2023 Fellow

Presented to: Mr. Douglas Taggart

Citation: For distinguished and sustained technical and strategic contributions, leadership, and guidance in the use of multiple navigation systems

Mr. Douglas Taggart has made foundational, pioneering, and high-impact contributions to multiple navigation systems during his career as an engineer, manager, and policy developer. He co-authored the West Coast Loran-C Signal Stability Study that showcased the repeatable accuracy of Loran-C to meet harborharbor approached requirements. His 1985 ION paper on the USCG R&D differential Loran-C study served as a blueprint for the Maritime Differential GPS network. His 1993 Loran-C time management paper on the synchronization of Loran-C to UTC demonstrated the ability of Loran-C to compliment GPS. Mr. Taggart was the project engineer that led the building of four new mid-continent Loran-C stations and the dual-rating of five existing stations.

Mr. Taggart played a critical role in shaping national and international PNT policies. He was part of the interagency team that crafted the 1996 Presidential Decision Directive on GPS. In 2000, he was instrumental in developing the DoD assessment on discontinuing GPS selective availability. He was the principal author of the 2001 Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz’ letter to NATO Defense Ministers alerting them to security ramifications of overlay of M-Code by PRS - protecting military equities to fulfill navigation warfare objectives.

Mr. Taggart was recognized by the State Department for extraordinary contributions to US diplomatic efforts leading to the successful outcome of US-EU negotiations on GPSGalileo cooperation in 2004. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Civil GPS Interface Committee, which has served as the civil outreach point for a wide spectrum of GPS-related matters for nearly three decades.

Mr. Taggart has been a strong advocate for navigation signal spectrum protection and a strong believer that a prudent navigator must rely upon all sources of navigation information. Mr. Taggart received his BS of electrical engineering from the USCG Academy and an MS of electrical engineering from Purdue University.