438 
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 scienufic 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 special 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 needed 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 
NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM—1965 
be emphasized that this plan is not a decision in 
itself; it is a basis for decision. It presents from 
the national viewpoint the goals and the capabil- 
ities required to achieve these goals, indicates the 
nature of the systems, forces and relationships re- 
quired to provide thes¢ capabilities, and peints 
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, seyeral 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 
