On October 27, our nation marks Navy Day in honor of the service, courage and commitment of the United States Navy.

In honor of Navy Day, I wanted to highlight the little-known but vitally important role that the U.S. Navy plays in ensuring one of America’s greatest natural resources—our ocean—keeps working to benefit all those who depend on it.

Besides the amazing work they do protecting our ocean, coasts and maritime community from security threats, the Navy has also been a collaborative partner in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Ocean Plans. This common-sense approach combines shared data, innovative management tools and open engagement between all who rely on a strong ocean economy.

Naval forces rely on rigorous training processes to ensure they are prepared to handle military operations ranging from large-scale conflicts to maritime security and disaster relief. A lot of the training and testing events and infrastructure are heavily concentrated on the East Coast.

The area is also an important site for wind and hydrokinetic energy development, expanding shipping lanes as well as migratory routes for North Atlantic Right Whales and newly discovered deep water corals.

The Navy’s engagement in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic ocean planning processes has been integral in identifying the needs of the military, ensuring ocean users as well as federal and state agencies understand the complexity of the Department of Defense’s training area needs.

Through the planning process, the Navy provides important data to the Data Portals on military training areas and identifies areas where unexploded ordinances are located. As you can imagine, the latter is very important information to companies laying submarine telecommunication cables and research vessels conducting trawl surveys to gain a better understanding of fish populations. This enhanced collaboration and coordination works, ensuring we balance the needs of the military with the economic and conservation priorities of our ocean.

So on this Navy Day, we offer a big “Thank you!” to the U.S. Navy for being part of the solutions that keep America safe and working. Check out this video for more information on the Navy’s work around ocean planning.