Established in 1941 under the directorship of Vannevar Bush, and responsible for coordinating the scientific effort that produced radar and the atomic bomb. It was comprised of a number of divisions, each committed to a specific research area, and nearly every engineer and scientist in the United States worked for the OSRD. Within each division, the armed forces researchers, industry, and the academic laboratories worked together.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.