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*** The following views are mine and in no way reflect those of the US Navy
***

On Tuesday, June 16, 1998 9:51 PM, Gordon Talge [SMTP:gtalge@pe.net] wrote:
: It would seem to me that several things could happen with the GPS in
: the event of war. ( Probably more )
:
: 1) The enemy could break our codes and use our own GPS
:    against us.
:    Imagine getting hit with a missile with U.S. made parts
:    and technology guided by our own GPS system!
:
: 2) The enemy could jam the GPS and make it unusable.
:    Could steal military GPS units for their own use.
: 3) The enemy could knock out the GPS sats. in space.
: 4) Foreign or domestic hackers could screw up the computer systems.
: 5) Foreign or domestic sabatage of Nav and computers systems.
: 6) Some of our ships could get the "you know what kicked out of them"
:    like in WWII. damaging navigation and communication systems.
:

Well, I have to jump in on this one.  GPS is a great tool that gives you a
data point to evaluate, no more, no less.  The Navigator who "places all of
his eggs in one basket" is to put it simply, a fool.  Don't get me wrong,
GPS is great, I have been using it since late 1988 when it was in its
infancy.  But I have not forgotten how to use the stars, although I very
seldom get to.  We [The submarine fleet] also use bathymetric navigation,
which is much more effective on a cloudy night when you are 400 feet below
the surface :)

As far as taking the celestial navigation courses out of the Naval Academy,
 which, for those who are still unsure, has happened,  should have little
effect on the fleet.  Very seldom does an officer get involved with sun
lines or calculating a celestial fix unless it is for qualifications.
 Normally it is handled by the senior enlisted navigation personnel.  What
does bother me is the fact that the Celestial Navigation courses have also
been removed from the most of the ROTC courses and from some of the Advance
Navigation Courses.  These changes will impact the fleet much faster due to
the amount of people that it impacts.

Mark Nicholas

*** The above views are mine and in no way reflect those of the US Navy ***

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