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I asked the Ocean Panel of MEDEA to review Naval 

 oceanographic, meteorological and ice data holdings for 

 several reasons. First, it was a method to reinforce 

 the connection between Navy's operational 

 oceanographers and the Nation's best civil ocean 

 researchers. Second, it was a chance, for the first 

 time, to get cleared scientists from outside of the 

 Navy to review and judge the quality of our work. 

 Third, it allowed the Panel to judge the utility of the 

 Navy data for other National purposes. The result of 

 their work was published in an unclassified report 

 called: "Scientific Utility of Naval Environmental 

 Data," June 1995. Copies have been made available to 

 your committees for their use in your partnership 

 initiative. - 



The Report was highly acclaimed outside of the 

 Navy and is substantially useful inside. Not only was 

 the quality and extent of Navy's ocean data holdings 

 strongly endorsed, and its utility described, but a 

 number of other initiatives were articulated that aimed 

 at reinvigorating and maintaining a close linkage 



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