WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Oceanographer of the Navy Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet released Naval Oceanography's new operating concept during the Navy's Flag Officer & Senior Executive Symposium held, Nov 4-5, at the Washington Navy Yard.
Naval Oceanography provides environmental information that Naval and Joint forces use to operate more safely and effectively, and make better decisions faster than an adversary.
The new operating concept uses the Tasking, Collection, Processing, Exploitation and Analysis and Dissemination (TCPED) cycle, employed by Navy and Information Dominance (ID) forces to generate improved battlespace awareness (BSA).
"The TCPED cycle describes our process - from prediction to implementation - as we continue to ensure the Navy navigates the high seas safely and effectively, and out-maneuvers our adversaries," said Gallaudet. "With respect to Naval Oceanography, we use the TCPED cycle to provide the warfighter with a deep understanding of the physical environment necessary to make decisions."
In the TCPED cycle, tasking originates with Gallaudet, who as commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command/Task Group 80.7 (COMNAVMETOCCOM), is responsible for directing subordinate units to perform the collection phase of the cycle. During the collection phase, unmanned systems, buoys, survey ships, satellites, and observations from surface ships and aircraft are used to collect data that helps paint an oceanographic, atmospheric and celestial picture. Once the data is collected it is then ingested in Naval Oceanography's production centers where high performance supercomputers process the data turning it into models that yield actionable information.
During the fourth phase, exploitation and analysis, Naval Oceanography experts determine how the modeled environment will impact the Fleet's sensors, weapons, platforms and its people. That information is then disseminated to the staffs of forward deployed commander's staffs to better enable their decisions on setting execution timelines, allocating assets and platforms, and selecting course and speed.
"Naval Oceanography has always supported our forward-deployed personnel with meteorological and oceanographic information like this, but organizing and processing the data in the TCPED cycle ensures our information is streamlined and able to be consumed more efficiently."
TCPED is information dominance (ID) process primarily used for intelligence surveillance reconnaissance. As a member of the ID force, Naval Oceanography tailors the process to its physical battlespace awareness mission focused on dissemination and decision making.
Gallaudet also leads the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy. His dual responsibilities enable him to provide Naval expertise on issues related to oceanography, meteorology, hydrography, precise time, climate change, the Arctic, maritime domain awareness and geospatial and celestial referencing. He also serves as the senior policy advisor for issues related to national ocean policy and governance.