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TOWARD NEW PARTNERSHIPS IN OCEAN SCIENCES 33 



basic ocean science with a long-term view. Any diminishing of 

 that commitment can, in the long run, undermine both science 

 and national security. The board notes, for example, that the 

 Office of Naval Research is virtually the only federal agency sup- 

 porting basic research in ocean acoustics. 



The Navy recently completed a major consolidation of its labo- 

 ratories. The result is one "corporate" laboratory, the Naval Re- 

 search Laboratory (NRL), and four centers: the Naval Air Warfare 

 Center, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, the Naval Undersea 

 Warfare Center, and the Naval Command Control and Ocean Sur- 

 veillance Center. These organizations, which primarily conduct 

 research on weapon systems and sensors, provide limited general 

 funding and program support to the academic research commu- 

 nity. In addition, NRL has a strong continuing relationship with 

 the applied physics laboratories of four universities: Johns Hopkins 

 University, the University of Washington, Pennsylvania State Uni- 

 versity, and the University of Texas at Austin. As the nation 

 faces budgetary constraints, it is likely that NRL and its centers 

 will explore more cooperative activities with the academic re- 

 search com.munity, especially in light of the reduction in number 

 of the Navy's dedicated oceanographic ships. 



The Office of Naval Technology supports Navy laboratories, 

 universities, and private corporations to carry out its mission in 

 the Navy's Exploratory Development (6.2) program. The academic 

 institutions refine and transfer basic research results into techni- 

 cal feasibility and demonstration plans. 



The Oceanographer of the Navy, who serves on the staff of the 

 Chief of Naval Operations, is primarily responsible for providing 

 the oceanographic products and services needed by the Navy's 

 operational forces. In terms of direct funding of research, the 

 Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy and its supporting orga- 

 nizations have only a modest relationship with the academic re- 

 search community. However, the oceanographer's office provides 

 the oceanographic community with access to global data sets and 

 modeling capability. Data available from the Navy's monitoring 

 network could be an important component of a global ocean ob- 

 serving system. The Navy possesses classified data about the 

 ocean that could benefit ocean science research without compro- 

 mising national security. It is noteworthy that the Office of the 

 Oceanographer of the Navy has worked over the past three years 

 to declassify much of the data it possesses on seafloor and sea 

 surface topography. Oceanographers look forward to receiving 

 access to more of the data possessed by the Navy. Also, the 



