Analysts recall pioneering scientist

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WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  Top Air Force analysts are remembering the pioneering work of Dr. Alex Orden, who died five months after they honored him and a co-worker during a 60th anniversary celebration at the Pentagon. 

Dr. Orden worked from 1947 to 1952 on Project SCOOP, the Scientific Computation of Optimum Programs, which the Air Staff formed to address the high-speed calculation of key planning processes for deployment of forces, equipment and training. It was assembled by early Air Force leaders who recognized the challenges Army Air Forces' planners had encountered deploying large numbers of forces and equipment in World War II, said Lt. Col. David C. McCormick, deputy director of the Air Force's Analyses Foundations and Integration Directorate. 

Dr. Orden, who died at age 91 in February, was directly engaged in transforming Air Force analysis techniques from desktop calculators into the age of digital computers.
While he worked at the National Bureau of Standards, he advocated for a transfer of $400,000 in Air Force funding to NBS for design and construction of the world's first programmable computer, advancing its development by several years and earning the Air Force distinction as owners of the first commercial computer delivered outside of the factory. It was installed in the Pentagon basement in 1952. 

"This new 'electronic brain,' as newspapers (then) called it, along with innovative mathematical solution techniques Dr. Orden had developed, turned out to be key in solving large-scale logistical challenges of the day so massive that only computers could calculate them," said Colonel McCormick. "Solving immense problems involving large-scale aircraft and logistical movements with thousands of variables had previously taken several weeks to compute, but could now be answered in less than a day." 

In September 2007, the Air Force Studies and Analyses, Assessments and Lessons Learned Air Staff hosted a celebration to commemorate six decades of air and space power and to honor several pioneering Air Force scientists, including Dr. Orden. 

"We were truly honored to spend time with this intellectual giant and legend, who was so significant to the foundations of modern analytic thinking," said Dr. Jacqueline R. Henningsen, director for Studies and Analyses, Assessments and Lessons Learned.
The gathering also recognized the work of Dr. Saul Gass and the late Dr. George Dantzig, the chief mathematician. 

"(Their) groundbreaking efforts created what became today's operations research field, an area of endeavor often referred to as the science of decision making," said Colonel McCormick, adding that today's Air Force leaders rely heavily on analytic support. 

Project SCOOP achievements included Dr. Dantzig's invention of the simplex algorithm, which allowed more efficient solutions of large scale problems containing thousands of variables, an accomplishment that earned him a 1975 National Medal of Science from President Ford. The award recognized his invention of "linear programming and discovering methods that led to wide-scale scientific and technical applications to important problems in logistics, scheduling and network optimization." 

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers cited Dr. Dantzig's new solution methodology as one of the top 10 analytic achievements of the 20th century and among the most widely used and successful algorithms of all time, heavily influencing the development and practice of practical analysis worldwide, said Colonel McCormick. 

"(Their) military innovations and fledgling Air Force successes quickly spilled over into the civilian sector, yielding great benefit to America businesses," he said. 

The team's contributions to the Air Force were enormous, Colonel McCormick said, yet the members were not publicly acknowledged for many years because their work remained classified. 

Following his Project SCOOP work, Dr. Orden was employed by the Burroughs Corp. as a computer programming and application development manager. He later joined the University of Chicago Math Department, from which he retired as a full professor. He remained active as an analytic community leader and international consultant until the end of his life. 

Dr. Orden's son, Dr. David Orden, said his father often reflected on Project SCOOP and Air Force work as being among his life's most important professional contributions, Colonel McCormick said. 

Today's analytic team members, led by Dr. Henningsen, are direct descendants of the Project SCOOP task force, whose work was instrumental in answering many vexing questions of the day and established it as one of operations research's early successes. 

"(It's) a classic example of how Air Force research and development efforts and the quest for ways to leverage new technology have kept our institutional capabilities on the cutting edge," said Colonel McCormick. "(They) may not have fully appreciated how their early successes in decision support work laid the technical and organizational framework for today's operations research profession and current analysts supporting Air Force and Department of Defense leaders, but it clearly did." 

The professional field of study Project SCOOP members played an instrumental and shaping role in has expanded in all directions, now finding application across most every aspect of commercial and government planning and decision making, said Colonel McCormick, who remembers being anxious to meet Dr. Orden. 

"Five minutes and a handshake later, I was profoundly enjoying a conversation with one of my occupation's founding fathers and living legends, an experience made even more enjoyable due to his easy going style, sense of humor and genuine interest in our current work." 

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