Summary of Remarks: To address the national security implications of climate change for the U.S.Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead established Task Force Climate Change, or TFCC, in May 2009. The mission of TFCC is to use a science-based approach to develop policy and investment recommendations for Navy leadership to address climate change. The most immediate national security implication of climate change for the U.S. Navy concerns the rapid decline of sea ice in the Arctic. To address this, TFCC developed the Navy Arctic Roadmap that was signed by the Vice Chief of Naval Operations in November 2009. This roadmap is a 5 year strategic plan designed to ensure the Navy is ready and capable of contributing to a safe, stable, and secure Arctic region throughout the 21st century. Climate change impacts in regions other than the Arctic are addressed in the Navy Climate Change Roadmap signed by the Vice Chief of Naval Operations last month. It identifies near-term efforts such as developing partnerships to respond to climate change, assess effects of climate change, and monitoring the Navy’s carbon footprint reduction achieved through TFE’s energy security initiatives. Mid- to long-term issues for the Navy will include addressing sea level rise impacts on infrastructure and real estate through strategic investments, developing and implementing installation adaptation strategies to address water resource challenges, and considering the impact of climate change on future missions and force structure, most significantly the loss of arable land and associated economic impacts associated with changing precipitation patterns.
A native of Schenectady, N.Y., Rear Adm. Titley was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Commissioning program in 1980. While aboard USS Farragut (DDG 37) from 1980-1983, Rear Adm. Titley served as Navigator, qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer, and transferred to the Oceanography community the following year.
Subsequent sea duty included tours as Oceanographer aboard USS Belleau Wood
(LHA 3) 1985-1987, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in 1990, Carrier Group SIX 1993-1995
and U.S. Seventh Fleet 1998-2000. Rear Adm. Titley has completed seven deployments to the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Western Pacific theaters. His Belleau Wood deployment included winter-time amphibious operations north of the Aleutian Islands.
Rear Adm. Titley has commanded the Fleet Numerical Meteorological and Oceanographic Center in Monterey Calif, and was the first Commanding Officer of the Naval Oceanography Operations Command. He served his initial Flag tour as Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command.
Previous shore tours include assignments at the Regional Oceanography Centers at Pearl Harbor and Guam, the Naval Oceanographic Office, on the staff of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition), office of Mine and Undersea Warfare, as the Executive Assistant to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) and as Chief of Staff, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command.
Rear Adm. Titley also served on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, as Special Assistant to the Chairman (Admiral (ret.) James Watkins) for Physical Oceanography, and as Senior Military Assistant to the Director of Net Assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
In 2009, Rear Admiral Titley assumed duties as Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy.
Education includes a B.S. in Meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University, a M.S. in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography and Ph.D. in Meteorology, both from the Naval Postgraduate School. His dissertation concentrated on better understanding Tropical Cyclone Intensification. In 2003-2004, Rear Admiral Titley attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI on Foreign Politics, International Relations and National Interest. He was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society in 2009.
