The Golden Ticket – VIP access & invitation to take an active role in History

America is a Maritime Nation. Most readers here know this, live it, and have dedicated our livelihoods to any number of Maritime disciplines. We all play in the same waters whether we are free citizens enjoying the sea’s many recreational activities, as civilians in oceanographic disciplines and sciences, or in various capacity to our governments armed forces, security, or defense as servicemen/women or as the industry that supports their efforts. We each are drawn, or experience an undeniable calling, to the sea in some way – be it to explore, to challenge, to understand, or to protect & defend. The same is also true of our closest allies. Just as the ocean first called to our hearts, she calls us again to protect and defend her from the growing assaults to the body of her seas through the edge of her shores from our adversaries – a fact that has been growing in urgency, yet has not necessarily been articulated clearly by government in a manner that empowers the American People and facilitates businesses to contribute most efficiently. This disconnect between government and citizens is a shared phenomenon with our allies that is dangerous and counterproductive to any chance of success in deterrence or war readiness. China, Russia, N.Korea, Iran and all the various proxies do not suffer this particular aliment, they have aligned and accelerated their forces. America ought not be a nation that sticks our heads in the sand like the ostrich, but rather one that is ready to soar and swoop stealthily and strong like our national bird the eagle!

We must remember that America the Beautiful, was in fact founded by an equally beautiful idea. The current geopolitical climate threatens this idea and challenges our allegiance to our ideals and to our allies. We Americans originally gained and established our independence as a nation by thinking and acting differently. The time has come yet once again to do so with renewed vigor! In 1776 despite being the underdog America won independence against the odds – why? Because we held true to our conviction that the attainment of freedom was not only achievable – but worth everything! In 1775, Patrick Henry’s words are forever immortalized “Give me Liberty, or give me death!” Dedication to independence also inspired freethinking and thereby enabled employment of creative & innovative tactics on the battlefield – gaining an otherwise unperceived or “invisible” asymmetric advantage against our much larger opponent. Now is the time to reconnect and apply all the lessons learned from history: every war, every battle, every innovation, every success story, and yes, every failure! History is fluid and impacted systematically in real time by the words, actions, and decisions of many. How we execute this depends greatly on the empowerment of the creative individuals in our innovative maritime fields, especially those from smaller businesses.

Harness American Innovation -- Secure and Enable Small Businesses

As the China threat grows larger by numbers every day, America and her allies must grow stronger through what we do best – innovation and collaboration. However, we don’t all appear to speak the same language when it comes to this. Industry is not necessarily in the know for specific classified challenges that our engineers must understand to overcome, nor are they necessarily fluent in Govspeak. This creates an unlevel footing between large and small companies. The really big primes all have representation at the highest security clearance levels, so they are privy to more information, have access to conferences, industry days, and communication networks that many of the smaller businesses do not– this creates a huge unfair advantage. Simultaneously, this creates a disadvantage to both the American and Allied Governments at a moment in time when the speed-of-deployment of new products (that give our warfighters an asymmetric advantage over our adversaries) is of the essence. Furthermore, for small businesses there is an added catch 22: they need the equivalent security clearance level to have access to the corresponding necessary information, in order to know, if and how, to bid or write/submit a proposal (and also have access to the necessary equipment to read/view classified info). If only the big primes have this access – the only responses to such challenges will come from big primes. Given where we are with respect to the growing threats from our adversaries – this seems highly risky to the preservation of American innovation and manufacturing.

Therefore, with current efforts regarding reallocation of defense spending (including the $150B increase in military spending in the “Big Beautiful Bill” https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text), POTUS’ focus on Maritime Industrial Base, Shipbuilding, Deterrence, and America First American Manufacturing – Congress ought to consider allocation of funds for special access and equipment such as JWICS & SIPR as part of the SPEED ACT (which is already aimed at promoting mission-oriented contracting, refining acquisition, supply chain gaps, and reducing barriers to using commercial technologies, and most importantly “balancing between necessary regulations and the need for speed and efficiency in the acquisition process”). (https://armedservices.house.gov/legislation/the-speed-act.htm) The government needs to support smaller businesses in the Maritime and Oceanographic field for such access and funding so that the MIB is truly efficient and innovative and we can focus together with government on what’s most important; getting products not paperwork out to the warfighters. This also preserves and protects the smaller innovative companies from being enticed by the constant lure to sell to larger businesses.

America First is not America Alone – AUKUS, and NATO

When President Xi has stated numerous times in various phrasing that he intends to take Taiwan, by force, if necessary, by 2027 in his proclamations and public announcements; it would be foolhardy to not take it seriously. Combine that statement with China’s growing hostile actions in various fields such as cyber data theft, critical infrastructure, aggressive acts in the grey zones with nontraditional warfare, and the surges in shipbuilding that are all on display for the world to see. The time has come for American and Allied partners to exhibit and stand by a dedicated peace through strength stance, increase and focus our defense budgets to support our own sovereignties and readiness, and most importantly we must reassess how we understand risk.

The reality is that the current and ongoing conflicts in the world are not isolated incidents, but also part of a greater system. June’s targeted strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites seriously damaged their ability and timeline to create nuclear weapons, and NATO’s recent commitment to spending 5% GDP on Defense are significant recent supporting examples of how essential it is now to demonstrate and secure peace through strength.

It is time to harness and align that creative spark that only those who are free are able to enjoy. We can join together in collaborative effort within industry and with our AUKUS, NATO, and other Allied partners.

As 2025 progresses glaring threats and opportunities hinge daily on the choices of our leaders and our communities. The issues are not linear cause and effect types of decisions or consequences – they behave as a systematic web – where each person no matter their position has the ability and potential to rise and leave an impact. Innovation is essential and is fully backed and supported. The golden ticket remains with us – it is free, and we need to use it to take us to new places that history has taught us are possible. As Mark Twain said, “History Doesn't Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes.”

Between WWI and WWII there was only one type of Sonar Transducer. That also defined how Navy thought of the technology – in the form that they were familiar with. It took a young acoustic engineer, Frank Massa to challenge that perspective. Because he was invited due to his technical expertise – he was able to change how we advanced sonar during WWII. Instead of only stockpiling materials for the existing build configuration – he convinced the Navy that would limit innovation and tie the hands of the designers. This earned him the role of being the Industry Point of Contact to advance the design, development, and mass-production of sonar transducers. In the 3.5 years the USA was in WWII – he designed over 200 new transducers, putting 150 designs into production, and mass-producing thousands of each design. This is a key example of what we need to do today – we must continue to challenge our perception of what’s possible and advance things to exceed expectations and meet the challenges our warfighters require to maintain the upper hand in battle. There is real danger in the inclination to force fit square pegs into round holes, going to big primes for a one-stop-shop, and in advancing too soon without proper collaboration with our industry and allied partners. We can create so much more in a shorter timeframe if we are granted the proper opportunities. The time is now for things to shift swiftly and smartly within our Maritime Communities, with our Allied Partners, the US Government, and with the American People – individuals and businesses alike.

The American Spirit is alive and well, and it is a force to be reckoned with. Liberty is the promise of the free world, and it is an essential driver of success in the area of National Defense, in deterrence, and in active combat. We are in fact living in interesting times, and this means we each hold both privilege and responsibility to act and contribute. Nothing is more fierce than freedom however, it is also much easier to lose than it is to gain. Hold on to that golden ticket!

Massa Products Corporation (“Massa”), founded in 1945, designs, engineers, and manufactures electroacoustic products including over 60% of the sonar transducers and sensors on the SSNs, SSBNs, and SSGNs. Massa is the only business in the field of electroacoustic design and production that has continuity from the dawn of the industry through today. Massa works closely with other groups and other partners. As such we have had the privilege of weaving in and out of various areas of discipline. Massa, as a critical supplier to US Government and a leader in acoustics, and holds over 170 Patents – we play well with others and seek to understand, help, and support where needed. We promote the message “Strength Through Partnership, Growth Through Collaboration,” and showcased this message at SeaAirSpace in April 2025 with other partners such as: Orr Partners, HRP, Orbis, LaVanta Tech, Forge Nano, FMD, and the National Navy Museum. Our collaborative partner base is growing to include businesses from Australia, and other allies.

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