When World War II began, Viktor was 37 and too old for the draft. He was also working for several defense contractors in the Cleveland, Ohio area. By 1943, however, he decided that active duty was where he belonged. He joined the US Navy.

It didn't take long for Viktor's special skills to be recognized and he was assigned to a top-secret project: radar object recognition and producing accurate terrain models for infantry movements. As a Navy expert, he was secretly flown to Europe to trouble-shoot problems the Allies were having with their radar during the Battle of the Bulge.

After the war ended, Viktor was made the Commanding Officer at the Naval Research Center on 9th Street (New York) where he worked on projects as far ranging as voice recognition through radio static to improving the design of artificial limbs. In 1946, he left active duty after being awarded a special commendation by the Secretary of the Navy.