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

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

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 some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

programs, and provide an independent, objective assessment capability through investigative studies". One source stated that the NRAC was named after its predecessor and alternately called the National Research Defense Committee of the Office of Scientific Research and Development.

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 (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

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

Arleigh Burke Arleigh Albert Burke (October 19, 1901 – January 1, 1996) was an Admiral (United States), admiral of the United States Navy who distinguished himself during World War II and the Korean War, and who served as Chief of Naval Operations during th ...

, then

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...

. 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 (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 Adva ...

(DARPA) Program Managers including former DARPA Director and current NRAC Chairman Frank Fernandez and an interactive application/film producer ( James Korris). NRAC was terminated by acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan on April 1, 2019. Acting Navy Secretary

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 The under secretary of the navy is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Navy. The under secretary reports to the secretary of the navy (SECNAV). Before the creation of the under secretary's office, t ...

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 1945 by a group of scient ...

References

External links

Naval Research Advisory Committee
American advisory organizations

History

See also

References

External links