The Office of Ordnance Research

One of several sub‐themes that have been considered from time to time in these Washington Reports is the support of basic research by agencies of the Department of Defense. Previous articles of this nature appearing in Physics Today have described the work of one particular Navy office (September, 1951) and of a major Navy contractor (February, 1952). The present discussion, which extends the story to another branch of the Armed Services, concerns the Army’s Office of Ordnance Research (OOR). Let me first state very briefly the “what, why, where, and when” of OOR and then take up in greater detail the thinking behind its organization and the nature of its program. The Office of Ordnance Research is established under the command of the Chief of Ordnance, U.S. Army, to have responsibility for instituting and administering contracts for basic research in fields of Ordnance interest. It is located on the campus of Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, and officially began operation during June 1951. The Commanding Officer of OOR is Colonel Walker W. Holler and its Chief Scientist is Dr. T. J. Killian, until recently Deputy Assistant Chief for Research, Office of Naval Research.

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