The Defense Science Board has been around for 50 years, first forming up for its first meeting on Sept. 20, 1956, at the behest of the Second Hoover Commission. It has grown from 25 members to 42, drawn from industry, academia, and DOD civilian and retired military ranks.
In 1941, Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold of the then-U.S. Army Air Corps, personally reviewed a jet engine patented by Sir Frank Whittle flying on a Gloster E.28/39 aircraft. Impressed by its design, Arnold arranged for a Whittle engine to be brought back to the U.S. and tasked General Electric…