FOREWORD 



The Interagency Committee on Oceanography of the Federal Council for Sci- 

 ence and Technology has since 1959 been coordinating the annual plans and pro- 

 grams of the federal agencies in the marine sciences. During this time the need to 

 view agency plans and their implications on a more extended time scale has greatly 

 increased, especially considering the continued growth of federal support for sci- 

 ence and the consequent sharpening of the competition for such resources as 

 skilled manpower and funds. This long-range plan is designed to meet this need. 



Until very recently the pressure of this competition has kept oceanography in a 

 comparatively primitive state with respect to resouices, activity, and accomplish- 

 ment. With the completion of studies both inside and outside of government, a 

 widespread conviction developed that the national interest demanded more rapid 

 growth. Sharply accelerated support during the last three years has now brought 

 oceanography to a level from which our planning for the next ten years can be pro- 

 jected in balance with all of science and technology supported by the government, 

 which shows signs of doubling over the next ten years. 



To be effective these expenditures require comprehensive and farsighted plans, 

 taking account not only of the relationship between scientific discovery and appli- 

 cation, but also a desired balance of effort among the various scientific disciplines 

 and among institutions in universities, industry, and government who perform this 

 research. And as these relationships become increasingly well understood, it will 

 become ever more important for those working in one field to become aware of 

 plans being made for others. In this way they will be able to participate more effec- 

 tively in the pursuit of broadly shared objectives. 



This Long-Range National Oceanographic Plan has therefore been drafted with- 

 in the framework of a statement of national goals. This and the long time scale on 

 which the effort is discussed should facilitate the appraisal of the shorter term steps 

 to be taken along the way. The rapidity with which the oceanographic program has 

 grown and the large number of federal agencies involved makes such appraisal 

 both difficult and necessary, to determine its consistency with other indices of the 

 national interest such as congressional resolutions, aims enunicated by the Presi- 

 dent, and goals established by the Federal Council for Science and Technology. It 

 should be emphasized that although the benefits of our program are intended to accrue to the 

 Nation at large, the effort described herein is limited to that sponsored by the Federal Govern- 

 ment itself. That is, this plan represents a federal effort to further national goals. 



This federal funding not only supports oceanographic activity in federal agencies 

 but even more extensive programs in private institutions as well. The Interagency 

 Committee on Oceanography has endeavored to express in this document the 

 means through which federal, academic, and industrial members of the oceano- 

 graphic community can look ahead together. 



Finally, it should be noted that this plan is a statement of our needs and aspira- 

 tions. It is in no way fixed or irrevocable. It must be expected to change year by year 

 as new scientific results and new technological opportunities become available, and 

 new requirements or priorities develop. A measure of its success Avill be the extent 

 to which it fosters progress toward the solution of many of the problems of seeming 

 importance today, while providing an enhanced capability to meet shifts in priori- 

 ties and the opening of new paths toward our national goals which may take place 

 tomorrow. 



