private institutions and universities, thus providing firm Navy guidance 

 and leadership in the national oceanographic program. And, most impor- 

 tantly, it has increased an awareness within the Navy of the relevance of 

 oceanography, to current missions and of opportunities to reshape these 

 missions to exploit marine science and technology in the national interest. 



Nonetheless, in the face of changing req.uirements within the Navy and 

 the federal government, I believe there may well be areas of the Navy pro- 

 gram we might wish to examine more closely to search for improvement. 



First, perhaps, we should re-examine the emphasis in the program, 

 wherein the first and foremost requirement is to provide oceanographic 

 information in useable form to optimize decisions concerned with the 

 design and employment of advanced naval systems. In view of the complex 

 influence of the environment on underseas system performance, we can ill- 

 afford to delay required oceanographic programs until such systems are 

 being procured in production quantities, and the need becomes urgent. 

 Rather, oceanographic program must be identified and harmonized with sys- 

 tem development to obtain accurate oceanographic models for system analysis 

 prior to the selection among alternative designs, and to obtain required 

 oceanographic data prior to fleet employment. With greater emphasis in the 

 Department of Defense being placed on technically and financially sound 

 systems management, we have no recourse but to stress system oriented 

 oceanographic programs to a much greater degree than we have in the past. 



This is not to say, however, that we would at the same time unbalance 

 the research effort in oceanography, for such a policy would lead in the 

 long run to diminishing returns and ultimate stagnation. The mainstream of 

 effort in research, development, and surveys must, of course, continue, but 

 all programs would be subject to critical analysis in terms of their poten- 

 tial contribution to Navy objectives. 



Secondly, I believe we should intensify our programs for exploring 

 dynamical processes in the sea that would lead to more efficient models for 

 oceanographic prediction and forecasting. ASWEPS, being developed by the 

 Naval Oceanographic Office, is a logical start in this direction; however, 

 this is confined to a single area of the northwestern Atlantic. In other 

 areas the data are more sparse, the circulation and turbulence models are 

 less well-defined, and there can be no doubt that we will have to utilize 

 oceanographic -meteorological buoys in substantial numbers to augment the 

 meager oceanographic data available from transiting ships, weather stations 

 ships, fixed stations and aircraft. I visualize that a network of ocean 

 buoys, collecting and transmitting oceanographic and meteorological data to 

 satellites, will be required in the future to obtain reliable models of 

 dynamical processes in the sea and air-sea interaction relationships for 

 practical application. 



Oceanographic and meteorological information from a network of ocean 

 buoys would have important military and economic applications; it would 



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