ION MEETINGS TO BE BOLSTERED; CONGRESSIONAL FELLOW NAMED
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The ION Council voted to form a new ad hoc ION Conference Committee to assist program and general chairs of ION’s three yearly meetings to organize more diverse sessions and to bring new people into leadership roles at the conferences.

The Council, the policy-making group of the ION, at a gathering prior to the ION Annual Meeting in San Diego in June, discussed a number of current issues, including a report on selection of the first Congressional Fellow, venues for future conference sites, proposed reforms in the Federal Radionavigation Plan (FRP), organization finances and other matters. The Council also received reports on the election of new officers for the coming year and the winners of the prestigious annual ION awards. The Council approved a proposal offered by Karen Van Dyke, then Executive VP and chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, for the formation of the new Conference Committee. The goal is to avoid repeating the agendas of prior years in a ‘same ol’ look, to create greater diversity and freshness in conference proceedings by providing guidance on the selection of session topics, reaching out for new session chairs, seeking wider participation by region.

The chair of the new committee will be ION Executive Vice President Ron Hatch. Members will consist of general and program chairs of each conference, and eight technical area representatives. The committee is to provide guidance; final program authority remains with the general and program chairs of each conference.

Meeting Venues
The following schedule of meetings was announced:

Technical Meeting in January, 2001 in Long Beach, 2002 at Catamaran in San Diego, 2003 also in Southern California.
Annual Meeting in June, 2001, 2002, 2003, in Albuquerque, in cosponsorship with the Air Force’s CIGTF.
GPS Conference in September, 2000 and 2001 in Salt Lake City, 2002 and 2003 in Portland, Oregon.

Per Enge, in his ION President’s Report, stated that it had been an amazing year for navigation in general; SA was turned off and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) acted to protect GSP and pave the way for Galileo and GPS modernization. In summary, Enge said, "The sun still shines on the Institute" in part due to ION conferences and ION members.

Congressional Fellow
Enge reported that the ION needs to get closer to the national policymakers responsible for navigation. To assist in the endeavor, the ION would invoke the first Congressional Fellow under the AAAS Congressional Fellows program. Ken Holland and Dr. Richard Greenspan were acknowledged for the initiation and execution of this program. Phil Ward, former ION president and former head of the ION Satellite Division, became the first to be honored for the newly-established Congressional Fellowship. Ward, president of Navward GPS Consulting in Dallas, began a one-year fellowship in Washington, D.C., Sept. 6 with an introductory course run by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The fellowship is for one-year of work and study in a congressional office. ION will pay certain expenses and an annual stipend. At the Council meeting, Dr. Richard Greenspan, chair of the Selection Committee, said top-quality candidates were reviewed this year, but he felt that that the program needed more publicity. Greenspan credited Ken Holland with establishing the program’s early guidelines and implementation.

New Standards Document
With the completion of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) Interface Document, as reported by Dr. James Farrell, the Council decided next to develop an IMU testing standard model. A motion by Dr. Greenspan was approved, directing the IMU Standards Committee headed by Dr. Farrell to pursue the testing model. It could be used as a guide for manufacturers as to what information content they will need to provide for multi-purpose applications involving the integration of low cost sensors.

The Council discussed a proposal presented by John McHale, Institute for Defense Analysis, that the Federal Radionavigation Plan (FRP) be rescoped and revised to become the Federal Positioning Navigation and Timing Plan (FPNT). He suggested that the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Master Position Navigation and Time Plan could be merged with the new FPNT in a single standardized document that would cut federal costs of revision and review.

The Council voted to establish an ad hoc committee, headed by James Doherty, to report back with a recommendation on whether or not it is within the scope of the ION to make a policy recommendation to the federal government, and to evaluate the merits of a single FPNT Plan.

FROM THE ION PRESIDENT: ___________________ THE SUN SHINES ON THE INSTITUTE OF NAVIGATION I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as the President of the Institute of Navigation. I am proud to report that the ION remains a very successful organization and continues to hold first-rate conferences. As Per Enge, our immediate Past President, reported at the June ION Council meeting, "the sun still shines on the Institute". His statement was exemplified at the recent meeting of the World Congress of the International Association of the Institutes of Navigation (IAIN) which was held in San Diego, Calif. The U.S. ION hosted the IAIN World Congress in conjunction with its Annual meeting. The conference was an outstanding success and I would like to thank Keith McDonald, General Chair of the meeting and IAIN President at the time, and his organizing committee, for all of their hard work in putting together an excellent program. They assembled representatives from many of the other Institutes of Navigation around the world to address global navigation issues. A key topic of interest at this meeting was the proposed European satellite navigation system, Galileo. I also would like to acknowledge ION National Office staff, who not only takes care of all of the day-to-day operations at the ION headquarters, but ensures that our meetings run smoothly. ION Membership Key The ION membership has remained stable over the past few years at approximately 3700 members, while many other organizations have seen a decline in their membership. Our membership is the key to our success. I am very enthusiastic to see that an increasing number of members are volunteering to serve as session chairs at meetings, submit articles and ideas for the newsletter, become involved on the ION council, and participate in local section activities. We are always looking for new volunteers so please contact us if you would like to become more active in ION activities. New Services Planned Over the next year, the ION will continue to focus on increased benefits to its members with many new services becoming available on the ION web site. These new services include the ability to search the ION web site for journal and proceedings papers, sign up for and renew ION membership on-line, view an event calendar with on-line registration and links to industry-sponsored events. Stay tuned! We also will attempt to create a couple of new ION sections, in addition to supporting the ten existing ION sections which provide the important link between the local membership and the national organization and serves as an opportunity to reach out to new members. Finally, the Satellite Division of the ION continues to outperform itself each year with its ION GPS conference. The Call for Abstracts this year yielded 150 more abstracts than last year and the program now offers six parallel tracks featuring sessions on hot topics in navigation such as GPS modernization, Galileo, and radio frequency interference. ION GPS-2000, which will be held in Salt Lake City Sept. 19-22, remains the conference to attend for satellite navigation. I look forward to seeing you there! Sincerely,

The Purpose of The ION The Institute of Navigation, founded in 1945, is a non-profit professional society dedicated to the advancement of the art and science of navigation. It serves a diverse community including those interested in air, space, marine, land navigation and position determination. Although basically a national organization, its membership is worldwide, and it is affiliated with the International Association of the Institutes of Navigation. 2000-01 National Executive Committee President: Karen Van Dyke Executive Vice President: Ron Hatch Treasurer: Larry Hothem Eastern Region Vice President: Sally Frodge Central Region Vice President: Maj. John Raquet Western Region Vice President: Dr. A.J. Van Dierendonck Immediate Past President: Dr. Per Enge How to Reach The ION Telephone: 703-683-7101 Facsimile: 703-683-7105 Web site: http://www.ion.org E-Mail: membership@ion.org ION National Office Staff Director of Operations: Lisa Beaty Technical Director: Carl Andren Office Manager: Jennifer Murphy-Smith Assistant to the Technical Director: Miriam Lewis Meeting Services/Author Liaison: Connie Mayes Publication Department: Wendy Hickman Graphic Design & Layout: Paula Danko QUOTES OF THE QUARTER “Under our concept of ONE DOT, we are implementing GPS-based systems across all modes of transportation to include aviation, maritime, rail, highways, and intelligent transportation systems.” — Jane Garvey, Administrator, FAA. “We are extremely happy with the outcome of the discussions on GPS and on Galileo.” — Gail Schoettler, head of U.S. delegation to WRC 2000 in Istanbul. “Our analysis shows that LAAS can provide us with precision approach capability at almost every FedEx served airport, even some where ILS cannot be installed.” — Ronald Wickens, FedEx VP for strategic programs.

CRACKING THE CODE: A PERSPECTIVE ON SELECTIVE AVAILABILITY
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In 1990, the military turned on selective availability (SA) on the rationale that it was essential to preserve a U.S. military advantage, and to deny the full capabilities of GPS to unfriendly forces. SA remained the largest source for error and the most controversial aspect of GPS for most of the next decade until DoD discontinued it last May.

In a paper presented at the ION Annual Meeting in San Diego in June, the authors traced some of the history of SA. The authors included Raymond Swider, Cdr. Dave Dickshimski and Lt. Col. Roger Robb, of DoD, and John Martel and Douglas Taggart of Overlook Systems Technologies.

Surprising Results
Military planners originally believed in the early 1970s that the P code, which could be encrypted, would be 5 to 10 times more accu-rate than the C/A code. “Test results from the Block I prototype provided both encouraging and surprising results,” the authors declared. The P code produced 10- to 20-meter level accuracy, as expected, but C/A code receivers demonstrated alarming accuracies in the 20- to 30-meter range. “If the military advantage were to be preserved,” the paper conceded, “other techniques would be required.”

To regain a greater advantage, the military added new features to the production GPS satellites, a capability to deliberately degrade the accuracy of the on-board clocks or the satellite location to introduce errors in the civil signal. “Perhaps to cast them in a positive light, the new features were called selective availability, or SA,” the paper noted. All production GPS satellites incorporate SA features. SA was formally activated in March 1990.

In the late 1970s, DoD policy decreed an accuracy of 500 meters horizontal at a 95% probability level for the civil SPS. In the early 1980s, after a policy review, DoD improved the accuracy available for civil use to 100 meters. But even within the military, after the new features were added to all spacecraft, debate raged between factions that wanted full-time activation of SA and those that advocated that SA should not be used at all times. The full-timers won; SA was used almost continuously, except for a period during the Gulf War in 1994.

NavWar
Then came the Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) in March 1996 directing that SA be dis-continued by 2006. The PDD also initiated a new DoD security program called Navigation Warfare, or NavWar. The paper says NavWar today has two major elements:

Protection.
These activities “are designed primarily to ensure GPS signals are received by warfighters in an electronically challenged environment. The ACTD program was conducted to identify enhancements to existing military user equipment and to acquire ... user equipment avion-ics with specific protection features.”

Prevention.
These efforts “are directed at ensuring that means exist to deny the use of space-based navigation systems to the enemy within an Area of Responsibility (AOR) while minimizing signal fratricide and the effect on the civilian GPS user population outside the AOR.” After removal of SA, six years ahead of schedule, the authors show that an early test in May indicated a horizontal position error of merely 7.6 meters and a vertical position error of 9.1 meters. Due to steady improvements in satellite clock and orbit prediction performance, and other factors, “it is possible to conclude,” the paper says, “that GPS accuracy performance with no SA is, in fact, better in 2000 than it was in 1994.”

GPS SPECTRUM SECURED AT WRC IN TURKEY: PRIME REAL ESTATE
Ann Ciganer
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The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has 188 Member States with voting rights who are represented at ITU meetings by their radio regulators. The use of radio frequencies is controlled by the International Radio Regulations (RR) published by the ITU. Radio frequency allocations are decided at World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRCs), held every two to three years for four weeks.

WRC considers proposals from Member Administrations divided into working groups to address changes, additions, deletions, etc., to the Radio Regulations. Written products advance with consensus approval at each level to the full assembly that approves the Final Acts at the end of the WRC. WRC decisions incorporated in the Final Act have treaty status for Member Administrations.

GPS Predictability
Today, the over 20 million GPS users world-wide are a testament to the stable management, predictable evolution, and depend-ability of the GPS system.

GPS positioning and timing information is becoming embedded deep into integrated solutions, while its operational use, its use in infrastructure and consumer reliance on GPS is increasing worldwide. At the same time, the spectrum band from 1 to 3 GHz is prime “real estate” for emerging mobile technologies seeking accelerated radio frequency allocations and regulations; increasingly with a limited technical study basis. As a result, an emerging challenge will be to preserve the primary radio frequency band where GPS signals operate (1559-1610 MHz) from interference. European efforts at WRC-97 to reallocate a portion of the GPS spectrum for new communication services, although they failed, nevertheless delivered a spectrum wake-up call to the GPS community.

WRC-97 Surprise
The GPS signals (L1, L2, and proposed L5) operate in the frequency band allocated by the ITU on a primary basis to Aeronautical Radionavigation Services and Radionavigation Satellite Services (ARNS/RNSS). The GPS L1 signal has both an ARNS (for safety-of- life use— recognized by ICAO) and an RNSS allocation, and is the civilian signal in GPS products.

At WRC-97, Europe sought an 8 MHz allocation to overlay a Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) downlink on the GPS L1 (1559-1567 MHz) based on a feasibility study by INMARSAT. Radio regulators in 48 countries supported this allocation, believing that sharing between MSS and GPS was safe. The U.S. was caught unprepared with little worldwide political support for GPS. An allocation was narrowly avoided in favor of ITU technical feasibility studies in Working Party 8D and a decision at the next WRC-2000 (as part of Agenda item 1.9).

Preparation for WRC-2000
From an industry perspective, we realized that there was an information vacuum about GPS at the ITU that could allow GPS, GLONASS, and even the newly proposed Galileo, to become “victim services” in the hunt for available spectrum for speculative projects. These information deficiencies included the following:
fundamentals of how global broadcast GPS operates and is different from communications;
how rapidly GPS, and its augmentations, are evolving to use their frequency allocations;
how GPS use is critical for safety-of-life that cannot be compromised; and how local use of GPS, public and private, is pervasive worldwide.

Success for GPS under Agenda Item 1.9 would be to have "no change" in the primary allocation and suppression of the Resolution (220) calling for sharing feasibility studies. To achieve this success, the first strategic goal was to develop a solid technical report during the ITU Working Party 8D sessions to demonstrate that sharing was not feasible for the Conference Preparatory Meeting. The second strategic goal was to develop an extensive public-private sector outreach program to ITU Member Administrations in the principal regional voting blocs. A separate U.S. decision to eliminate Selective Availability in May 2000 increased the accuracy available to users worldwide and signaled a continuing strong commitment to GPS.

Given the close call for GPS at WRC-97, the need for solid technical work and a rational time schedule for interference studies involving operational services were provided at a meeting in Australia in the fall of 1999. In a presentation to the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT), INMARSAT itself came to the conclusion that while sharing between MSS and GPS is theoretically possible, it should not be operationally recommended. The ITU Working Party 8D process provided time for the technical debates that are not possible in the high-pressure political environment of World Radiocommunications Conference.

GPS SUCCESS AT WRC-2000
The GPS community achieved significant success in all agenda items at WRC-2000, held May 28-June 2 this year in Istanbul.

WRC Agenda Item 1.9. MSS and ARNS/RNSS sharing
The success of the comprehensive worldwide GPS education campaign was evident in the universal support to make “no change (NOC)” to the primary allocation of the ARNS/RNSS frequency band (1559-1610 MHz) when the NOC proposal passed Committee 5 (Allocations) without opposition. The plenary session then suppressed Resolution 220, which had called for sharing studies in 1997. More than 100 Administrations submitted positions to WRC-2000 supporting both of these items and many countries voiced strong support for preserving the GPS frequencies. The Chairman of Committee 5 recognized “the sensitivity of this frequency band” when both resolutions calling for further studies to find new MSS spectrum explicitly excluded 1559-1610MHz.

The road to success was not smooth, however. Agenda item 1.9 was held hostage for two anxious weeks while CEPT, a grouping of European telecommunications administrations, attempted to link the suppression of Resolution 220 to making allo- cations for MSS in the 1683-1690 and 1518-1525 MHz band under Resolution 213. Although these allocations had been made in Region 2 (the Americas), they were unusable, due to existing aeronautical telemetry transmissions for flight tests crucial to civilian and military aircraft development.

The United States and Russia strongly opposed this proposal. After a show of support for no allocation at this particular conference - over 40 against 22 - it was agreed that an ad hoc committee would draft two new resolutions requesting study in the 1518-1525 and 1683-1690 MHz, and to consider other possible bands for MSS at a future time.

WRC Agenda Item 1.15.1, New RNSS Allocations
A new RNSS allocation at 1164-1215 MHz in both the space-to-space and the space-to-earth direction, for the GPS L5 and proposed Galileo E5 signals, was accepted. An aggregate power flux density (pfd) limit in the MHz band was accepted, but this limit does not constrain the GPS L5 to accommodate the proposed narrow band Galileo signals. However, the aviation community is concerned that this pfd limit may not provide sufficient protection for aeronautical systems also operating in this band, such as Distance Measuring Equipment (DME).

RNSS frequency bands available for Galileo were adopted for space-to-earth use in the 1260-1300 MHz and 5010-5030 MHz band and in the Earth-to-space direction for the 1300-1350 MHz and 5000-5010MHz bands. Studies were requested for the Radio Astronomy and Aeronautical services at 5 GHz to protect services operating in these bands.

The United States and Russia successfully avoided the imposition of pfd limits in the 1215-1260 MHz band as proposed by Europe where the GPS L2 and GLONASS operate. Both countries are strongly opposed to imposing pfd limits on operational systems.

WRC Agenda Item 1.15.2. New Primary Space-to-space RNSS Allocation
Recognizing the space applications of GPS, there was general support for making a primary space to space allocation in the 1559-1610 and 1215-1260 MHz bands. A space-to-space allocation was also adopted for the 1260-1300 MHz, 1164-1215 MHz, and 5010- 5030 MHz bands.

Operators of Geostationary Orbit (GSO) MSS systems adjacent to 1559-1610 MHz insisted on language to protect against attempts to use this allocation to limit possible MSS out-of-band emissions. Agreement was reached on the new allocation with a footnote, “Use of systems in the radionavigation-satellite service (space-space) operating in the bands 1215-1260 MHz and 1559-1610 MHz is not intended to provide safety service applications, and shall not impose any additional constraints on other systems or services operating in accordance with the Table of Frequency allocations.” This footnote assumes that RNSS space-to-space services can share with in band and out of band services consistent with U.S. studies. The United States was successful in preventing adoption of this footnote for the space-to-space allocations in the new 1164-1215 MHz and 5010- 5030 MHz bands. However, it was included for space-to-space allocations in the 1260-1300 MHz band where the sharing is similar.

WRC Agenda Item 1.15.3—Fixed Services
Progress was made in advancing a general consensus to remove fixed services from the ARNS/RNSS band (1559-1610 MHz). Removal of fixed services from this band is necessary for aircraft using GPS to be certified to land safely. Such certification is not possible for countries that allow fixed services to operate in the band. The revised footnote calls for their transition to secondary status by 2005 and elimination by 2015. The following countries delayed the change to secondary status until 2010: Saudi Arabia, Cameroon, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Syria and Tunisia.

Summary
The GPS turn-around story was one of hard fought progress from victim, to hostage, to success. As a result, there was worldwide recognition of the “sensitivity of these frequency bands” and the need to exclude them from “the hunt” in the ongoing competition for communications spectrum.

This success also demonstrates that a global information utility that is free and that serves the public good is a powerful idea that crosses international boundaries and can withstand an attack on its spectrum foundation from a narrow economic agenda. It also demonstrates that spectrum security requires continuous education and vigilance. When the GPS stakeholders actively engage to promote worldwide education of the shared benefits and common interest, the power of this utility can be understood and its spectrum foundation protected.

As an example, the GPS technology exhibit traveled worldwide with outstanding educational expertise provided by the National Aeronautical Administration (NASA), the Air Transport Association, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and members of the GPS industry. The NASA web-site also achieves this goal by providing a local forum for “GPS Applications Exchange” that is available worldwide. As a result, many local public and private users around the world actively worked directly with their ITU delegations to secure the primary allocation of ARNS/RNSS for GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo.

Notes
1. In 1999, the European Commission initiated studies to develop a European satellite navigation system, Galileo, which would be independent but interoperable with GPS. Both would use similar areas of spectrum allocated for Radionavigation Satellite Services.
2. Resolution 213 had been approved at WRC-95 and called for search the band 1-3 GHz for areas where Mobile Satellite Services could be located.

Ann Ciganer, Vice President of Public Policy, Trimble Navigation and a principal founder of the U.S. GPS Industry Council, has provided industry policy guidance to the federal government on spectrum issues.

PORTNEY'S CORNER
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Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was America’s top WWI fighter ace with 26 air victories. He successfully won control of Eastern Airlines from General Motors before WWII. Within a year after America’s entry into WWII, Eddie Rickenbacker and a B-17D crew of five would face their greatest challenge for survival.

On 18 October 1942, Eddie Rickenbacker and a crew of five departed Honolulu, on their second leg shown in Figure 1, in a B-17D en route to Port Moresby, New Guinea with a stop at Canton Island a speck of land in the expansive Pacific Ocean. Rickenbacker was entrusted with a top secret oral message from Secretary of War Stimson for General Douglas MacArthur whose headquarters was at Port Moresby. Rickenbacker and the crew had earlier ground looped another B-17D that had blown a tire on take-off. The flight path shown in Figure 1 was a 10 hour-leg with an ETA (estimated time of arrival) at Canton Island of 0930 19 October 1942. The island of Canton was an atoll 8 miles long and 4 miles wide that failed to come into view as the ETA passed. At 1015 with fuel for four hours remaining, it was evident that the B-17D was lost, the tail wind underestimated. The navigator First Lieutenant John J. DeAngelis concluded that his octant was damaged during the earlier ground loop and provided wrong sightings that resulted in flawed navigation. The lost B-17D was unable to obtain radio direction finding assistance from Canton Island since the equipment had not been uncrated. A typical bearing pattern of a non-directional HFDF (high frequency direction finding) radio station is shown in Figure 2. The ill-fated B-17D finally had to crash land into the Pacific when its fuel was spent. A model flight log is shown in Table 1. Rickenbacker and the crew survived their perilous ordeal in a raft for 24 days and were rescued 13 November 1942 with only one death of a crew member.

The lost B-17D was requested to hold a tight orbit as the trailing B-17D began to fly an aural box pattern as seen in Figure 3. The lost B-17D emitted a tone on the VHF frequency. The trailing B-17D marked its own location when the tone was first heard and maintained its course until the tone was lost when out of VHF range. The line of sight VHF radio range for the two B-17’s ,each at 8,000 feet, is shown in Figure 4. The trailing B-17D then turned 90 degrees later followed by two additional 90 degree turns reestablishing VHF contact until it lost it again. The navigator of the trailing B-17D plotted his position at each point that he gained and lost contact of the tone and drew the chords connecting these points. He then was able to establish the location of the first B-17D by locating the intersection of the perpendicular bisectors to these chords (which establishes the center of a circle containing the chords) and the most likely location of the lost B-17D. Assume that the HFDF equipment at both Palmyra and Canton were operative and that coded radio bearings (lines of positions) were obtained from both Canton and Palmyra by the lost B-17D. Canton’s message was y equals zero; Palmyra’s message was 4y equals 3x (Y axis is east - west and X axis is north - south). Hint for decoding bearing messages: use basic equation y = mx (where m is the slope of the bearing) therefore m=y/x . Each HFDF station has its own unique coordinate system at its site. The slope is measured with respect to the X-axis. Since the flight leg is close to the equator, a degree of longitude is close in value to a degree of latitude (in nautical miles).

Where is Captain Rickenbacker’s B-17 when located? Return to Figure 1 and note the coded bearing information (from end of previous paragraph) from Palmyra and Canton Islands’ HFDF stations and plot them on the screen or on a printout of the page to determine the answer.

A. In the center of the orange circle
B. In the center of the green circle
C. In the center of the yellow circle
D. In the center of the blue circle

And the Answer is...
The slope of the bearing line of position from Canton Is. is zero (since Y=0) with respect to the X axis (north-south) and therefore the bearing line of position is perpendicular to the Y axis (passing through the approximate center of the orange circle). The slope of the bearing line of position from Palmyra Is. is (where y=3/4(x)) y/x=m=3/4. One can establish the line of position from Palmyra by stepping off 12 degrees of longitude westward from Palmyra and then stepping off 16 degrees of latitude southward. Connecting the line from Palmyra Is. to the extremity of southward line will establish the bearing line of position which passes through the approximate center of the orange circle. Another method to establish the bearing line of position from Palmyra : slope of bearing line of position is y/x which is 3/4 therefore solve for arctan (3/4) which is 36.9 degrees or its reciprocal 216.9 degrees. Using a protractor, pass a line from Palmyra Is. making an angle of 037 degrees (clockwise) from a vertical (north-south line) through Palmyra Is. and extend it beyond the approximate center of the orange circle. (Correct Answer is A)

Afterword
True story of why Rickenbacker’s navigator got lost: His flawed sextant sightings gave him erroneous celestial fix positions. According to one story circulating in navigation circles in WWII, DeAngelis requested that his sextant be collimated (realigned) after the fix ground loop incident. His request was turned down by Rickenbacker. The actual tailwind for this leg was about 31 miles per hour (21 miles per hour greater than forecast) as determined by a navigator whose B-17D departed Hickham Field an hour earlier for Canton Island. This would shorten the flight by about an hour over the forecast ETA. As a result the lost B-17D (which may have relied upon forecast wind information) started its descent too late and missed the tiny island of Canton. The direction finding radio station at Palmyra was non directional. It furnished bearings that were lines of position but not direction. A bearing from such a station could be interpreted as 045 degrees or its reciprocal 225 degrees (as an example). A good DR (dead reckoning) position would resolve this ambiguity. The ambiguity of the non directional station is further resolved when one has information from two stations as the intersection of their lines of position represents the most likely position of the aircraft. However, the Canton Is. station was not in operation as the HFDF radio equipment remained uncrated. B-17 Flying Fortress specifications are shown in Table 2.

A total of 6,981 B-17s were built by Boeing plants and another 5,745 B-17s were built by Douglas and Lockheed (Vega) plants.

References
Emmott, N. W. “A Plunge in the Pacific.” Litton Avionics Newsletter.
Woodland Hills, CA., Volume One, Number 4, August 1970, pp. 22-27.
Rickenbacker, Edward V. Rickenbacker. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967

Meeting in San Diego a Great Success!
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Over 350 international delegates attended the 25th anniversary meeting of the International Association of Institutes of Navigation, which was held at the Catamaran Hotel, San Diego, June 26-28. Mr. Keith McDonald, IAIN President, was General Chair and was assisted by Prof. Per Enge and Dr. Peter Voersmann as Vice Chairs, and Prof. Gunter Hein, Prof. Gerard Lachapelle, Prof. Jac Spaans and Dr. A.J. Van Dierendonck as Track Chairs.

David Page, the Secretary General of IAIN gave this report at the meeting: For the first time, IAIN’s Congress was associated with the ION Annual Meeting of the host Institute. This ensured that a good attendance was combined with the attractions and impressive organization of a U.S. ION Annual Meeting. Plenary and Keynote The Congress started, on the first morning, with a plenary session, which discussed the current status and plans for all aspects of navigation and positioning. This was followed by keynote presentations on GPS and Galileo and then a panel of experts answered questions on current issues and uncertainties in the development of navigational systems. As would be expected, the latter provoked discussion on the recent removal of selective availability from GPS, but the most significant revelation was that, so far, there had been no real co-operation between the US and Europe regarding GPS and Galileo and at this stage interoperability between the two systems appeared to be just a pious hope.

Following the plenary session the conference split up into four parallel tracks which ran concurrently to permit the presentation of some 137 papers. The timekeeping was excellent, allowing attendees to change tracks and catch papers of particular interest to them. (When the inevitable did happen and two papers of equal interest were scheduled at the same time, it just had to be a case of waiting for the CD-ROM of the proceedings).

The majority of papers were of a high standard and nearly all were concerned with some aspect of radionavigation. This is not a criticism but a reflection on the way navigation is evolving. Were it not for marine navigation and history sessions the meeting could well have been described as a “radionavigation conference”.

Future Goals What should IAIN concentrate upon during the next three years? Obviously we must press for real cooperation between GPS and Galileo to ensure full compatibility.

The improved navigational capability must be used to enhance safety as well as reducing operating costs and it is also important to ensure that associated systems make use of the full potential of the positioning systems.

At the ION’s Awards Ceremony Keith McDonald, IAIN’s outgoing President, received the ION’s Distinguished Service Award. It was also a pleasure to note the Award of Honorary Fellowship to Michael Richey, former Director of the RIN and first Secretary General and later President of IAIN.

Awards
Keith McDonald also announced the IAIN President’s Awards, consisting of a gold medallion with the IAIN logo, with ribbon, suitably inscribed:

• Dr. Peter Voersmann, Senior Vice President, German Institute of Navigation (DGON)
• Mr. Olivier Carel, Vice President, French Institute of Navigation (IFN)
• Prof. Taketoshi Yamada, Vice President, Japan Institute of Navigation (JIN)
• Prof. Jac Spaans, Treasurer, Netherlands Institute of Navigation
• Mr. David Page, Secretary General, The Royal Institute of Navigation
• Mr. Paul Ridgway, Editor, IAIN News, The Royal Institute of Navigation
• Capt. Koiehi Akatsuka, Senior Advisor, Japan Institute of Navigation (JIN)

Also, selected by vote of the General Assembly of the IAIN to receive Honorary Membership for his long standing outstanding contributions to navigation and to the IAIN:

• Professor Jac Spaans, President of the Netherlands Institute of Navigation

Special Thanks to Our IAIN/ION Exhibitors: 746 Test Squadron, Holloman AFB, NM A.G. Davis Gage and Engineering Allen Osborne Associates, Inc. American GNC Corporation Applanix Astrium GmbH Cast, Inc. GPS World Magazine Litton GCS Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Navcom Technology, Inc. Navtech Seminars and Bookstore Raytheon Systems Company Septentrio SPAWAR Systems Center, San Diego Synergy Systems

IAIN Program Committee. Back row, from left to right: Outgoing ION President Per Enge; IAIN World Congress General Chair and “Admiral of the Fleet” Keith McDonald; Prof. Jack Spaans, Dr. Peter Voersmann, Dr. A.J. Van Dierendonck. Front row: Prof. Gerard Lachapelle (left) and Prof. Günter Hein. Good times at the Meet and Greet Luau. IAIN President Keith McDonald and Carolyn McDonald

New Committee Chairs Named - Meeting Chairs and Dates Set
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The new committee chairs for the coming year, named by newly elected ION President Ms. Karen Van Dyke, took office at the ION Annual Meeting held in San Diego, California, in June:

Standing Committee Chairs	Ad Hoc Committee Chairs	2000-2001 National Executive Committee	2001 Conference Dates and Chairs Announced
Membership Dr. Duncan B. Cox, Jr., DBC Communications Nominating Dr. Per Enge, Stanford University Finance Dr. Michael Braasch, Ohio University Fellow Selection Dr. A.J. Van Dierendonck, AJ Systems Technical Committees Mr. Ron Hatch, Navcom Technology, Inc. Publications Dr. Christopher Hegarty, The MITRE Corporation Meetings Mr. Ken Holland, USAF/CIGTF Awards Mr. Ronald Braff, The MITRE Corporation Bylaws Mr. Robert Mitchell Sections Mr. Len Jacobson, Global Systems & Marketing	Editor, NAVIGATION Christopher Hegarty International Affairs Mr. Keith McDonald, Sat Tech Systems, Inc. Awards Policy Ronald Braff,The MITRE Corporation Student Policy Awards John Lavrakas New Initiatives Dr. Per Enge, Stanford University Strategy Planning Mr. Ron Hatch, Navcom Technology, Inc. Publication Policy Mr. Ron Braff, The MITRE Corporation Historian Mr. Marvin May, ARL Penn State Congressional Fellow Dr. Richard Greenspan, C.S. Draper Laboratory, Inc. Spectrum Ms. Sally Frodge, DOT HQ GPS Test Standards Mr. Stewart Teasley, Boeing IMU Interface Standard Dr. Jim Farrell, VIGIL, Inc.	President: Ms. Karen Van Dyke Executive Vice President: Mr. Ron Hatch Treasurer: Mr. Larry Hothem Easter Region Vice President: Ms. Sally Frodge Central Region Vice President: Major John Raquet Western Region Vice President: Dr. A.J. Van Dierendonck Immediate Past President: Dr. Per Enge	National Technical Meeting January 22–24, 2001 Westin / Long Beach, CA. General Chair: Capt. John Raquet Program Chair: Dr. Pratap Misra 57th ION Annual Meeting June 11-13, 2001 Albuquerque, New Mexico General Chair: Mr. Dan Crouch Program Chairs: Mr. Philip Simpson and Dr. Chris Bartone ION GPS 2001 September 11–14, 2001 Salt Lake City, Utah General Chair: Mr. Larry Hothem Program Chair: Gerard Lachapelle

Recipients Honored at Awards Ceremonies
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An outstanding group of contributors to the science of navigation was honored at the IAIN World Congress / U.S. ION Annual Meeting held in the Catamaran Hotel, San Diego, California, in June. The Institute extends its warmest congratulations to the recipients, its thanks to all those who submitted nominations, as well as to the ION Awards and Fellow Selection Committees who served so effectively in selecting the honorees. The ION Awards were presented at a special dinner ceremony held at the Aviary Ballroom of the Catamaran hotel on Tuesday, June 27, 2000.

Thomas L. Thurlow Award	Norman P. Hays Award	Captain P.V.H. Weems Award
Prof. Dr. Ir Durk van Willigen, Reelektronika. For his organization of the Eurofix concept, his development of small active antennas for navigation receivers and his leadership in the development of the Multipath-Estimating Delay-Lock Loop GPS receiver. Prof. van Willigen is an internationally recognized expert in the field of electronic navigation systems. Prof. van Willigen developed the small active antennas for navigation receivers, organized the Eurofix concept and was a leader in the development of the Multipath-Estimating Delay-Lock Loop GPS receiver. The Eurofix concept, a technique for the broadcast of different GPS and GLONASS corrections using Loran-C, is anticipated to be fully implemented in the European Loran systems. Under his leadership, the Multipath-Estimating Delay Lock Loop GPS receiver was invented and patented. The receiver is currently used in all Wide Area Augmentation Systems reference sites.	Mr. Charles R. Trimble, U.S. GPS Industry Council. In Recognition of his significant and outstanding contributions to the advancement of GPS navigation. Mr. Trimble achieved a 20-year tenure as CEO of Trimble Navigation, and strategically guided Trimble to its dominant role in the GPS information technology market. Mr. Trimble is the holder of patents in signal processing and GPS, and has been recognized for developing commercial advances in efficient signal processing, high-speed analog-to-digital converters, and digital time measurement techniques to the picosecond level. Throughout his career, he has published articles in the field of signal processing, electronics and GPS; and has been involved in a number of industry and technology initiatives in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley.	Mr. Mortimer Rogoff, Navigational Electronics Charts System Association. For his contributions including the invention of direct sequence spread spectrum techniques, development of long-range navigation systems, standards for electronic charts, and integrated marine navigation equipment. Mr. Rogoff has been making practical contributions to the art and science of navigation since he was in the U.S. Navy during World War II. His major inventions are significant and fundamental to modern navigation, involving low-frequency, long range navigation techniques similar to Loran-C, spread spectrum techniques that are the foundation of satellite systems, and, most recently, electronic charts that are critical for navigation modern ships in close quarters. He continues to be the driving influence on behalf of marine navigation in international standards setting organizations such as the International Maritime Organization, the International Electronics Committee and the International Standards Organization.
Samuel M. Burka Award	Superior Achievement Award	Early Achievement Award
Dr. Jean-Marie Sleewaegen, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium. For his paper, "Surge Anomaly in Cross-Correlated GPS Measurements: Description and Analysis." The Burka Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the preparation of a paper contributing to the advancement of navigation and space guidance. His paper appeared in the 1999 Summer issue of NAVIGATION.	Capt. Robert P. McCrady, USAF. For his significant contributions and use of superior skills as a C-130 navigator in the United Nations effort to restore order and deliver humanitarian aid in East Timor. In response to the unlawful actions of those opposed to East Timor's bid for independence, the United States participated in a United Nations effort to restore order and deliver humanitarian aid. Capt. McCrady flew the first U.S. mission into the designated combat zone in East Timor's bid for independence from Indonesia. In spite of various malfunctions in computers, communications, navigation and aircraft, he was able to over- come these problems with his knowledge of threats, weapons systems and aircraft capabilities. He flew a total of 36 missions into East Timor, the most of any U.S. aviator.	Mr. Victor Wullschleger, Federal Aviation Administration, For successfully authoring an accepted system specification for GPS-LAAS and SARPS for international adoption of LAAS for aviation use. Mr. Wullschleger also participated in the FAA establishment of LAAS requirements and choice system architectures. He also authored the SARPS for submission to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for a Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) for GPS, which were adopted by ICAO. He was also the principal test engineer for a series of industry DGPS demonstrations for the FAA, which prompted the FAA to embark on a major feasibility study for the use of DGPS for aircraft automatic approach and landing.
Distinguished Service Awards
Dr. Per Enge, In grateful recognition of his leadership and achievements on the behalf of the Institute. Dr. Enge has served as ION President from June 1999 - June 2000. Prior to his term as President he served on the ION Executive Committee and Council for numerous years. He has also served on the Satellite Division Executive Committee for six years including two years as Chair, and has served as both General and Program Chair of the prestigious ION GPS Meeting. Dr. Enge has received both the IONs Burka and Thurlow Awards.	Mr. Keith McDonald, In grateful recognition of his international accomplishments on the behalf of the Institute, and his international representation of the navigation community. Mr. McDonald has served as the ION's International Affars Committee Chair for the past five years. He is a past president for the U.S. ION (1991-1991) and has served in numerous capacities on the ION Council, including the restructuring and modernization of the ION National Office in 1990 and is credited for salvaging the then forty-five year old organization. Mr. McDonald has also participated in several ION meetings in the capacity of General, Program or Session Chair. Mr. McDonald is an ION Hayes Award winner. He is the current IAIN President.

NEW FELLOWS INDUCTED AT AWARDS CEREMONIES
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	Honorary Fellow	Fellows
Election to Fellow Membership recognizes the distinguished contribution to the advancement of the technology, management, practice, and teaching of the arts and sciences of navigation.	Mr. Michael W. Richey For his international dedication and collaboration with the numerous navigation organizations in the advancement of the art and science of navigation.	Mr. Frank B. Brady For his recognized expertise in landing guidance systems and his direction of ILS. Mr. Ronald Braff For his significant individual contributions to the application of navigation technologies in the air traffic control system and his efforts to resolve operational and safety concerns leading to the acceptance of GPS by the FAA. Brigadier General Robert A. Duffy, USAF (Ret.) For his contributions to the field of guidance, control and navigation. Mr. Ronald R. Hatch For sustained and significant contributions to satellite navigation. Dr. William J. Klepczynski For his contributions to the art of time and timing operations. Mr. Mortimer Rogoff For his pioneering work in the development of Electronic Chart Navigation Systems and as the principal inventor of Spread Spectrum as used in GPS. Dr. P. Kenneth Seidelmann For his leadership in the international revisions of reference systems. Colonel Leonard R. Sugerman, USAF (Ret.) For his leadership in overseeing the development, production and testing of bomb navigation, guidance, attitude control and auto-pilot systems for strategic aircraft, missile, satellite and re-entry systems. Dr. A.J. Van Dierendonck For continuing contributions over 26 years to the design and development of the Global Positioning System. Mr. Phillip W. Ward For continuing contributions to the design and development of GPS receivers.

Posthumous Fellows

Mrs. Walter R. Fried accepts Fellow Award for her late husband from ION President Per Enge.

Dr. Richard Anderle For his leadership in applying satellites to navigation and geodesy, including the development of "codeless" GPS receivers for geodesy. Brigadier General Charles Blair, USAF For a career he devoted to the development and evaluation of suc- cessful techniques in air navigation; and to the conception, devel- opment and testing of navigation equipment, and his experience as a practical air navigator of the highest caliber. Dr. Samuel M. Burka For his long and distinguished career in the design and devel- opment of airborne navigation and missile guidance systems. Colonel Carl J. Crane, USAF For his pioneering in the art of instrument flight, including radio navigation simulation and the design of the world's first fully automatic landing system. Captain Ross Freeman, USN For his organizational talent and fiscal wisdom during his tenure as the ION's first Executive Director (1965-1978) and later as ION President (1981-1982). Dr. Walter R. Fried For his contributions to the fields of Doppler navigation and aerospace electronic systems; including air traffic control, radar and spread spectrum communication systems, and early develop- ment work on GPS. Mr. Charles E. Hastings For his pioneering work in the field of heterodyne phase compar- ison radio navigation system and his contribution to the auto- mated (real-time) removal of propagation phase error in Omega. Mr. William O’Brien For his development of radio navigation systems including the Decca Navigator System, his contributions to Loran-C and Omega, and his recognition as a leading authority on the use of phase comparison techniques for navigation. Mr. Patrick Reynolds For his lifetime contributions to navigation, first as a practical navigator, then as a teacher and finally as a supervisor; during which time he was instrumental in the commercial evaluation of jet stream, Doppler, and inertial navigation.

Fellow Nominations Being Accepted

The Institute of Navigation is currently accepting nominations for the election of Fellows. Election to Fellow Membership recognizes the distinguished contribution of ION members to the advancement of the technology, management, practice and teaching, of the arts and sciences of navigation, and/or for lifetime contributions to the Institute. Former members of the ION who are not currently active members of the organization may be elected to nonvoting Fellow Membership. A limited number of individuals may be accepted as posthumous Fellow Members. Members of other National Institutes of Navigation who are qualified by their accomplishments for recognition as a Fellow Member are eligible for election to Honorary Fellow Membership. Nominations may be submitted by currently active ION members. All nominations must be in conformance with ION nomination guidelines as outlined on the nomination form. Nominations must include a brief biography and proposed citation. Details of the nomination process and nomination forms are available on the ION Web site at www.ion.org. Nominations must be received by December 15, 2000 to qualify. Address correspondence to Fellow Selections Committee The Institute of Navigation 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 480 Alexandria, Virginia 22314 fax: 703-683-7105, e-mail: membership@ion.org

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
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This student project is to develop educational materials which are intended for use by ION members, teachers, scout leaders or other groups for presentation to school-age students (elementary through high school). The developed mate- rial will introduce topics on navigation including navigation principles, historical methods for navigation, navigators who made an impact in our worlds evolu- tion, and technological advances in navigation.

Eligibility
Full-time students registered in an engineering, science, or education school in a United States or Canadian college or university are eligible to apply. The pro- posal may be made by an individual student or by a group of students. See ION Web site at www.ion.org for complete details.

NEW GPS BLOCK IIR ORBITED
Fourth Success in a Row
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The fourth GPS Block IIR satellite to be successfully launched, designated SVN24 / PRN28, has been placed into plane B, slot 5, of the GPS constellation. The satellite, built by Lockheed-Martin, was lofted into space on a Delta II launch vehicle, manufactured by Boeing, from complex 17A at Cape Canaveral at 5:17 a.m. on July 16. It was the fourth straight launch success, after the launch of the initial satellite in the IIR series failed. Lockheed Martin has contracts to supply 17 more of the IIR series of satel- lites. Due to longer lifetimes that stretch out the launch schedule, and work on modernization packages for later IIRs, the July GPS launch was the last sched- uled for this year.

Meanwhile, two older Block II satellites in the constellation had to be removed from service. SVN16/PRN16 was taken out of service July 27 due to atomic clock instability. SVN18/PRN18 had to be shut down June 28. The Air Force Space Command subsequently announced on July 11 that SVN18 lost a reaction wheel and a thruster became stuck, forcing its disposal.

GPS GOES TO CONGRESS
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Members of Congress and their staffs had a chance to see GPS technology on display at a trade fair held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on June 20.

More than 15 agencies and organizations provided exhibits. Gene Conti, DoT, Asst. Sec. for Transportation Policy and cochair of the Interagency GPS Executive Board (IGEB), along with Charlie Trimble, U.S. GPS Industry County (USGIC) presi- dent, made brief remarks. A number of members of Congress, including Sens. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), visited the exhibit.

The top members of the Senate Commerce Committee, Chairman John McCain (AZ) and the ranking committee Democrat, Ernest F. Hollings, SC, sent a letter to members inviting them to attend. The committee, along with the IGEB, DoT, Spatial Technologies Industry Council and USGIC, sponsored the fair.

IGEB co-chair Conti also wrote to members of Congress. His letter said in part:

"Today, GPS is rapidly becoming the accepted global standard for critical public sector infrastructure in transportation, telecommunications, and commerce with civilian use comprising more than 90 percent of the GPS user community.

"As a result, private sector investment has built an economic engine driving a $6 billion a year U.S. industry that continues to grow each year. Continued growth is only possible through the augmentation and modernization of the GPS for civilian use to maintain and advance economic productivity and U.S. technical leadership." Conti asked for support for the President's budget requests for modernization and expansion of GPS in FY01.

Clockwise from top left: Remarks by Charlie Trimble, President of the U.S. GPS Industry Council; Sen. Patrick Leahy visits the Coast Guard Navigation Center booth; Brooke Sikora of the Senate Commerce Committee and Pam Fromhertz of NOAA; Kirk Lewis of the Institute for Defense Analyses talks to Paula Trimble of Federal Computer Weekly.

The USS Compass Island: One of a Series of Columns
By ION Historian Marvin May
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Unique ships have played a major role in navigation history. The USS Compass Island, pictured below, was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation as a fast cargo ship and launched in 1953 as the SS Garden Mariner. The ship was converted by the New York Naval Shipyard and commissioned in 1956 to serve as a research vessel in the Polaris Fleet Ballistic Missile Program. The ship had a length of 564 feet and a displacement of 18000 tons. Its 19500 horsepower single screw engine provided a cruising speed of 18 knots with a cruising range of 16800 nautical miles. It had a complement of 18 Naval officers, 240 enlisted men and 33 civilian scientists. The primary mission of the USS Compass Island was to advance the development of navigation systems for the Polaris and Poseidon FBM ships through operational research, development and evaluation. The Compass Island program operated under the direction of the Strategic Systems Project Office with the technical support and guidance of the Naval Strategic Systems Navigation Facility. The contributions of this ship to the development of ship’s navigation is most vividly indicated by her specific achievements.

The ship was used initially for the conception of the FBM navigation system methodology where the inertial navigators are supported by computerized information fusion developed from other types of navigation data. Early exercises were used to calibrate the Broad Ocean Area Missile Impact Location System and establish Polaris operational readiness. Generations of Ship’s Inertial Navigation Systems, celestial trackers, navigation computers, speed logs, gravity meters, radio aids and sonar devices were tested. Early at-sea gravimeters were pioneered on the ship including demonstrations of the first at-sea compensation of vertical deflection effects. Shipboard evaluations of the Electrically Suspended Gyro, still the bulwark of precise inertial navigation, were conducted in the late 1960’s. Numerous advanced inertial calibration and perturbation techniques were demonstrated employing state-of-the-art computational algorithms. Extensive testing of the Navy Navigation Satellite System (TRANSIT) was accomplished in the mid to late 1960’s. During the same period comprehensive evaluations of early Omega, Lorac and Loran-C radionavigation systems were performed. Precise gravity and bathymetric ranges were established which were used to evaluate geophysical navigation map matching techniques. In the early 1970’s, Phase 1 GPS receivers were tested and initial GPS-INS integration methods were exam-ined. In 1980 the Compass Island was mothballed and replaced with the USNS Vanguard (TAG 194). In 1998, the USNS Waters replaced the Vanguard as the Navigation Test Vehicle and still serves as a multipurpose vehicle performing the additional duties of the Flight Test Support Ship tracking FBM shots.

The Compass Island played a major role in educating the scientists and engineers who developed and tested the navigation equipment in the practical aspects of at sea operation. It also provided invaluable stimulation and lasting memories for at least one navigation historian.

WESTERN GOVS SUPPORT GPS IMPROVEMENTS
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The Western Governors' Association strongly urged Washington to fully fund modernization and expansion of GPS in a policy statement approved at their three-day annual meeting in Hawaii in mid-June.

The group comprises the governors of 18 states and three U.S. Pacific possessions. It includes the state of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming, and American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The statement noted that the interior portion of the western U.S. lacks coverage by the National Differential GPS System (NDGPS), and would suffer most if Congress and the Administration failed to adequately fund it. The policy statement adopted without dissent declared:

Western Governors support the timely enhancements to civil GPS provided by both GPS modernization and NDGPS. Western States depend on GPS as a critical infrastructure to implement or better support many state programs and services such as emergency response E911 cellular phone location, motor vehicle accident location determination, and street centerline mapping. More capabilities are required than are provided by the current GPS system to more fully meet expanding public safety, health and welfare needs.

The benefits to the nation's economy and governments far outweigh the costs of improving the system. Western Governors urge Congress and the Administration to quickly find an equitable mechanism to federally finance the GPS modernization and NDGPS plans.

Further, Western Governors call on Congress and the Administration to provide a comprehensive, unified management program of the national asset we call GPS. In the short, FY01 funding must be provided for modernizing both military and civilian aspects of GPS. For the long-term, a unified management strategy for positioning and timing services must be developed.

OTHER NEWS
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Cadet First Class Todd Bender named Outstanding Cadet Aviattion Instructor for the U.S. Air Force Academy, Class of 2000. Presenting the award is ION Past President Gaylord Green.

FROM THE EDITOR: GPS Fares Well In Congress
Hale Montgomery
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Congress gave the GPS program most of the funding that it requested for Fiscal Year 2001 (FY01), which starts Oct. 1, but still had issues to clarify before the end of this Presidential election year session.

In the final Defense Appropriations conference report, lawmakers provided all the funds request-ed for the GPS program, including $10.7 million earmarked for modernization. The total for all ser-vices — including satellite procurement, launches, equipment for all services branches, civilian modernization costs and other costs — exceeded $440 million, according to authorities.

In other action, the Senate and House passed differing Department of Transportation (DoT) Appro-priations bills. The Senate provided $73 million for WAAS and $37 million for LAAS; the House bill car-ried $75 million for WAAS and $31 million for LAAS. The monies adequately fund the two major FAA programs; the Administration had asked for $80 million for WAAS and $28.3 million for LAAS.

But the two bodies differed on funding for the National Differential GPS (NDGPS) system. The Senate DoT Appropriations bill fully funded the program at $18.7 million; the House provided zero funding for NDGPS. Senate-House conferees will meet to hammer out a compromise.

In approving monies for NDGPS, the Senate moved the funds under FAA’s budget. They were part of the Federal Highway Administration last year, and under the Coast Guard in the previous year. The Senate Committee also directed DoT to devise a cost-sharing mechanism for the NDGPS program with other federal agency users of GPS, or funding would be cut to zero in FY2002.