89 



ment bodies in support of the national goals representing tlie congres- 

 sional will expressed in Public Law 89-^54. 



We are particularly looking forward to the report of the Commis- 

 sion on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources, discussed with 

 you by Dr. Stratton, which will set forth guidelines for the most effec- 

 tive future organization to carry on their recommended long-term 

 national oceanographic program. Our interest in the Council and 

 Conunission is reflected by the participation and interest of the ISTavy 

 members, who represent the Department of Defense. Membership on 

 the Commission includes the Under Secretary of the Navy, while the 

 Secretary of the Navy is the Department of Defense representative on 

 the Council. In addition. Dr. Robert A. Frosch, Assistant Secretary 

 of the Navy for Research and Development, is Chairman of the newly 

 constituted Committee on Marine Research, Education, and Facilities, 

 which reports directly to the National Council. There is also continued 

 active personal participation by Navy representatives in the several 

 other policy and working groups associated with these organizations. 



Within the Navy, the oceanography program, which is an integral 

 part of the national effort, encompasses that body of science, tech- 

 nology, engineering, and operations, and the personnel and facilities 

 associated with each, which is essential primarily to explore, and to 

 lay the basis for exploitation of, the ocean and its boundaries for de- 

 fense applications to enhance security and support other national ob- 

 jectives. Because of our daily use of the ocean, our interest is broad 

 and immediate. The urgent need for worldwide knowledge of the 

 operating environment of its forces, and the wide variety of operations 

 affected by one or another facet of that environment, impel the Navy 

 to support studies in every major oceanic area. Marine engineering 

 and technological development and theoretical and laboratory studies 

 complement these field investigations and are equally comprehensive. 

 The Navy's demonstrated ability to put man within the hostile ocean 

 environment for prolonged periods, to develop a variety of imique 

 deep-research vehicles, floating instrmnent platforms, oceanographic 

 towers, and scientific aircraft for useful work in, on, and immediately 

 above the oceans, and to engineer data-collection systems, will one day 

 make the worldwide collection of oceanographic data comparable with 

 that for atmospheric data. A sound beginning has been made — our 

 program for fiscal year 1968 thrusts us forward. 



We have reached our current capability through the development of 

 a good working partnership with the industrial and academic com- 

 munities, and of course we work also in continual cooperation with 

 other Federal and State agencies both through and outside of the 

 established formal structures. For example, the Office of Naval Re- 

 search and the National Science Foundation maintain an excellent 

 working relationship in the support of oceanographic research at aca- 

 demic institutions; scientists from universities and other Federal agen- 

 cies are continuing to play an important role in the Navy's man-in-the- 

 sea program, and are an integral part of the next seafloor experiment, 

 Sealab III ; and the Coast Guard's new large navigational sea buoy to 

 replace lightships is in large part an outgrowth of a Navy develop- 

 ment. We feel that the Navy has attained a position of leadership 

 among Federal agencies in certain areas of the marine sciences. This 

 is a leadership which we hope we have earned through demonstrated 

 capabilities and cooperative efforts, and it is a responsibility we do not 



86-705 — 68 — pt. 1 7 



