Chapter V 

 NATIONAL SECURITY 



National security is the product of economic, industrial, and 

 military strength capable of protecting and enhancing our 

 opportunities to do the things we want to do as a nation. Each of 

 these three aspects of national security — economic, industrial, and 

 military — is dependent upon the others for the support that 

 contributes to our overall strength as a nation and enables us to 

 compete effectively in the increasingly complex international arena 

 of commercial, diplomatic, and military activities. 



The responsibility of the Department of Defense (DODj is to 

 provide, develop, and maintain capabilities to counter existing and 

 future military threats to national security. Within DOD, the U.S. 

 Navy is responsible for providing oceanographic services and 

 marine research activities related to national security. Because of the 

 Navy's need to operate above, across, and under the surface of the 

 sea, it is essential that it have the means for measuring and 

 predicting ocean features, and processes that influence naval 

 operations. Improving national security through the use of oceanic 

 surveillance systems relies almost entirely upon a thorough 

 knowledge of the physics of underwater sound, which in turn is 

 directly and significantly affected by most oceanographic variables. 

 The Navy therefore supports significant activities and programs in 

 the marine sciences. The Navy coordinates its marine science 

 activities with those of other Federal marine science organizations 

 and maintains a thorough knowledge of related international 

 activities. 



There is increased national awareness of the ocean and of the 

 necessity for developing it for the benefit of the civilian sector. The 

 Navy, with its long history of oceanographic operations and marine 

 science activities, has a technologically competent base of personnel 



The new twin-hulled USS Pidgeon (ASR #21 ), home-ported at San Diego, and 

 her sister ship, the USS Ortolan (ASR #22), home-ported at Norfolk, provide 

 unique capabilities for submarine rescue and deep saturation diving. They are 

 configured for surface support of the Navy's DSRVs. 



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