The Idea: To Facilitate Access for the Researcher via ARPAnet
One must remember that time sharing of computers was beginning to be a real possibility, and that reasonably friendly computer interfaces were being developed. Some examples of interfaces include the RAND tablet, interactive displays, and the light pen. Bob Taylor, who was Director of the ARPA Computer Technology program at the time, tells the story correctly (see the article "25 Years of the ARPAnet" in the proceedings of the BBN Conference, September 1994). Bob and his colleagues wanted to see if there was a way to link the computers to each other, and connect the users to these netted computers in a way that facilitated access by the researchers. At the time, no one knew whether this could be done at all, so the program was clearly a high-risk one.

Potential Military Applications Developed Later for ARPAnet
The potential military applications (including the potential for robust communications) were well in our minds, but they were not our primary responsibility. In fact there existed a significant Air Force program devoted to Strategic Command and Control, and related pieces of work were done under that aegis. My involvement was modest; I had to approve the program, and did so enthusiastically. As time went on, I became one of its strong supporters and explicators, especially before Congress.

Battelle's Contribution to the Defender Program
It is worth mentioning to this audience that one of the large contributions Battelle made to the "Information System" during the mid-sixties were the so-called Red Books that summarized in an authoritative and up-to-date manner the technical details of U.S. strategic systems. This effort was managed under the Defender Program I mentioned earlier.

Source Defense Technical Information Center - author Charles Herzfeld