148 ORGANIZING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR WAR 



signment. These credentials were provided by the Office of the Chief of 

 Naval Operations on recommendation either from OSRD or from the spon- 

 soring office vi^ithin the Navy (Bureau, COMINCH, etc.). A Navy Tech- 

 nician wore a patch over the left breast pocket of his blouse. This depicted 

 an eagle clutching mechanic's tools. The insignia was given to all such 

 civilian appointees regardless of their intended function. Consequently, 

 there was no distinction to the observer between a Coca-Cola machine main- 

 tenance technician, a mechanic and a physicist or engineer from OSRD. 

 Early in its history, OFS was unsuccessful in an attempt to persuade the 

 Navy that some special designation should be devised for all civilian scien- 

 tists of OFS loaned to the Navy which would give them greater prestige; 

 but special insignia were authorized for the members of the Operations 

 Research Group, largest of the OFS projects undertaken for the Navy. 



In 1943 the Army could appoint a civilian as "Expert Consultant to the 

 Secretary of War" or as "Technical Observer." Technical Observer ap- 

 pointments were comparable with U. S. Navy Technician appointments in 

 that there was no distinction made between technicians sent out from 

 manufacturers to service field equipment and scientists who would operate 

 at staff level. The New Developments Division, impressed with the disad- 

 vantages of this, managed to secure a revision of Army regulations and 

 the authorization of two new types of appointments: "Scientific Consultant" 

 and "Operations Analyst." This occurred in the fall of 1944 and thereafter 

 OFS personnel were sent out with one or the other of these designations. 

 A new shoulder patch with the words "Scientific Consultant" or "Opera- 

 tions Analyst" embroidered across it was devised and issued by the Ad- 

 jutant General's Office. After this, the Navy, which had declined the OSRD 

 proposal that such arrangements be made, became interested and asked 

 Compton to propose a similar revision of its regulations. This happened 

 so late in the war, however, that the revision was never accomplished. 



Upon recommendation from the OFS transmitted via the New Develop- 

 ments Division, or from the sponsoring office in the case of Air Forces 

 appointees, the official credentials were issued by the Adjutant General's 

 Office. These consisted of two AGO cards, one of which specified that the 

 individual was a noncombatant civilian, to be given billeting and messing 

 facilities of the type accorded to an officer, the other assigned him an "as- 

 similated rank." This was established arbitrarily on the basis of the salary 

 he received, according to a schedule prepared by the War Department. 

 The assimilated rank was intended to be used only in case of capture 

 when, theoretically, the enemy would treat the individual as he would 

 an officer of the same true rank under terms of the Geneva Convention. 

 Actually, the assimilated rank was frequendy and necessarily referred to 

 in connection with billeting and other matters since the individual had to 

 fit into Army arrangements, although such use was not intended. 



