ImRODI CITION 



measured in precisely the same terms as the ben- 

 efits accruing to the Nation as a whole, these 

 benefits are obviously related and overlapping. 

 This is clearly the case with the scientific commu- 

 nity whether in private or government employ. 

 The scientist by satisfying his curiosity and desire 

 to understand provides at the same time the 

 knowledge by means of which strategic, military, 

 economic, and commercial goals related to the 

 sea can be achieved. And by satisfying their 

 more sjjecial goals, the military, economic, and 

 commercial sea-going activities support each other 

 with tools of various kinds, engineering develop- 

 ments, facilities, and platforms and together make 

 possible the furthering of scientific as well as 

 national goals. Nevertheless, the national goals 

 are not merely the sum of the special interest 

 goals, They are rather those goals like the pre- 

 servation of peace, the extension of the rule of 

 law and justice, the maintenance of a strong econ- 

 omy, and the safeguarding of health, property, 

 and resources held in common which must be 

 achieved to permit the full realization of the 

 goals held by individuals and special groups which 

 constitute our society. 



A centralized plan is therefore heeded because 

 of the size, complexity, and importance of the 

 field and the fact that its growth, by being so 

 sensitive to decisions made at the federal level, 

 introduces considerations of the national interest. 



B, For Whom is it Written? 



This plan is written for the information of all 

 those interested in the nature, scope, and growth 

 of oceanography in the United States. Most par- 

 ticularly, it is hoped that this information will be 

 of interest and assistance to those people working 

 so actively in one aspect of the field that they have 

 difficulty seeing their work in relation to that of 

 others. 



It is written for the Congress. The appropria- 

 tions required for the execution of the plan devel- 

 oped here come from the Legislative Branch, and 

 it is of basic importance that a clear explanation 

 be made of the objectives and projected means 

 for their achievement for which support is solic- 

 ited. It is hoped that this document fulfills this 

 important purpose. 



Finally, it is written for those in the Executive 

 Branch who must make decisions within their 

 own spheres of responsibility regarding the im- 

 plementation of the plan outlined here. It should 



be emphasized that this plan is not a decision in 

 itself; it is a basis for decision. It presents from 

 the national viewpoitu the goals and the capabil- 

 ities required to achieve these goals, indicates the 

 nature of the systems, forces and relationships re- 

 quired to provide these capabilities, and points 

 out the direction which must be taken by research 

 and development to remedy deficiencies or exploit 

 as yet unrealized but exciting potentialities in 

 these systems and forces. It does so, however, 

 only as a first approximation and acknowledges 

 numerous alternatives and contingencies. Much 

 of the information needed to resolve the many 

 uncertainties contained herein lies either con- 

 cealed in the future or inaccessible at the time of 

 writing. 



C. What is this Plan Supposed to Do? 



Many of the decisions made in oceanography 

 not only have long lead-times before their results 

 are apparent, but also have consequences and im- 

 plied commitments which, when once felt, extend 

 over very long periods. For example, it takes as 

 much as four years from planning to completion 

 to build a major oceanographic research or sur- 

 vey ship, and perhaps 20 or 30 more to wear it 

 out. Expeditions take many, many months to 

 organize, several years to carry out, and their 

 findings may change the world for all time. The 

 real worth of such decisions cannot be seen except 

 from the long-range viewpoint, and one of the 

 functions of this plan is to portray as clearly as 

 possible the consequences of present and contem- 

 plated commitments of this sort. Further, this 

 type of planning must be accomplished with par- 

 ticular care, since expeditions are expensive and 

 research manpower in scarce supply. Each deci- 

 sion therefore involves consideration and aban- 

 donment of many alternative opportunities. 



A second function which can be served by a 

 long-range plan, in contrast to a short-range 

 plan, is to influence the magnitude of the re- 

 sources available to oceanography, and effective- 

 ness of their utilization. Short-range plans, being 

 basically extrapolations from the present, must 

 deal primarily with the allocation of a given ef- 

 fort and fixed resources. On a short time scale, 

 the overall resources to work with are already 

 largely determined by past decisions and only 

 minor modification is possible. Over the long run, 

 however, decisions still to be made could very 

 greatly affect the overall effectiveness of the effort 



