Operational oceanography in the US Navy: A GODAE perspective

Operational oceanogaphy, throughout its long history, has continually evolved in order to remain relevant to the changing operational needs of the U.S. Navy. This transformation continues today as operational oceanography plays a key role in the rapidly shrinking tactical decision timelines of the naval warfighter. Understanding the warfighter's tactical questions and translating the information available from the ocean structures into tactically useful answers is key to this transformation. Appreciating and applying advances in oceanography, such as those provided by the international Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE), assures the highest technical quality of these answers. We address these transformation and translation processes and the nature of U.S. Navy operational oceanography today with specific emphasis on its interaction with GODAE.