Technical Division, OC CWS

Research and development was not to be long hidden under a bushel. In June 1940 the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) was set up by Presidential approval." Division B (later expanded to Divisions 8, 9, 10, and ii) of NDRC, headed by Dr. James Bryant Conant, was set up to handle studies on bombs, fuels, gases, and chemical problems. Present at the first meeting of this division on ii July 1940 were General Baker, Chief, CWS, and Lt. Col. Maurice E. Barker, chief of the Technical Division, OC CWS. Shortly thereafter the CWS proposed six projects for study by Division B, and by July 1941 this number had increased to sixteen. On 28 June 1941 NDRC and the Committee on Medical Research were included, by Executive order, under the jurisdiction of a newly created Office of Scientific Research and Development. Three months later the CWS recommended its initial medical project to the Committee on Medical Research, the first of seventeen such projects that would be undertaken before the close of World War II. 

The transfer of elements of the Chief s office to Edgewood in the fall of 1942 led to some administrative difficulties, particularly in personnel matters. The Technical Division, OC CWS, for example, wanted to control its members located at Edgewood directly through the Washington office. The chief of the Technical Division felt that he could obtain more and better qualified employees in that way. The Chief, CWS, nevertheless, de-... 

The following representatives of CWS were at the conference General Baker, C CWS Colonel English, Executive Officer, OC CWS and Colonel Barker, chief of the Technical Division, OC CWS. The following scientists were present Dr. Lewis, Dr. H. E. Howe, Dr. Conant, and Bradley Dewey. 

When the Incendiary Branch of the Chief s office was inactivated in June 1942, supervision of the Columbia CWS laboratory was turned over to the Technical Division, OC CWS. The scope of the laboratory s activities was broadened to include development work not only on the incendiary bomb but also on other items such as the 4.2-inch chemical mortar and the flame thrower. On 31 December 1943 the CWS-Columbia University contract was terminated and the laboratory s functions transferred to the Chemical Warfare Center. 

Specialist training of chemical technicians was left to the discretion of the CWS and followed programs prepared by the Training Division, OC CWS. These latter courses of shorter duration were attended during the final weeks of technical training of the unit. Table 14) The aim in specialist training of chemical technicians was primarily to teach the soldier the military application of skills which he already possessed. In most cases it... 

With the transfer of the program to the CWS, the Army dissolved the War Research Service, and assigned the responsibility for civilian research and development to the OSRD. Mr. Merck was appointed special consultant on BW to the Secretary of War, with Mr. Fred and Mr. Marquand as scientific adviser and intelligence aide, respectively, to Mr. Merck. The ABC Committee was succeeded by the DEF Committee which was headed by Dr. O. H. Perry Pepper of the University of Pennsylvania, and which guided the technical program of the Special Projects Division, OC CWS, soon to be formed. 

Administrators later found that the research work and testing being carried on by the Medical Division overlapped that carried on by the Technical Division of the OC CWS. This overlapping was particularly pronounced in projects being conducted under tropical conditions. The... 

Following the activation of a separate Inspection Division in the OC CWS in May 1943, the technical functions of the inspection offices at all CWS installations came under the jurisdiction of the new Inspection Division. The principle of divided jurisdiction was never entirely satisfactory to a number of installation commanders, who felt that since they... 

Keport of Activities of the Technical Division During World War II, OC CWS, p. 200. 

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