NEW TOOLS FOR PLANNERS AND PROGRAMMERS
Abstract
The problems involved in U. S. security planning have become matters of increasing concern in recent years. The record, both in the public press and in the Congress, is replete with examples of interest in such matters as the rising cost of defense, the difficulties of obtaining performance as promised, interservice rivalry, the technological race with Soviet Russia and lead time. Much criticism has been laid at the door of our slow and somewhat cumbersome decision making machinery. Delays in some important programs, costly cancellations of others and the emergence of Soviet Russia and Communist China as dangerous competitors in the nuclear-rocket-space age all have been charged to failures of the current national security organization and the planning and decision making process. As a result, a series of attempts have been made to shore up and strengthen existing organization and procedure withour any real definition of the requirements of the planners and decision makers in this era of technological explosion. Before new machinery can be divised or old tools modified, it would seem that the requirements, or performance objectives, must be spelled out. As a result, it is the purpose of this paper to discuss some of the conditions which make the current machinery inadequate and new tools which can meet the needs of the planners and decision makers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 14, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0425942
Entities
People
- David Novick
Organizations
- RAND Corporation