United States Navy Special Projects Office

The Special Projects Office was initiated in 1956 as new organization with a mandate to develop a submarine-launched solid-fuel fleet ballistic missile.

[1] The Special Projects Office (SPO) is also known for the development of the planning and scheduling methodology, known as Program Evaluation and Review Technique or just PERT, and first published in 1958.

[2] On September 13, 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower directed the Navy to design a ship-launched Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) similar to the Army's Jupiter IRBM.

Despite strong support from the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Arleigh Burke, the program ballistic missile system for the fleet did not develop well, also due to the resistance of the bureaucracy in the Navy.

At the head of the Special Projects Office was appointed Admiral William Raborn, a former Navy pilot, chosen by Burke due to his personal qualities and belief in the military, rather than his vision on the technical run of the program.

In September that year, the US Atomic Energy Agency estimated, that such a small nuclear warhead would be available in 1965, with some chance of making it back in 1963.

The new technique takes recognition of three factors that influence successful achievement of research and development program objectives: time, resources, and technical performance specifications.