Review of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Draft Memorandum: NAVSEA's 21st Century Engagement, Education, and Technology Initiative (2008)

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“Science and technology have never been more essential to the defense of the nation and the health of our economy.” – President George Bush as stated in NAS Storm Report25 Although the US economy is doing well today, current trends … indicate that the United States may not fare as well in the future without government intervention. This nation must prepare with great urgency to preserve its strategic and economic security. Because other nations have, and probably will continue to have, the competitive advantage of a low wage structure, the United States must compete by optimizing its knowledge-based resources, particularly in science and technology, and by sustaining the most fertile environment for new and revitalized industries and the well-paying jobs they bring.26 III. Purpose This paper describes Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA’s) “21st Century Engagement, Education, and Technology” Initiative. It is NAVSEA’s response to the recommendations and actions resulting from the recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century: An Agenda for American Science and Technology study. That study calls for a comprehensive national effort to develop the requisite Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce capability to ensure U.S. strategic and economic security in a globalizing world. Specific needs identified by the study that this initiative addresses are: • Improved education in science and engineering, 25 NAS Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century: An Agenda for American Science and Technology Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, “Rising Above The Gathering Storm Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future”, The National Academy Of Sciences, The National Academy Of Engineering, and The Institute Of Medicine of The National Academies, 2005, ES- 12 26 Ibid., ES-2 1