In the 1990s, during my first assignment at the Department of Defense Research under the Turkish General Staff, I was introduced to an environment where operations research, war gaming, technology monitoring, and assessment activities were integrated. Following the restructuring efforts, I personally participated in, we initiated activities to implement Scientific Decision Support Activities within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) under a three-phase plan, directly linked to the highest decision-making authority. I witnessed the realization of the first two phases of the plan we had envisioned (the Scientific Decision Support Branch and the Scientific Decision Support Center), and I personally worked in all positions within these structures. During this process, we not only developed the approaches and models needed for analyses aimed at meeting the TSK’s requirements but also closely followed the models, methodologies, approaches, and technologies used by international military organizations, particularly NATO, and other countries.

Established in 1952 with four panels under the names of combustion, aerospace medicine, flight testing, and instrumentation, the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) expanded under the valuable guidance of Von Karman, reaching 200 panel members in the 1960s and updating the number of panels to nine in the 1970s, with 500 panel members. During this period, the Defense Research Group (DRG), consisting of around 500 experts actively engaged in research, development, or management in academic institutions, government agencies, or industry-related sectors, conducted activities in 11 panels. Due to the need for greater coordination and cost-effectiveness, these two core activities (AGARD and DRG panels) were merged under the NATO Research and Technology Organization, headquartered in Paris, France, in January 1998, encompassing air, land, sea, and space R&D activities under one umbrella. As a result of the NATO Reform, the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO) was established in July 2012. In place of the NATO Underwater Research Center (NURC), the Center of Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) was formed. The Research and Technology Agency (RTA), created to support STO activities, was transformed into the Collaborative Support Office (CSO).