A Short Administrative History Of The Operations Evaluation Group 1942 1961

Foreword: This paper provides a resume of the administrative, political, and fiscal history of the Operations Evaluation Group since its inception in 1942. As with any historical account, the objective is two-fold: first, to derive those lessons the past holds which appear applicable to present and future decisions; second, to improve understanding of present organizational concepts and relationships by reviewing the interplay of forces that created them. For several reasons--the purpose and scope of this review being one, security classification another--no attempt is made here to review the Group's research program. Major research trends and activities are of course touched on where they bear on administrative considerations; for the rest, and until a history of the research program is compiled, the reader is referred to those reports, studies, and indexes which are available to those authorized. This paper also presupposes familiarity with operations research, with the organization of the Navy, and with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; it only attempts to present a case history that may be of use to those associated with ( and therefore presumably knowledgeable about) military operations research in general or academically managed Naval operations research in particular.