and Buna.

In September 1942, MacArthur decided to outflank Japanese troops on the Kokoda Trail by sending an American regimental combat team over the Owen Stanley Range.

After eight days on the trail, scaling heights of 5,000 feet (1,500 m), Sverdrup concluded that it would not be practical for troops to traverse the route and turned back, reaching Abau on 3 October.

His opinion was supported by Cecil Abel, a missionary who knew the area well, who recommended establishing an airstrip at Fasari in the Musa River valley.

Abel was flown to Fasari to make a start on an airstrip on 11 October, while Sverdrup set out from Abau with 190 men, including Flight Lieutenant M. J. Leahy, an expert on Papua, who knew many of the tribal chiefs personally.

Colonel Sverdrup led reconnaissance party into enemy-occupied territory, far in advance of friendly troops, and thereby secured information of great value to the command.

His citation read: For exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a position of great responsibility in Papua, New Guinea, during the period 23 July 1942 to 23 January 1943.

During the Papuan campaign, Colonel Sverdrup personally executed numerous reconnaissance missions in New Guinea, over difficult mountains and through swamp and jungle, far forward of the areas occupied by our troops, in order to secure vital information needed for engineering operations.

Landing with the first wave of assault troops and with complete disregard for his own safety, he proceeded immediately to render invaluable assistance in the seizure of the vital Lingayen airfield.

He presented Sverdrup with his personal Gold Castles insignia, a gift from his father, Arthur MacArthur, Jr., on his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy.

[35] In August 1945, Sverdrup flew home on MacArthur's private aircraft, the Bataan, accompanying Lieutenant General Richard K. Sutherland to Washington, DC for a series of meetings at The Pentagon before going on leave.

That year it was awarded the contract for a complex of wind tunnels at the Arnold Engineering Development Center, with a fee in excess of $1 million.

[44] Leif J. Sverdrup died on 2 January 1976 and was interred in Valhalla Cemetery in Hanley Hills, a suburb of St Louis, with full military honors.

[50] The Sverdrup United States Army Reserve Center in North County St. Louis was dedicated in his honor upon completion in the 1970s and houses several of his military awards and a plaque at its entrance.