20 Proceedings Spring 2025 then-commander of the RDC, said at the MOU re-sign- ing. “We have proposed questions related to our port- folio that have turned into academic products, NPS researchers have worked with our researchers on sum- mer studies, and we have provided platforms for NPS experimentation. We believe that we have just scratched the surface and the future is incredibly bright.”3 The Coast Guard and NPS increasingly see each other as critical partners in the development of 21st century warfighter and warfighting capabilities and both organi- zations are working to cultivate greater synergy through organizational alignment and collaboration. Increased awareness of the Coast Guard’s missions, capabilities, limitations, emerging operational concepts, knowledge and skills requirements, and research needs has pro- vided NPS’s faculty the ability to tailor its academic courses to account for the new model of “integrated all- domain naval power.”4 It has also provided the students and faculty with the insights they need to conduct highly relevant applied research. The RDC’s awareness of, and input into, NPS’s edu- cational and research activities has enabled the RDC to benefit from “dual use” of Navy-centric work that is also aligned with the priorities of the Coast Guard and NPS. Additionally, the Navy has been able to leverage the Coast Guard’s extensive knowledge of increasingly complex issues below the threshold of war—illegal, coer- cive, aggressive, and deceptive maritime operations by the People’s Republic of China in the South China Sea, for example. The goal is to continue this work towards enhanced education and research for greater impact and contribution to maritime advantage. At the deck plate level, collaboration between NPS and the Coast Guard is intentionally aligned with NPS’s enduring priorities in education, research, and innovation. Learning is the center of gravity for the NPS-Coast Guard partnership and that begins with shared aware- ness. Matching NPS academic offerings, and the skills they develop, to the RDC portfolio was an important first step. This was immediately complemented through NPS leadership visits with the New London, Connecticut- based RDC. As awareness of RDC priorities grew into integration of efforts, NPS was granted voting mem- ber status for the Annual Assessment of Prospective Portfolio. This allows senior individuals from other agencies to join with Coast Guard flag and senior execu- tive service members to evaluate the Coast Guard’s pro- posed research for the following year. This event now allows NPS representatives to hear about other agencies’ research and identify NPS work that might be natural collaboration connections. NPS leaders also engage with RDC’s scientists to develop professional connections in critical shared areas of interest such as space, weather extremes, artificial intelligence, and autonomy. Three years ago, the RDC initiated a mission famil- iarization event for NPS with Coast Guard Pacific Area, District 11, Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center Pacific, and Sector San Francisco that provides intense, two-day Current and retired flag and general officers from the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, and Marine Corps discuss maritime security issues during a panel at the Maritime Risk Symposium held in June 2024 at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. The event was cosponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard and National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class James Norket
