He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1940.

While at Yale, he was a member of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, and was commissioned an ensign in the U.S.

[1] After receiving his commission, Salzer was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations until 1942, when he joined the Accentor-class minesweeper Fulmar (AMc-46).

In February 1948 he joined the staff of the Commander of the Fleet Training Group, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, as Navigation Officer.

[1] He returned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in May 1964, where he served as Head of the Analytical Support Group until October 1965.

Salzer died of heart failure at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, on January 30, 1988.