154 OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 



agency committee acting in an advisoryj capacity; the agencies 

 having jurisdiction over various programs would continue but senior 

 responsibility would be vested in a single organization. 



(4) Assignment of the coordinating functions to two agencies, 

 separated as in the case of space research into mihtary and non- 

 militar}^ entities (if indeed that could be done in the case of oceano- 

 graphic research). 



(5) Assignment of coordinating functions to a quasi-governmental 

 body such as the Smithsonian Institution or the National Academy of 

 Sciences. 



(6) Establishment of a new organization having both coordinating 

 and operating responsibilities for all sectors of the oceanic research 

 program, except the basic and applied programs having distinct 

 mihtary applications (following the precedent of the National Aero- 

 nautics and Space Administration). 



(7) Establishment of a new organization having both coordinating 

 and operating responsibilities for all sectors of the oceanic research 

 program, including all basic and applied research for either military 

 or civilian application, excluding development (following precedent of 

 the Atomic Energy Commission). 



It is beyond the scope of this present report to delve further into 

 the various merits and problems of each. Obviously, none is a 

 panacea. 



The relative performance, however, can be measured in terms of the 

 capacity of the agency to make decisions — for, indeed, this is often 

 cited as the primary role of a Government agency. It may carry out 

 some of these decisions as well, but in oceanography, at the present, 

 most of the research is being accomplished on contract. Surve3ring, 

 however, is retained as an operating function. 



This problem of administrative control of the oceanographic pro- 

 gram was reiterated b}' the American Association for Advancement 

 of Science: ^^ 



When the organized effort to increase federal support for oceanography began 

 about 3 years ago the science faced two especially important obstacles : it was 

 popularly regarded as a field about as far removed from practical affairs as as- 

 tronomy, and it faced a peculiar organizational problem in that the various 

 elements of oceanographic research were fragmented among a dozen or so different 

 government bureaus and agencies. As a result, although a growing number of 

 people began to recognize that it was in the national interest to develop much 

 enlarged support for the science, the fragments of the program scattered through 

 the Navy, Interior, Commerce, and other departments and agencies tended to 

 be little noticed in the over-all functions of the agencies and in their budget 

 making. 



******* 



Organizational Problems 



It is the publicity that all these things have received from the NAS-NRC 

 report and the other forces at work that have led to the increases in support 

 for the science. But assuming, and opinions vary on this, of course, that ocea- 

 nography has now achieved a proper degree of support in relation to other 

 scientific programs, the question is raised whether this rather makeshift, basically 

 political, method of rallying support for oceanography is really satisfactory and 

 eflBcient. It is tempting, in situations like this, to seek some organizational 

 cureall, and advocates of a cabinet-level Department of Science sometimes 



" "Science." May 27, 1960, vol. 131, Xo. 3113, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 pp. 1592-1593. 



