From Science to Seapower: A Roadmap for S&T Revitalization

R. Kavetsky, M. Marshall, and D.K. Anand
ISBN 0-9777295-0-8
CALCE EPSC Press, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 2006

“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. 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 a 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.

From Science to Seapower, a book written by the CECD/ETC team-Mr. Robert Kavetsky, Prof. DK Anand, and Mr. Michael Marshall describes the nature and extent of these and some other major threats to the vitality of DOD’s in-house science and technology (S&T) enterprise, and offers recommendations that could help reverse the most disturbing trends and 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 S&T innovation topics.

To request a complimentary copy of this book, contact Ania Picard at picard@cecd.umd.edu.

Figure  3.10 - Effects of Visa Regulations

Figure  3.11 - Effects of Current Early Education Structure

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 The New National Security Paradigm
1.2 Paradigm Lost?
1.3 Counting the Costs
1.4 Reconstructing R&D

Chapter 2 National Security and the Science and Engineering Workforce
2.1 The Defense Technology Base: An Essential Public-Private Partnership
2.2 The DON Laboratory/Center Community
2.3 Declining Center Science and Technology Resources
2.4 Discretionary S&T Funding: The Quintessential Element of Workforce Revitalization
2.5 A Growing Demand for In-House Science and Technology Capability
2.6 Increased Outsourcing Calls for a Bigger Yardstick
2.7 Reluctance of Defense Companies to Invest in Long-Term/High-Risk Research
2.8 Impact of Defense Transformation on Defense Industrial Base
2.9 Limitations on Academia’s Performance of Defense Science and Technology
2.10 Changes in Center S&T Capability Required by Globalization
2.11 A Call for a New DOD S&T Enterprise

Chapter 3 From Global to Local: Looking Behind the Numbers
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Global Trends and the U.S. S&E Labor Market
3.3 U.S. Technical Output Trends
3.4 Impact of Shifting U.S. Research Funding
3.5 Global Trends and Implications for DOD: Nano-S&T and Energetics Examples
3.6 Trends, Data, and Modeling

Chapter 4 Characteristics of the New Science and Technology Enterprise
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Collaboration and Networking
4.3 A Highly Educated S&T Workforce
4.4 S&T Support Structure
4.5 Career Management of the S&T Workforce
4.6 Stable Funding
4.7 Inter-Generational Transfer of Knowledge
4.8 Civilian Leadership
4.9 Military Technology Officers

Chapter 5 S&T: A Cost-Effective Approach to National Security
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Getting Value: It is the Positive BtC Ratios
5.3 The High Cost of Not Acting

Chapter 6 A Roadmap to Action
6.1 Introduction
6.2 The Global Connectivity Imperative
6.3 A New Human Capital Strategy
6.4 Resourcing the DON S&T Enterprise
6.5 Inter-Generational Transfer of Knowledge
6.6 A New S&T Enterprise Requires Visionary Leadership
6.7 Military Officers as an Asset for the S&T Community
6.8 Final Thoughts