Perspectives from Former Executives of the DOD Corporate Research Laboratories

摘要

Recent studies at the National Defense University (NDU) have documented the important science and technology (S&T) contributions of the military service laboratories. The fundamental research component of the in- house laboratory system within Department of Defense (DOD) rests with the Army, Navy, and Air Force corporate research laboratories (CLRs). It is the purpose of this paper to document the thoughts and opinions of individuals who have led research activities at each of the following CRLs: the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Adelphi, MD; the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC; and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Dayton, Ohio respectively. These individuals are: John Lyons (ARL), Timothy Coffey (NRL), and Vincent Russo (AFRL); these executives had over 100 combined years of experience directing laboratory research. Directed actions from both the Congress and the Executive Branch have had a significant impact on the CRLs. Some of these actions have been accompanied by studies that have also played significant roles. What follows is a discussion of some of these important directed actions and studies, so as to place in perspective both the history of the CRLs and the views of those executives who ran them. Following the discussion of directed actions and studies, historical highlights of each CRL will be presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of the various viewpoints expressed in the interviews. Included here are recommendations that seek to leverage the vast amount of experience possessed by the former laboratory executives.