History of the DSB

The Defense Science Board serves as the Federal Advisory Committee chartered to provide Defense Department leadership with “independent advice and recommendations on science, technology, manufacturing, acquisition processes, and other matters of special interest to the DOD… and [to] ensure the identification of new technologies and new applications of technology in those areas to strengthen national security.”

The Board was established in 1956 in response to recommendations of the Hoover Commission:
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Development will appoint a standing committee, reporting directly to him, of outstanding basic and applied scientists. This committee will canvass periodically the needs and opportunities presented by new scientific knowledge for radically new weapons systems.

The original membership of the Board, totaling twenty-five, consisted of the chairman of the eleven technical advisory panels in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Development, the chairmen of the senior advisory committees of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Directors of the National Science Foundation, the National Bureau of Standards, and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (predecessor of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the President of the National Academy of Sciences, and seven members at-large drawn from the scientific and technical community.

The Board met for the first time on September 20, 1956. Its initial assignment concerned the program and administration of basic research, component research, and the advancement of technology in areas of interest to the Department. On December 31, 1956, a charter was issued specifying the Board as advisory to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Development. Following the consolidation of the offices of the Assistant Secretaries of Defense for Research and Development and Applications Engineering in 1957, the Board reconstituted as advisory to the Secretary of Defense through the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Its membership was increased to twenty-eight, including as ex officio members, the Chairmen of the President’s Science Advisory Committee and the Scientific Advisory Committee in the Office of Guided Missiles, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). A revised Board charter was issued on October 30, 1957.

In accordance with the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958, which stipulated the responsibilities, functions, and authority of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E), the Board’s charter was revised on November 23, 1959. This revision harmonized the role and mission of the Defense Science Board with DDR&E’s responsibilities, prescribing eight members-at-large and modifying ex officio membership to conform with the establishment or dissolution of advisory panels in the office of the DDR&E.

In the course of organizing his staff, the DDR&E appointed assistant directors for several types of warfare systems. Following this action in late 1959, the Board made a study of the structure of scientific and engineering advisory bodies. Its report on this study was implemented by DOD Directive 5129.22, “Defense Science Board Charter,” dated April 10, 1961. This directive was revised and reissued on February 17, 1971. In 1978, the title, Director of Defense Research and Engineering, was changed to Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(RE)). The Military Retirement Reform Act of 1986 created the position of Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition (USD(A)) and as part of this act, the position of Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)) was redesignated as the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E), a position which reported to the new USD(A). On January 1, 1990, the Defense Manufacturing Board, which had reported directly to the USD(A), merged into the Defense Science Board, adding manufacturing issues to the DSB’s portfolio. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994, changed the title of USD(A) to Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology (USD(A&T)). The position was later redesignated as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (USD(AT&L)) by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000. The USD(AT&L) served as the principal assistant to the Secretary of Defense for research and development, production, procurement, logistics, and military construction, under which the DDR&E served. In 2011, the title, DDR&E was changed to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, ASD(R&E). The DSB reported directly to the Secretary of Defense through the USD(AT&L) while, at the same time, working in close coordination with the ASD(R&E) to develop and strengthen the Department’s research and development strategies. On February 1, 2018, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics was split into two new offices: the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (R&E) and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S), as a result of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering serves as the formal sponsor of the Defense Science Board.

Currently, the Board’s authorized strength is forty members. The Board’s members are appointed for a one-to-four year term with annual renewal and are eminent authorities in the fields of science, technology, manufacturing, acquisition process, and other matters of special interest to the DOD. The Board operates by forming task forces consisting of Board members and other experts to address those tasks referred to it by formal direction. The products of each task force typically consist of a set of formal briefings to the Board and appropriate DOD officials, and a written report containing findings, recommendations, and a suggested implementation plan.

Since its inception in 1956, the DSB has advised senior leaders on pressing and complex technology issues facing the Department in research, engineering, and manufacturing in combination with strategy, tactics, operational concepts, and other factors. Through addressing the Department’s most irksome, consequential, and unstructured problems that involve science and technology, the Board has a rich history of identifying new technologies and applications in many areas that strengthen national security.

To read more about the history of the DSB’s contributions to the Defense Department, download the DSB 60th Anniversary Booklet.