The Naval Research Advisory Committee (NRAC) was a civilian advisory committee to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1946 to 2019. Its stated mission was "To know the problems of the Navy and Marine Corps, keep abreast of the current

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

programs, and provide an independent, objective assessment capability through investigative studies".

History

The committee was established in 1946 by Public Law 588, which also created the

Office of Naval Research The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to plan ...

. Members were appointed by the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

to a two-year term, with membership limited by law to 15 members preeminent in the fields of science, research, and development, with one member required to specialize in medicine. At first the committee focused on advising the

Chief of Naval Research The Chief of Naval Research is the senior military officer in charge of scientific research in the United States Navy. The Chief of Naval Research has a rank of Rear Admiral, and is in charge of the Office of Naval Research. The Chief of Naval ...

, but in 1956 it took on a broader role at the request of Admiral

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, then

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

. The committee normally met quarterly and when called by the Committee Chairperson; through its panels it provided advice on a variety of topics in science, research, and development. Study topics included Disruptive Commercial Technologies (2008),

Distributed Operations Distributed Operations (DO) is a war-fighting concept drafted by the United States Marine Corps and developed primarily by their Warfighting Laboratory as a response to the changing environment of the Global War on Terror. Adaptive enemies and a ...

(2007), Lightening the Load (reducing the weight carried by individual combat Marines (2007) and Future Fuels (2006). In 2009, membership included retired Navy and Coast Guard Admirals, retired US Marine Corps Generals, past

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

(DARPA) Program Managers including former DARPA Director and current NRAC Chairman Frank Fernandez and an interactive application/film producer (

James Korris James H. Korris, a pioneer of the current trend in game-based simulation for military training, served as Creative Director of the Institute for Creative Technologies (Institute), University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles from its fou ...

). NRAC was terminated by acting

Secretary of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Patrick M. Shanahan Patrick Michael Shanahan (born June 27, 1962) is a former United States United States federal government, federal government official who served as acting United States Secretary of Defense, U.S. Secretary of Defense in 2019. President of the U ...

on April 1, 2019. Acting

Navy Secretary The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the s ...

Thomas Modly Thomas B. Modly (born December 15, 1960) is an American businessman and former government official who served as acting United States Secretary of the Navy from November 24, 2019, to April 7, 2020. He resigned as acting Secretary in the wake of ...

had ordered the Deputy

Under Secretary Of The Navy Under may refer to: * "Under" (Alex Hepburn song), 2013 * "Under" (Pleasure P song), 2009 *Bülent Ünder (born 1949), Turkish footballer *Cengiz Ünder (born 1997), Turkish footballer *Marie Under Marie Under ( – 25 September 1980) was one o ...

to do this in a memo dated 21 February 2019.{{Cite web, last=Modly, first=Thomas B., date=21 Feb 2019, title=MEMORANDUM FOR THE DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY OF THE NAVY SUBJECT: Disestablishment of the Secretary of the Navy Advisory Panel and Naval Research Advisory Sub-Committee, url=https://fas.org/irp/agency/navy/usn-nrac.pdf, website=

Federation of American Scientists The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is an American nonprofit global policy think tank with the stated intent of using science and scientific analysis to attempt to make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1946 by scientists who wo ...

References

External links

Naval Research Advisory Committee
American advisory organizations

History

See also

References

External links