The United States Navy’s Trade and Exchange Program: Implications for Underwater Cultural Heritage

ABSTRACT The Secretary of the United States Navy recently issued instructions to revitalise the Navy Trade and Exchange Program, which had enabled the salvaging and collecting of sunken military aircraft in the past. Concerns regarding the program’s ethics and its effect on archaeological resources led to a change in the United States Navy’s policy on exchanges. Now that the program has been brought back, this paper examines its legal framework, highlights examples of shortcomings in the program’s past iteration, and anticipates future outcomes in light of the program’s revival. In addition to making explicit the realised and potential issues of this program, this paper encourages archaeologists to consider how recovery fits within overall site management strategies and to properly articulate to policymakers and the general public the case for in situ preservation.