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The modern U.S. Navy operates some of the most technologically advanced systems ever created. These include much heralded programs such as the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) aircraft carrier, the F-35C Lightning II fifth-generation multirole combat jet, and Virginia-class attack submarines. Icons of national power and the culmination of decades of innovation, rigorous testing, and trials by fire, these and other key American military assets can only function to their full capabilities with the backing of myriad support elements. One of the most important of these is the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, COMNAVMETOCCOM, typically shortened to METOC, pronounced “me-tock.” It is referenced throughout the Navy and the Department of Defense by its umbrella term “Naval Oceanography.” The command, headquartered at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi . . .