The Operations Research Office (ORO) was a civilian military research center founded in 1948 by the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

. It was run under contract by Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

. The organization's offices were originally at Fort McNair

Fort Lesley J. McNair

Fort Lesley J. McNair is a United States Army post located on the tip of a peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. To its west is the Washington Channel, while the Anacostia River is on its south side...

, Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

  They moved to Chevy Chase, Maryland

Chevy Chase, Maryland

Chevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland. In addition, a number of villages in the same area of Montgomery County include "Chevy Chase" in their names...

 in 1952. In 1961, the Army discontinued Johns Hopkins University's contract, and the ORO was dissolved. Soon after, the Research Analysis Corporation (RAC) was founded, which assumed the ORO's projects and most of its employees. The RAC was funded by the Army until June 1972.