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by Geoff Brumfiel
April 25,
2019
from
NPR Website
The Jasons,
a group
of scientists who advise the U.S. government,
have
developed technologies such as a laser
that
can help reduce atmospheric distortion.
The Air
Force uses it
to
better photograph passing spy satellites.
R. Fugate/Air Force Research Laboratory
A secretive group of scientists who advise the U.S. government on
everything from spy satellites to nuclear weapons is scrambling to
find a sponsor after the Defense Department abruptly ended its
contract late last month.
The group, known as
the Jasons, will run out of money
at the end of April.
The Pentagon says that
the group's advice is no longer needed, but independent experts say
it has never been more relevant and worry the department is throwing
away a valuable resource.
Russell Hemley, the head of the
Jasons, says that other government agencies still want advice and
that the Jasons are determined to give it.
Late Thursday, it appeared that another government agency might be
willing to take on the group. The Department of Energy's National
Nuclear Security Administration posted a solicitation saying it
intends to take over the contract for the group.
That could happen in a
matter of months, and it is unclear how the
Mitre Corp., which manages the
Jasons, would fund the group in the interim.
The Jasons group comprises about 60 members.
By day, they're
normal academics, working at colleges and universities and in
private industry.
But each summer, they
come together to study tough problems for the military,
intelligence agencies and other parts of the government.
The group's name, like
the group itself, is shrouded in mystery, though it's believed to be
a reference to
Jason, the Greek mythological prince
who leads the Argonauts in looking for the
Golden Fleece.
"The idea that
they're going to cut back on the kind of advice that the Jasons
provide is not good for the Department of Defense," says Steven
Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, an
independent watchdog group.
"It's not good for
the nation."
"We're very
independent, we have this diversity of talent and we often come
up with very different, very original perspectives and solutions
to problems," says Hemley, a physicist and chemist at the
University of Illinois at Chicago.
Hemley is one of the few
members who publicly identify themselves as part of the group.
He says the Jasons are
unlike anything else out there - academics at the top of their
individual fields, with security clearances that let them work on
any problem.
The group's origins go back to the early days of the Cold War.
"They just formed
themselves, back in 1960," says Ann Finkbeiner, who wrote 'The
Jasons - The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite'.
It began when a group of
physicists won funding from the Pentagon to spend the summer
learning about the problems facing the Defense Department in its
fight against the Soviet Union.
These stubborn
researchers were determined to advise the government.
They went on to study
everything from anti-submarine warfare to missile defense.
Russell Hemley
is the
chair of the Jasons.
He says
several government agencies
remain
interested in contracting with the group.
Geoff Brumfiel/NPR
"Probably their most famous study was about trying to stop the
infiltration from North Vietnam into the South," Finkbeiner
says.
The problem was that
North Vietnamese troops and supplies were hard to find beneath the
dense jungle canopy.
The Jasons' solution was
to develop a system of remote sensors that could be airdropped into
the jungle and provide intelligence on the enemy. The program, like
much to do with Vietnam, was controversial and didn't work
perfectly.
But it laid the
groundwork for modern electronic warfare, in which sensors provide
troops with detailed battlefield information, Finkbeiner says.
In recent years, Hemley says, the Jasons have broadened the areas
they study. They've tried to help the Department of Agriculture
develop better ways to use data to understand crop production, for
example.
And they advised the
Census Bureau on how to streamline its operations.
So it came as a surprise to Hemley and others when, in late March,
the Pentagon abruptly announced it was ending its primary contract
with the Jasons.
The contract, run through
the Mitre Corp., is the vehicle that allows the Jasons to do work
with other parts of the government as well.
Without it, the group has
no way of getting the several million dollars in funding it needs to
operate annually.
"The department
remains committed to seeking independent technical advice and
review," Pentagon spokesperson Heather Babb said.
But Aftergood sees
another reason for the end of the relationship. He says that the
Jasons are a blunt bunch. If they think an idea is dumb or won't
work, they aren't afraid to say so.
"They were offering the opposite of cheerleading," he says. "And DOD
decided that maybe they didn't want to pay for that any longer."
Steven Aftergood says it's a real mistake to cut ties with
the Jasons now. The Pentagon is embarking on ambitious research
into,
The Jasons have expertise
on these topics and will likely be useful.
For now, Hemley says, the group is eager to continue its research
and is,
"working closely with
our sponsors to make sure that happens."
The National Nuclear
Security Administration, which oversees the nation's nuclear
weapons, would be a natural fit for the group.
Over the years, it has
solicited numerous studies from the Jasons on the nuclear stockpile.
At a congressional hearing this month, NNSA Administrator Lisa
Gordon-Hagerty voiced her support for the Jasons:
"I can tell you that
they are rich in history," she said, "and their technical
expertise is sound."
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