II. Background and Scope of This Study 



During the past 2 years, United States activities in the field of 

 oceanography have been discussed, dissected, evaluated, and pub- 

 licized more thoroughly and more deliberately than at any time in the 

 history of that science. The measure has been taken of the size and 

 scope of our current nationwide effort; future needs in light of con- 

 temporary threats to national security have been identified; proposals 

 have been formulated and advanced for immediate acceleration and 

 invigoration of the program. Xews media and professional journals, 

 alike, have carried an unprecedented number of authoritative articles 

 on the current state of oceanographic affairs. The 86th Congress 

 has had placed before it eight different bills representing legislation 

 with the intent of assurmg enhanced national postm-e in oceanog- 

 raphy, by increased emphasis on education and training, by identi- 

 fication of scientific goals, by formulation of a unified national pro- 

 gram and by establishment of a statutor}^ base for coordination of 

 those Federal agencies concerned. 



The question might well be asked as to what factors have stimu- 

 lated such unusual attention to an old and honored but relativel}'- 

 small branch of the sciences. Especially it might be asked, what has 

 prompted this sense of urgency sufficient to elicit study, investiga- 

 tion, and planning at the highest echelons of Government? 

 At least four such influences can be readily named: 



(a) The undersea threat to our national security; 



(b) The emerging significance of science and technology as an 

 instrument of world afl^airs; 



(c) The potential of the sea for greater international under- 

 standing and cooperation; and 



(d) The eventual worldwide exploitation of ocean resources. 

 What underscores each of these factors is our relative ignorance of 



the sea and its contents, and of the recent evolution of technologies 

 which have now made the sea assume a new significance, but which 

 have also rendered the sea more susceptible to systematic exploration. 



The potential of oceanography assumes a special importance for the 

 United States. The oceans have had an exceedingly vital, if subtle, 

 impact on our military, economic, and political history. Essentially 

 a geographic island, the United States found the seas a protective 

 barrier providing a stability to processes of growth and a monopoly 

 on our continental resources that fostered eventual accession to a 

 position as a world power. 



Now, however, the oceans reveal themselves as no longer im- 

 penetrable — a very real threat lies in the Soviet submarine fleet far 

 more numerous than ours that, concealed by the opacity of the sea, 

 could approach our shores and, still in international water, launch a 

 shower of intermediate-range missiles. The surveillance of the sea: 

 to detect, to classify, and to monitor any such hostile vehicles, is one 

 of the most critical ingredients of any program of antisubmarine war- 

 fare. To find such targets requires a far more extensive knowledge 



