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Rear Adm. Jonathan White
New Oceanographer of the Navy
By Robert Freeman with Heather Rutherford
on Aug. 20, 2012, rear Adm.
Jonathan white assumed
the title of "oceanographer
of the u.s. navy," replacing
rear Adm. david titley who retired in
July. Assigned to the chief of naval
Operations staff, white is now head of
the Oceanography, space and maritime
domain Awareness directorate (OPnAV
n2n6e) under the deputy chief of
naval Operations for Information
dominance.
white also serves as head of the
navy's Positioning, navigation and
timing directorate and he holds the
title “navigator of the navy.” In addition,
white is director of the navy's task
force on climate change, the naval
deputy to the national Oceanic and
space Administration, and director
of the Office of the department of
defense executive Agent for maritime
domain Awareness.
"It's a great honor for me to lead
this group of dedicated professionals,"
white said. "the various branches of
n2n6e collectively work to ensure
enhanced knowledge of the physical
environment through a wide array of
sensing capabilities and data fusion.
"this knowledge helps support safe
and effective operations forward
and provides warfighting advantage
through decision superiority. I like
to say that it gives us home field
advantage ... at the away games."
white is the 20th person to hold the
oceanographer of the navy title since
its inception in 1960. the u.s. navy
has a vital operational oceanography
program, providing naval, joint and
coalition warfighters understanding of
the maritime environment to ensure
safety and readiness for unencumbered
48 CHIPS • OCtOber - DeCember 2012
global operations, as well as timing
and reference information to support
precision navigation, maneuvering and
targeting.
As the senior oceanographer in the
navy, white advises naval leadership
on all issues related to oceanography,
meteorology, hydrography, climatology,
precise time, and geospatial and
celestial referencing. His staff provides
policy guidance and resourcing for the
operational oceanography program,
and he serves as the senior policy
adviser for issues relating to national
ocean policy and governance.
As navigator of the navy, white
provides policy and requirements
guidance to ensure naval forces have
state-of-the-practice positioning,
navigation and timing capabilities
for accurate operational maneuver
and optimum weapons employment,
enabling a competitive advantage
across the full spectrum of naval and
joint warfare.
white serves as the director of
task force climate change, which
addresses the implications of climate
change for naval operations and
informs policy, strategy and investment
plans.
According to the dOn environment
and climate change website, factors
affecting naval force structure and
operations include:
Î the changing Arctic;
Î the potential impact of sea level
rise on installations and plans;
Î changing storm patterns and
severity;
Î water and resource challenges;
rear adm. Jonathan White
Î stress on vulnerable nation states;
and
Î Increased humanitarian assistance
and disaster response.
the ultimate goal of tfcc is to
ensure the navy is ready and capable
to meet all mission requirements in the
21st century.
As director of the n2n6e space
branch, white oversees the navy's
space-related policies, programs,
requirements, investments, and
resourcing. the navy's interests
in space include satellite systems
that enable global, networked
communications; intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance;
positioning, navigation and
timing; early missile warning; and
environmental sensing capabilities.
white also assumed the oversight
responsibility for the department of
defense and navy's maritime domain
awareness initiatives as director.
under the delegated authority of the
secretary of the navy, white leads a
dual-hatted organization focused on
the effective understanding of anything
associated with the global maritime
domain that could impact the security,
safety, economy or environment of the
united states. �
bob freeman, Office of the Oceanographer
of the Navy. Freeman can be reached
at robert.freeman@navy.mil.
heather rutherforD is the assistant
editor of CHIPS magazine.