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Mission

The Secretary of the Air Force, F. Whitten Peters, commissioned a study to determine how the Air Force Research Laboratory will cope with the expected shortfall in scientific and technical workforce. The 1999 study, headed by Chief Scientist Dan Hastings and Maj. Gen. Richard Paul, Air Force Research Laboratory Commander, concluded that the most fruitful approach was that of government operated, collaborator assisted (GOCA) laboratories. In order for such a concept to be successful it must exhibit the following characteristics:

A core of long-term employees providing management, stability, and knowledge of the organization and its customers
A significant number of graduates and recent graduates of world class universities providing the latest in analytical, computational, and experimental techniques
A character and structure that will attract leading scientists from all over

The relationship between the University of Florida's Graduate Engineering & Research Center (GERC) and Eglin Air Force Base, of which the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate (AFRL/MN) is an important part, is one which already embraces the best parts of the GOCA concept. Through the combined efforts of Air Force, university, and local government leaders for more than a decade, the academic, managerial, and legal aspects of a true smoothly functioning partnership in the science and technology enterprise have been brought to a high degree of maturity in the GERC. The details of all the interacting aspects of the GERC-Eglin partnership are described in later sections.

A Research Institute on Autonomous Precision Guided Systems has been developed between GERC and AFRL/MN as a refinement of the existing partnership between GERC and Eglin, which in itself comprises a complex of cooperative agreements presently in place between the GERC and Eglin AFB. The GERC acts as an agile provider of supplementary first-rate scientific manpower reinforcement for those of AFRL/MN's core competencies considered to be of greatest current interest at any given time.

"The First Essential of Airpower is Pre-Eminence in Research"
General H. H. Arnold 1944

Historical Development and Overview

A core of long-term employees providing management, stability, and knowledge of the organization and its customers
A significant number of graduates and recent graduates of world class universities providing the latest in analytical, computational, and experimental techniques
A character and structure that will attract leading scientists from all over

The relationship between the University of Florida’s Graduate Engineering & Research Center (REEF) and Eglin Air Force Base, of which the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate (AFRL/MN) is an important part, is one which already embraces the best parts of the GOCA concept. Through the combined efforts of Air Force, university, and local government leaders for more than a decade, the academic, managerial, and legal aspects of a true smoothly functioning partnership in the science and technology enterprise have been brought to a high degree of maturity in the REEF. The details of all the interacting aspects of the REEF-Eglin partnership are described in later sections.

A Research Institute on Autonomous Precision Guided Systems has been developed between REEF and AFRL/MN as a refinement of the existing partnership between REEF and Eglin, which in itself comprises a complex of cooperative agreements presently in place between the REEF and Eglin AFB. The REEF acts as an agile provider of supplementary first-rate scientific manpower reinforcement for those of AFRL/MN’s core competencies considered to be of greatest current interest at any given time. In a sense the Research Institute, through the REEF serves as a source of reinforcing elements, or RE-bars, for the AFRL/MN core competencies resulting in a composite organization more effective and durable than either element alone. These RE-bars may be thought of as follows:

REsearch – Visiting senior and junior scientists, post-docs, and graduate students carrying out the latest research in close contact with AFRL/MN scientists
REcruiting – Streamlined hiring capability through the Research Institute starts AFRL/MN career candidates on productive work while the paperwork churns
REfreshment – The Research Institute takes on the most of the science cadre through short term appointments permitting constant flux of new people and ideas
REsources – Existing REEF-Eglin agreements on facility sharing and exchanges leverages the resources available to the research staff

Of course, there are additional RE-bars that are instrumental in making the Research Institute a flexible, high-quality, and efficient mechanism for conducting advanced scientific research under constrained conditions.

Funding Sources:

Support for the Research Institute’s activities is presently derived from a variety of sources, including AFOSR, AFRL/MN, and the University of Florida. The nature of the research effort and the structure of the organization provides for the accommodation of other sources of funding.