The Weapons Systems Evaluation Group (abbreviated WSEG) was formed in 1949 to carry out
Operational Research work for the
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and t ...
of the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
and the
United States Secretary of Defense
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The ...
. The group oversaw the appraisal of weapons used during the
Korean War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Korean War
, partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict
, image = Korean War Montage 2.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Clockwise from top: ...
. The group collaborated with Israel in evaluating the effectiveness of Soviet weapons during the
Cold War.
History
The first Research Director was
Philip M. Morse
Philip McCord Morse (August 6, 19035 September 1985), was an American physicist, administrator and pioneer of operations research (OR) in World War II. He is considered to be the father of operations research in the U.S.
Biography
Morse graduat ...
, who served a year and a half before returning to
MIT in the summer of 1950. From 1957 until 1960
John H. Sides
Admiral John Harold Sides (April 22, 1904 – April 3, 1978) was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who served as commander in chief of the United States Pacific Fleet from 1960 to 1963 and was known as the father of the Navy's guided-m ...
was director of WSEG. Lt. Gen. Harvey T. Alness was director from Sept. 1, 1962 until March 1, 1964.
Hugh Everett III worked at the WSEG from 1956 until 1964. Much of his works remains classified. During his time with the WSEG Everett worked on various studies of the
Minuteman missile project, which was then starting. Together with George E. Pugh he wrote an influential study ''The Distribution and Effects of Fallout in Large Nuclear Weapon Campaigns''.
[, "The Distribution and Effects of Fallout in Large Nuclear-Weapon Campaigns", in ''Biological and Environment Effects of Nuclear War'', Hearings Before the Special Sub-Committee on Radiation of the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy, June 22–26, 1959, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1959.]
References
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United States Department of Defense agencies