THE MILITARY'S 'THINK FACTORIES'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000400280026-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 4, 2004
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: November 1, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

' 'ctt +c4r ~ ti, THE: PROGRESSIVE r i
Approved For Release &MPA ,121 A-RDP88=01VAR, 0004Qt ,2$QQ6-3
"in a) continuing program of scientific
of air warfare with the object of recom-
mending to the Air Force preferred
THE hniques, and instrumental-
ILIT~t~l111Y'S ? methods, tee
. for this nurnose."
aurmsr-eu aum-mstrattvc secur ThiBzJk ]1cctcries' `I rooms in its San~tagMondir~aaC.alifnrnca
by WESLEY MARX'' i
facility, and RAND became a subsid-
iary, but virtually autonomous, division
of Douglas. However autonomous, the
association of an Air Force top-think
,group with a major Air Force contrac-
tor proved too controversial, Goldstein
NE OF the more exotic creations bureaucracy, these non-profit out-: recalls that, "In those early days, there
NDnaturally might some talk tutlkion at the
spawned by the United States' growths of the military are even more RA A was
~ annual $50 billion national security'- effective as an escape hatch from public things t engineers s about things they learned learned at
budget is the amorphous non-profit in- accountability-a fact strikingly re- Boeing and Northrop [other Air Force
stitution widely-known asp a "brain- vealed in recent disclosures by the House contractors]. On the other hand, some
ranch or "think factory. The non- Armed Services Subcommittee of the people at Douglas worried that the Air
profit organizations range from RAND lax security and wasteful shenanigans ; Force might not award some contracts
and the Aerospace Corporation, crea- of Aerospace Corporation, the largest of to Douglas for fear of showing favor-
tions of the Air Force, to jet Propulsion ; the military's think factories. i ? .?
Laboratory, the think factory for, the The non-profit brain-trust concept ' itism. And it was clear to everyone that
it National Aeronautics and Space Ad- grew out of the Federal government's . would be desirable to establish
ministration (NASA). Hailed as a high- inability to manage its own affairs in,a .RAND as a completely independent er-
m
a t' h h
avmg no ties wit anyone,
y effective end-run around government highly complex scientific age. This in- g
za ton, as soon as possible."
ability became manifest near the close
of World `Vat H. "Scientists were ten- To insure objectivity and impartial
WESLEY MARX, contributed c free lance writer, , erally fed u with the restrictions and ity, brains obviously had to be procured
articles to The Reporter, P to a manner different from nuts and
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, and The red 'tape involved in working military
Nation, problems and wanted out," recalls J. R. bolts. With Air Force approval, in 1948,
RAND was incorporated as a non-prof-
Goldstein, vice president of RAND. it, non-stock corporation in California.
"Civil service seemed unable to attract'The non-profit, military-adjunct con-
and hold the competence needed; and cept became, supposedly, the road to
it seemed likely that the'kind of work' objectivity.
that had to be done couldn't be done in : As a non-profit organization, RAND
peacetime in the' universities because,
can declare no dividends and cannot
of the probable unwillingness of Cam-, manufacture any hardware. Its business
pus people to work under security is advice, and its main customer is the
restrictions." Air Force. Business is conducted
Rather than up-grade or alter the through contracts, the cost of which .
character of government. service, the the Air Force includes in the. annual
military chose to contract for scientific budget it submits to Congress.
chores with quasi-private non-profit or. I Contracts to RAND include such
ganizations specifically set up for that overhead items as salaries unencum-
purpose. In 1945, the Air Force created, :'bored by civil service pay scales and a
the non-profit prototype. Without Con- contract fee, the non-profit version of a
gressional authorization and without profit. In 1948, RAND was awarded
taking bids, Air Force General H. H. $3.5 million in Air Force contracts, and
"Hap" Arnold managed to shift around earned approximately $200,000 in fees.
enough funds to award a $10 million Today RAND grosses about $20 million
contract to Douglas Aircraft Company annually, and earns more than $1? mil-
to set up Project RAND (an acronym lion in fees. These fees cannot ?laccrue
stemming from "research and develop- to the benefit of any individual in the
meet"). Project RAND was to engage , Continued
Approved For Release 2005/01/12 CIA-RDP88-01315R000400280026-3