PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE 



Oceanography is a field of activity in which the Navy, probably 

 more than any other agency of the Federal Government, will 

 continue to be active. The Navy has the responsibility to look 

 well ahead and prepare for future needs, to examine critically 

 the scientific feasibility of technical solutions, and to insure that 

 the scientific base is adequately developed for coupling with 

 naval operations. 



The scientific base derived almost wholly from the combination 

 of naval in-house laboratory and contract research programs, 

 will continue to develop mainly from this source. The choice 

 of broad fields of inquiry will be made with the view towards 

 providing options to naval planners in dealing with future needs. 



The responsibility of the Navy Ocean Science Program in 

 exploratory or advanced development, is largely to examine 

 the scientific feasibility of new concepts, to provide a continuing 

 interaction with parallel but dominantly engineering or opera- 

 tions programs, and to identify and fill gaps in scientific knowl- 

 edge needed for developing new systems. This concept of service 

 by the Navy Ocean Science Program is firmly rooted in the 

 traditional willingness of individual scientists to assist the Navy 

 as consultants. This tradition, always a strong force in research 

 and development, will be recognized and encouraged in future 

 programs. 



The Navy of the future will be shaped by the developing imder- 

 standing of the environment in which it operates, just as today's 

 Navy has been shaped by basic oceanographic knowledge not 

 available a few years or a few decades ago. It is critical to naval 

 development that ocean science should progress rapidly and 

 comprehensively. 



Within the scientific program, emphasis will change from year 

 to year as our realization of potential applicability grows. In 

 the immediate future, stress will be placed on the following 

 areas. 



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