The U.S. Navy has established a new task force to assess the status of the military branch’s ocean science programs that encompass oceanographic infrastructure, technical workforce, technologies and their applications to naval operations.Navy oceanographer Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet and Rear Adm. David Hahn, chief of naval research, and will co-lead an executive steering committee for Task Force Ocean, which will comprise senior leaders from the U.S. Fleet Force, Naval Academy, Naval Post Graduate School and the Pacific Fleet, the service branch said Friday.
The group’s executive steering committee will create a five-year roadmap intended to guide ocean science efforts that support the branch’s goals.
“Through the implementation of the roadmap, our priority is to reinvigorate and reconstitute our technical workforce,” said Gallaudet.
“We’ll be looking at everything from oceanographic survey ships, unmanned vehicles, ocean and acoustic modelling, and how we apply our products to recruiting, educating, developing and retaining our workforce,” he added.
The roadmap will focus on programs to monitor the ocean environment, process collected data and strengthen the ocean science technical workforce at the Navy.
