assigned to the appropriate parts of the Cominch Staff, Chief 

 of Naval Operations,, or to the Fleet Commands „ The group had 

 won final recognition as an integral part of the Naval Staff 

 organization,, 



Types of Operational Research . 



Operational research falls naturally into three prin- 

 cipal categories; Statistical, Analytical and Naterielo 



The statistical part of operational research consists 

 of the collection and statistical analysis of operational 

 data, particularly data derived from action reports. The 

 more detailed the data concerning the success or failure of 

 the action, the more useful will be the analysis ; for the aim 

 of statistical studies in operational research is not to pro- 

 vide a history of the past but to determine how practical 

 doctrine can be modified to provide a more effective type of 

 operation in the future. 



The goal of the analytical part of operational research 

 is to work out theoretically the best tactics to use in a new 

 situation,, The theory is derived from a combination of knowl- 

 edge concerning part operations and specialized knowledge 

 concerning the behavior of equipment „ 



That part of operational research concerned with materiel 

 is itself divided into two parts „ The first consists of the 

 detailed study of the characteristics of new apparatus in order 

 to indicate in advance its most effective employment in opera- 

 tion,, The second is the detailed study of the behavior of 

 equipment in action in order to recommend possible modifica- 

 tions in design or development of new equipment » 



In practice, of course, no hard and fast line can be 

 drawn between these categories There are many overlappings 

 and most problems studied by Group M had their statistical, 

 analytical and materiel aspects « 



The results of Group M's studies were published in a 

 variety of forms „ By 31 August 1944, the list of Group M 

 publications included; 45 memoranda, 52 articles in the 

 Navy's Anti-submarine Bulletin, 22 inter-office bulletins and 

 64 research reports „ 



The reconstitution of the group as ORG in the Readiness 

 Division resulted in a natural expansion of the report system. 



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