In this paper we review some of the landscape of research and development on power and energy as it pertains to the needs of the Army warfighter. We focus on the battlefield and consider questions related to vehicles, dismounted soldiers, and forward operating bases. The literature in the overall field of energy research is immense; we make no attempt to review all these reports but rather have looked at a few selected studies that focus on the military challenges. The context of the study is twofold: the National need to reduce the use of petroleum-based fuels and the Army's need to reduce...

The long, drawn- out and expensive acquisition process in the military is a serious problem at any time, but especially so in these times of tight and declining budgets. Many times the Department of Defense (DOD) has been criticized for the manner by which it procures new weapons systems. Recent articles in the Washington Post1,2 and Defense News 3 review the Army acquisition process, presenting an analysis of some $38 billion spent on system s that were terminated for high costs and lengthy development times. Two cases in point that f ailed: the Crusader artillery system which foundered, in...

This paper presents some thoughts about research in science and technology (S&T) gleaned from my more than 50 years working in scientific and engineering research -first in the chemical industry, then at two different government laboratories, and later some years in S&T policy. It elaborates on a paper by Richard Chait in which he interviews three former S&T executives in the Department of Defense (DOD) 1 on how to manage a research laboratory. In this paper, I expand on the comments made to Dr. Chait and provide a broad context for my discussion. In addition, this paper connects a number of...

The assumption underlying the value of peer re view is that the quality of work is substantiated or improved through critiques by individuals who are independent, objective, and have specialized knowledge in the subject matter. One of the authors (Dr. Lyons) has had firsthand experience with such reviews. Some time ago, while in the private sector, he was asked to serve on a National Research Council (NRC) ad hoc committee of external, independent experts to review the fire research program at the National Bureau of Standards (N BS). The committee found the program s to be fragmented and...

The Army science and technology (S&T) program is conducted both in-house and in external laboratories. The program consists of basic research, applied research, and advanced development, known by their respective budget codes of 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3. The 6.1 basic research program is conducted primarily through grants to academia, although some research is conducted in-house. There are also some 6.1 efforts, such as the Army's collaborative technology alliances (CTAs), that bring together subject matter expert from industry and academia with counterparts from the DOD laboratories. The 6.2...