ABSTRACT
Operations Research (OR) has evolved through the need for analytical and analysis methods for dealing with decisions involving the use and utilization of critical resources during military operations. One could argue that OR has been around as long as standing armies and navies. History is replete with examples of military “geniuses” who used mathematics and science to outwit and overcome their enemy. In more recent history, one need only look at Thomas Edison helping the United States Navy overcome the stifling effect of German U-boats during World War I or Lanchester’s modeling of attrition rates to see OR being applied to the military. It was not until the late 1930s, however, that OR was officially recognized as a scientific discipline that could help the military. At that time, British scientists were called upon to apply their scientific methods not to improving the technical aspects of the recent discoveries in Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) but rather the best way to use it operationally within the military. The field of OR grew rapidly from this point and many of the advances in the field can be directly tied to their applications in the military. Evidence of this can be found in the articles that appeared in the early issues of OR, documenting the interest and applications of OR methods following World War II and throughout the three decades that followed. It is easy to argue that military OR is the beginning and actual foundation of the OR profession which has since contributed to successful efforts in gaining and sustaining world peace, and further established the foundation for the field of OR and management science as it is known today.
