Catalyzing Advances in 

 Military Technology 



by 



The Honorable John S. Foster, Jr. 



Director of Defense Research and Engineering 



Well known to all of us, and now succinctly reviewed by 

 Alan Waterman, is the way in which ONR supported and 

 guided the development of basic sciences in the United States 

 during the years following World War II. A story of equal 

 significance is ONR's effort in devising, experimenting with, 

 and establishing new schemes for carrying on, through ever 

 more numerous and effective channels, the essential dialogue 

 between the Navy and the scientific and technological com- 

 munity. By themselves, such schemes are simply devices for 

 encouraging an atmosphere of effective communication, but in 

 doing this they have assumed such surprising importance that 

 it is useful to recall what they are. By no means were all of 

 these ideas invented or even first tried by ONR — only some 

 of them were, but ONR certainly developed them into useful 

 tools. 



One important device has been the highly qualified, highly 

 motivated, broad band study group which — even if sometimes 

 convened in the winter — is always referred to as a Summer 

 Study. These group efforts have become commonplace, perhaps 

 even sometimes annoying. Nevertheless, they have played the 

 major role of providing contact between the country's technical 

 community and its military community, in a setting in which 

 problems can be discussed rather than requirements assigned. 

 This direct personal discussion between experienced military 

 and government professionals, and members of the scientific 



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