| Vice Adm. Robert J. Papp gives a speech at a ceremony to mark the shutting down of the LORAN-C signal at the Navigation Center in Alexandria, Va., Monday. Both the maritime and aviation communities have used LORAN-C signals for navigation for more than 67 years. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Victoria Bonk-Meyers. |
| WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard terminated broadcast of the North American Long Range Navigation-C signal at 3 p.m. Monday with the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center in Alexandria, Va., coordinating the shutdown.
The LORAN system began as a radio-based navigation system during World War II under a secret program to provide the Allied forces with a reliable and accurate means of navigation at sea in any weather. Receivers for aircraft were eventually developed and the LORAN system expanded to all aspects of the military. LORAN Stations were first established in the Atlantic in 1942 and then in the Pacific. The LORAN system was then used by the Army Air Forces in the bombing campaign against the Japanese homeland. The Coast Guard retained and expanded the LORAN system at the end of the war for merchant and military use. LORAN has, as a result of technological advancements in the last 20 years, become an antiquated system no longer required by the armed forces, the transportation sector or the nation’s security interests and is used only by a small percentage of the population. Continued use of limited resources to operate LORAN-C is no longer prudent use of taxpayer funds and is not allowed under the 2010 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. The decision to cease transmission of the LORAN-C signal reflects the president’s pledge to eliminate unnecessary federal programs. Historical information on LORAN-C may be found on the Web site of the Coast Guard Historian’s Office at http://www.uscg.mil/history/STATIONS/loran_index.asp and on the Coast Guard Compass blog at http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/index.php/2010/02/history-%e2%80%93-the-legacy-of-loran/. Notice of the termination of the signal was published in the Federal Register Jan. 7. Termination of the program was supported through the enactment of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. The notice of intention to terminate the LORAN-C signal may be viewed online atwww.regulations.gov., docket number: USCG-2009-0299. The Record of Decision and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement may be viewed online under docket number: USCG-2007-28460. More information on terminations, reductions and savings contained in the fiscal year 2010 budget, including LORAN-C, may be found at www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/TRS/. (Ed. note: Maybe this post should read “Mission Accomplished.”) |
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CaptRR,
I would be curious as to your personal opinion about the LORAN-C shutdown. Maybe I’m just old fashioned but I think the that’s probably a mistake.
I agree Evan, a huge mistake. If the GPS systems hiccups for whatever reason, we’re all screwed. It’s not just the marine thing. At least I can DR and read a chart. So much of what we do is dependent on the system. And to have a Ceremony is kinda like putting up a “Mission Accomplished” banner.
For every government service there is a constituency. For every mariner who would argue that the $190M over five years is money well spent, there are probably 10 citizens who would argue the money could be better spent on something they care about. Thats just the way it works.
Ahoy Captain Richard!
I agree with you 100%. Now GPS will have no effective back-up, which I think is imprudent – and not just from a mariner’s point of view.
Smooth Sailin.’ – Kelly Sweeney