21 Spring 2025 Proceedings unit visits. All NPS leadership, along with faculty mem- bers from several disciplines, have participated in these visits. The benefit to both organizations has been sig- nificant. NPS faculty members see operational issues and possible gaps that academia can address, while Coast Guard members can talk with experts on acoustics, oceanography, autonomy, and computer science. These visits have resulted in NPS faculty inviting RDC par- ticipation in experimentation and to exercises at NPS’ quarterly Joint Interagency Field Experimentation events at Camp Roberts, California. NPS also now ensures the RDC has full visibility of the 60 to 80 studies commis- sioned each year by the deputy chief of Naval Operations for Warfighter and Warfighting Development via the Naval Research Program. This spirit of cooperation and inclusiveness has per- meated throughout both organizations through engage- ments like the RDC-led 2023 Polar Research Technology Experimentation. During this engagement, an NPS researcher deployed aboard the CGC Healy to conduct crew endurance studies and other applied research proj- ects in the operating environment north of the Arctic Circle. The Coast Guard has co-sponsored seven student thesis topics derived directly from the RDC portfolio. Two of these were applicable to uncrewed aerial vehicles and spill response planning. Others supported an RDC effort called Bear Trap to use research and knowledge products to address illegal smuggling in the southwest- ern maritime border. In every case, the RDC has ensured a Navy co- sponsor is willing to support the research. All parties work together to craft a thesis question that will answer individual service questions but will also benefit the maritime services. To seed this effort, each year the RDC’s technical director provides NPS’s vice provost of research with 10 to 15 questions for student and faculty consideration. Conclusion America is at a critical point in its history. The rise of the People’s Republic of China, its rapid buildup of offen- sive naval capabilities and capacity, and its disregard for international law and global norms, especially in the maritime realm, compel a response. Given the size and complexity of this challenge, the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard must integrate their capabilities in ways not previously imagined and the NPS-RDC partnership is critical to strengthening collaborative efforts across the services. This relationship enables NPS to fulfill its mis- sion and help realize the Tri-Service Maritime Strategy’s vision of an all-domain integrated maritime force that can provide the nation with the forward-deployed, fully integrated, all-domain naval power America needs. About the author: Retired Marine Corps Col. Randy Pugh is the Naval Postgraduate School’s vice provost for warfare studies and the director of the Naval Warfare Studies Institute. He is one of the school’s liaisons to the Coast Guard Research and Development Center. He served in the Marine Corps for 34 years, first as an enlisted combat engineer, then as a signals intelligence, electronic warfare, and intelligence officer. Endnotes: 1. https://library.nps.edu/nps-history 2. NPS (2018) MOU Signing 3. https://nps.edu/-/nps-u.s.-coast-guard-r-d-center-to-jointly-research-mar time-solutions 4. Tri-Service Maritime Strategy Maritime Risk Symposium NPS and the RDC achieved a new milestone in coordination in 2024 when they cohosted the Maritime Risk Symposium. This seminal event, cosponsored by the Coast Guard and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Transportation Research Board, focused on deterring and defeating adversaries’ illegal, coer cive, aggressive, and deceptive activities, often called “gray zone” operations. The event drew more than 200 participants, including four activeduty flag officers from the Coast Guard, Navy, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
