What the Bureau of the Budget actually proposed when it made these reductions was that the military services get out of basic research entirely. Indeed, the Bureau decreed that since the National Science Foundation was perfectly capable of undertaking all such work, the services would receive no funds for the same purpose.
The Navy, which had, in effect, a Congressional charter permitting it to perform whatever research it saw fit, was not in the least inclined to bow to the Bureau’s wishes. It decided to challenge the Bureau.
The inclination in the Air Force was to pretend to accept the inevitable. General Donald Yates, the Director of Research and Development, Headquarters USAF, told OSR that budgetary line items for research in chemistry, physics, and other sciences were simply not defensible. But Yates, while he was unwilling to argue the Air Force’s case with the Budget Bureau, was also unwilling to see the Air Force abandon basic research.
Hence, OSR’s fiscal year 1954 budget was moved under a line item for the B-58. And, for all the Budget Bureau knew, the $4.7 million it approved was for research connected with the development of this aircraft, clearly within the realm of applied research. But, in reality, this money was handed over to OSR to use, as originally planned, for basic research. Later in the year, as a result of a small “windfall,” ARDC was able to bring OSR’s budget up to $6 million.
In this way, by deftly juggling figures from one line of the ledger to another, OSR was able to remain afloat. Meanwhile, the Navy argued its case before the Budget Bureau and won, actually getting money clearly labelled for basic research.
That was from a 1966 paper, Science and the Air Force (HT: Will Thomas via twitter). Of course, OSR is the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
This story fits pretty well with the service caricatures. The Navy is defiant (simply ignoring the Bureau of the Budget’s orders and being backed on it by Congress). The Air Force is deviant [update: devious, not deviant!] (pretending to follow orders but really doing something else). The last caricature not illuminated here is the Army being dumb. That one is more unfair than the other two I think.
Consider the Air Force’s actions in today’s environment. Had that been discovered, it would be a huge scandal. A veritable crisis between the legislative and executive branches for the power of the purse.
The difference arises due to a change in paradigm for Congressional oversight occurring between the 1950s and 1960s. It wasn’t until 1960s that funding allocations to specific programs were detailed for Congressional approval.
Before that, funding within an appropriation could flex to programs that needed it. Congress supported the Navy’s basic research, for instance, which could “perform whatever research it saw fit.” The Air Force was the first to lean into programming the budget, as as a result, faced a lot of early growing pains.
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