3l8 ORGANIZING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR WAR 



were to be transferred to the receiving Service to support the contract. 



The principal reason for using this simple contractual mechanism was 

 that it avoided interruption of the progress of the actual research work. 

 The first two tripartite supplements assigning contracts to the Quarter- 

 master Corps of the Army and to the Bureau of Ships of the Navy, were 

 executed in strict conformity with the principles set forth above. Subsequent 

 transfers to the Bureau of Ships, the Bureau of Personnel of the Navy, the 

 Signal Corps of the Army, and the Office of Strategic Services modified 

 the standard tripartite supplement to the extent that the receiving Service 

 undertook to reimburse the contractor for only such expenditures as were 

 made by him subsequent to the effective date of transfer, leaving OSRD 

 to make reimbursement with respect to all expenditures incurred prior 

 to the date of transfer. 



The Bureau of Ordnance of the Navy declined to participate in tripar- 

 tite assignments of contracts in which it was interested. Thus in the case 

 of practically all Section T projects taken over by the Navy, the OSRD 

 contract was allowed to expire according to its terms, and a new contract 

 was then written between the Bureau of Ordnance and the contractor. 

 This method of transfer was not without special problems, however. It 

 often happened that the OSRD contractor had altered his facilities for the 

 purpose of conducting OSRD work and that he wished to use the altered 

 facilities under the Navy contract without losing the privilege of having 

 the premises restored to their original condition at Government expense. 

 The Bureau of Ordnance wanted the contractor to continue to use mate- 

 rials and equipment purchased under the OSRD contract, but it was un- 

 willing to assume responsibility for that material and equipment without 

 an inventory which could be made only at the expense of considerable 

 loss of time on the project to which Ordnance was opposed. Furthermore, 

 if the Navy accepted motor vehicles purchased under the OSRD contract, 

 they would become Navy property and would be placed in the Navy 

 motor pool with little chance of being made available to the contractor. 



After protracted negotiations between OSRD attorneys and attorneys 

 for the Navy, it was decided that these special problems could best be 

 resolved by a limited tripartite agreement under which (a) the Navy 

 would take over OSRD's obligations with respect to bearing restoration 

 costs, subject to a definite ceiling on Navy's liability; (b) the contractor 

 would release OSRD from such obligations; (c) the Navy would assume 

 blanket accountability for all expendable items on hand without inventory, 

 and (d) legal title to all motor vehicles would be left in the contractor 

 subject to ultimate disposition at Navy direction. 



Where the property situation was not complicated by the existence of 

 these special factors, transfers were handled by having the Navy accept 

 accountability for all capital items as listed on inventories certified to by a 



