A Brief History of Modern Naval Operations Analysis

Modern Naval Operations Analysis had its beginings during World War II, with the work of the U.S. Navy Antisubmarine Warfare Operations Research Group (ASWORG) at MIT, which was later renamed the Operations Evaluation Group (OEG) after expanding its studies to include strategic mining, anti-air warfare and other areas of naval warfare.  Much of this early work in Naval OR is captured in two excellent books; the Methods of Operations Research (originally OEG Report 54) and Search and Screening (originally OEG Report 56).  These two fundamental Naval OR resources were re-published by MORS in the late 1990's.

• Methods of Operations Research, by Philip M. Morse and George E. Kimball, 1951, MORS reprinting 1998. 

• Search and Screening, by Bernard O. Koopman, revised edition, 1980, MORS reprinting 1999.

The history of ASWORG and OEG is captured in the excellent historical account of Keith Tidman.

• Operations Evaluation Group: A History of Naval Operations Analysis, by Keith R. Tidman, U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1984.

The following is a brief downsampling of some of the more important events in modern Naval Operations Research History, starting with the establishment of ASWORG.  Much of this material was first published in the October 2002 issue of OR/MS Today on the 50th anniverasry of the founding of the Operations Research Society of America (ORSA).