Created: 11/12/07

From Science to Seapower

- A Roadmap for S&T Revitalization

Robert A. Kavetsky, Michael L. Marshaall, and Davinder K. Anand

"The effectiveness of the war-fighting systems employed by the Navy and Marine Corps of the Future depends as much on investment in these dedicated, capable civil servants as it does on the size of the science and technology budget itself. The past decade's frequent downsizings, coupled with the declining number of American students-particularly women and minorities, pursuing mathematics, engineering and physical science degrees-has left us with dwindling pool of scientists and engineers available to become the next generation of researchers. This situation jeopardizes our ability to perform essential research in support of ultimately Sailors and Marines." These observations were made by Rear Admiral Jay Cohen, the Chief of Naval Research in his congressional testimony of March 2003.

This book describes the nature and extent of these and some other major threats to the vitality of DOD's in-house S&T enterprise, and offers recommendations that could help either to reverse the most disturbing trends or to address some of the underlying causes of long-term problems. It synthesizes a wide-ranging array of literature on a variety of workforce, funding, and science and technology (S&T) innovation topics. Although the focus is primarily on DON laboratories and centers, many of the sources discussed and conclusions drawn apply DOD-wide.

The book concludes that efficiencies aimed at producing savings should always be sought, but a quest aimed at cost-cutting combined with dubious articles of faith concerning the value of privatization should not and, indeed, cannot be deified to the point of destroying the in-house core competencies that concrete evidence has time and again demonstrated to be at the heart of our national defense. These core competencies should be protected and maintained at a cutting-edge state.

ISBN: 0-9777295-0-8
CALCE EPSC Press
University of Mayland
College Park, MD 20742



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