Raymond Chester Harbert was born on Spetember 30, 1922 in Los Angeles, California. Raymond married Virginia.

During World War II. Harbet was enlisted in the United States Army as part of the Armored Field Artillery Battalion.

Harbet obtained a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Santa Clara Univerity. Harbert pursued garduate studies at Georgia Tech and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Harbert was employed as the resident engineer at the Nevada Test Site.