By Alvin Plexico
Navy Office of Community Outreach
Special to the Odessa American
GULFPORT, MISS. Lt.j.g. Keely Martin, a native of Midland, is part of Naval Oceanography ensuring the U.S. Navy maintains freedom from the ocean floor to the stars at Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command.
Sailors and civilians working throughout Naval Oceanography collect, measure, and analyze the elements of the physical environment (land, sea, air, space). They synthesize a vast array of oceanographic and meteorological data to produce forecasts and warnings in support of safety of flight and navigation.
Martin, a 2015 Midland Lee High School graduate, currently serves as a meteorology and oceanography officer (METOC) at Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, headquartered at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
“Naval Oceanography operates simultaneously at the strategic, operational and tactical levels of warfare in every theater around the globe,” said Rear Adm. Ron Piret, commanding officer, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. “We pride ourselves in our ability to characterize the battle space and then predict changes in the environment over time. Every ship that sails, every aircraft that takes flight, every submarine that dives beneath the surface of the ocean has to go to sea with the information that Naval Oceanography provides.”
According to Martin, the values required to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Midland.
“I participated in the Midland Teen Court as an attorney and in the Midland Youth Advisory Council which helped to teach me that even the smallest voice matters,” said Martin. “Being able to see the impact that even the youth has on citywide affairs made me unafraid to speak up when it comes to day-to-day operations and policy implementation.”
Naval Oceanography personnel demonstrate expertise in Hydrography, Geospatial Information and Services (GIS), datum issues, and Tactical Decision Aids (TDA). They combine knowledge of the operating environment with a thorough understanding of warfighting capabilities to assess and predict environmental impacts to friendly and enemy platforms, sensors and weapon systems.
Serving in the Navy means Martin is part of a team that is taking on new importance in America’s focus on strengthening alliances, modernizing capabilities, increasing capacities and maintaining military readiness in support of the National Defense Strategy.
“I am proud to have served as a Surface Warfare Officer onboard USS Iwo Jima during the 2021 deployment that supported the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Martin said. “Now, as a METOC officer at Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Headquarters, I work with operational planning and environmental considerations for military operations.”
With more than 90 percent of all trade traveling by sea, and 95 percent of the world’s international phone and internet traffic carried through fiber optic cables lying on the ocean floor, Navy officials continue to emphasize the importance of accelerating America’s advantage at sea.
“Maintaining the world’s best Navy is an investment in the security and prosperity of the United States, as well as the stability of our world,” said Adm. Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations. “The U.S. Navy — forward deployed and integrated with all elements of national power — deters conflict, strengthens our alliances and partnerships, and guarantees free and open access to the world’s oceans. As the United States responds to the security environment through integrated deterrence, our Navy must continue to deploy forward and campaign with a ready, capable, combat-credible fleet.”
Martin and the sailors and civilians they serve with have many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during their military service.
“My greatest achievement thus far during my military service occurred while I was at the U.S. Naval Academy conducting research into the Madden-Julian Oscillation and its effect on intraseasonal variability of the Gulf Stream,” Martin said. “I presented my research at the American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting in 2019 and earned the Professor Emeritus Jerome Williams Oceanography Research Paper Award.”
As Martin and other sailors and civilians continue to train and perform missions, they take pride in keeping fellow sailors and civilians safe and serving their country in the U.S. Navy.
“Serving in the Navy means that I have the opportunity to take my passion for volunteerism that the city of Midland helped me to develop to a bigger scale,” Martin said. “I have the opportunity to serve with and lead sailors with that same passion.”
Naval Oceanography directs and oversees more than 2,500 globally distributed military and civilian personnel who collect, process and exploit environmental information to assist Fleet and Joint Commanders in all warfare areas to make better decisions, based on assured environmental information, faster than the adversary.
