For years, both the Executive and Congress have expressed concerns over PNT vulnerabilities and clamored for solutions. Yet little has changed. Three important reports emerged at the tail end of the old regime. As new leadership takes the helm, in which direction will it take the PNT enterprise?
As far back as 1996, when Executive Order (EO) 13010 stood up The President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, folks started taking notice that exclusive reliance on GPS for U.S. transportation creates undue risk.
Two years later, Presidential Decision Directive 63 ordered the Department of Transportation (DOT), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DOD), to evaluate GPS in relation to national transportation and civilian systems. (Note: It was not until late 2004, in National Security Presidential Directive (PD) 39, that the mantle was officially handed to DOT for GPS policy. PD 39 also made DOT co-chair with DOD of the National Space Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Executive Committee).