Institutional and technical history of requirements-based strategic armor ceramics basic research leading up to the multiscale material by design materials in extreme dynamic environments (MEDE) program. Part I. Brief history of institutional changes and relevant major research programs

History, beginning in the late 1960s during the Vietnam war, of the institutional changes that took place because of various military operations and the resulting changes in policies and requirements in the Department of Defense and the Army: Army Force XXI, DDRE, and Army After Next; this will include the evolution of personnel and vehicle protection materials and the impact of major DARPA programs. The new requirements emphasized light weight and changes in the basic research approach, which led to the approval of a strategic research objective, “Armor Materials by Design.” At the same time, there were other National planning activities, workshops, and conferences advocating for the armor materials by design vision and the use of “figures of merit.” The Army Research Laboratory responded to these initiatives by initiating an “Enterprise for Multiscale Research of Materials” leading to the funding of a revolutionary new collaborative research program on “materials in extreme dynamic environment.” The role of the ARL Materials Center of Excellence will also be included.