The Origins of RAND

World War II revealed the importance of technology research and development for success on the battlefield. It also drew attention to the wide range of scientists and academics outside the military who made such development possible.

As the war drew to a close, it became clear that complete and permanent peace might not be assured. Forward-looking individuals in the War Department, the Office of Scientific Research and Development, and industry thus began to discuss the need for a private organization to connect military planning with research and development decisions.

Commanding General of the Army Air Force H. H. “Hap” Arnold articulated this need in a report to the Secretary of War:
“During this war, the Army, Army Air Forces, and the Navy have made unprecedented use of scientific and industrial resources. The conclusion is inescapable that we have not yet established the balance necessary to insure the continuance of teamwork among the military, other government agencies, industry, and the universities. Scientific planning must be years in advance of the actual research and development work.”Other key players involved in the formation of this new organization were Major General Curtis LeMay; General Lauris Norstad, Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Plans; Edward Bowles of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, consultant to the Secretary of War; Donald Douglas, president of the Douglas Aircraft Company; Arthur Raymond, chief engineer at Douglas; and Franklin Collbohm, Raymond's assistant.

An Independent Nonprofit Organization

Hand-tinted photo of the original RAND building at 1700 Main Street in Santa Monica, California, circa 1960s

RAND Archives

By late 1947, it seemed that Project RAND should consider separating from Douglas. (It was already operating fairly autonomously.) In February 1948, the chief of staff of the newly created U.S. Air Force wrote a letter to the president of Douglas that approved the evolution of Project RAND into an independent, nonprofit corporation. H. Rowan Gaither, Jr., a prominent San Francisco attorney who later served as president and then as chairman of the board of the Ford Foundation, was retained as legal counsel to determine the best means of setting up an independent RAND.

On May 14, 1948, RAND was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of California. The articles of incorporation set forth RAND's purpose in language that was both remarkably brief and breathtakingly broad:
To further and promote scientific, educational, and charitable purposes, all for the public welfare and security of the United States of America.

Founding Board of Trustees

RAND's original board of trustees was composed of three signatories and eight other prominent individuals from academia and industry.
Franklin Collbohm (signatory)President, RAND CorporationH. Rowan Gaither, Jr. (signatory)AttorneyL.J. Henderson, Jr. (signatory)Associate director, RAND CorporationCharles DollardPresident, Carnegie Corporation of New YorkLee A. DubridgePresident, California Institute of TechnologyJohn A. HutchesonDirector, research laboratories, Westinghouse Electric CorporationAlfred L. LoomisScientistPhilip M. MorsePhysicist, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyFrederick F. StephanProfessor of social statistics and director, Office of Survey Research and Statistics, Princeton UniversityGeorge D. StoddardPresident, University of IllinoisClyde WilliamsDirector, Battelle Memorial InstituteInformal discussions with representatives of the Ford Foundation led to an agreement in July 1948 for an interest-free loan from the foundation and its guarantee of a private bank loan to RAND. A total of $1 million was secured for operating the new corporation.

Four years later, an expansion of the foundation's loan enabled the establishment of a RAND-sponsored research program, which furnished staff with the means to conduct small, nonmilitary research projects. This marked the beginning of the diversification of RAND's agenda and was the first of many grants by the Ford Foundation to support important new RAND research initiatives.

On November 1, 1948, the Project RAND contract was formally transferred from the Douglas Aircraft Company to the RAND Corporation

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Monday that Ukraine is using up ammunition far faster than its allies can provide it and putting pressure on Western defense industries, just as Russia ramps up its military offensive.

“The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions and depleting allied stockpiles,” Stoltenberg said. “The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production. This puts our defense industries under strain.”

According to some estimates, Ukraine is firing up to 6,000-7,000 artillery shells each day, around a third of the daily amount that Russia is using almost one year into the war.

Speaking on the eve of a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers, Stoltenberg said the waiting time for the supply of “large-caliber ammunition has increased from 12 to 28 months,” and that “orders placed today would only be delivered two-and-a-half years later.”

Russia has begun deploying tactical nuclear weapon-armed vessels in the Baltic Sea for the first time in the last 30 years, the Norwegian Intelligence Service said in its annual report.

“The key part of the nuclear potential is on the submarines and surface ships of the Northern Fleet,” the Norwegian intel noted.

The Northern Fleet warships regularly went to sea with nuclear weapons during the Cold War era, but this is the first time the modern Russian Federation has done the same, the report added

Laura Cooper, the Pentagon’s top policy official for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia issues, said in a recent interview that “with every single capability that we provide, whether you’re talking, you know, HIMARS or you’re talking a particular kind of missile or ammunition, we’re always looking at the availability of our stocks, we’re looking at production considerations, and so that’s true of every capability, and we make decisions accordingly.”

Lockheed Martin has produced about 4,000 ATACMS in various configurations over the past two decades. Some of those missiles have been sold to allied nations, which bought the missile for their own multiple rocket launcher systems. Around 600 were fired by U.S. forces in combat during the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq War.