What does lineage mean to you? What do you know of your family history? Did its past live alongside records in a great war? Or perhaps it was chronicled as part of some great voyage. What if your family history was one as old as time itself?

The term, "quartermaster" goes back centuries, but its practices date back eons. Over millennia, generation after generation have used trial and error, innovation brought forward by necessity to shape the art-like science that is nautical navigation.

As time progressed, the pillar of efficiency and accuracy has been erected taller, but the foundation on which it stands remains petrified in salt, cemented as a symbol of its humble beginning.

Since the formation of the United States Navy in 1775, the improvements made to the capabilities of the quartermaster, and their ability to navigate the sea, has made nautical voyage more accurate and precise than ever before while still maintaining the methods used for centuries.

Long before the days of metal hulls and turbine-driven propulsion, Sailors worked to develop a means of accurate navigation through vital water ways and open ocean.

Without the electricity or satellite communication of today, they had to utilize nature, human intuition and fundamental mathematics. Navigational techniques utilizing celestial objects, land markers and chart displays, were the primary means of determining course and locations up until the past quarter-century.

"I've seen the tools and techniques we use to navigate change just in the 21 years I've been in the Navy," said Senior Chief Petty Officer Matthew Searer, the leading chief petty officer of the USS Nimitz's (CVN 68) Navigation Department. "When I first came in, celestial navigation is all I did. I would use a marine sextant and just the stars, the moon, the sun and algebra to do what global positioning system (GPS) does now."

The past couple decades have seen the rise of GPS navigational programs. Coupled with other modern technology, accurate nautical navigation has become quicker than ever before.

"Today we primarily use voyage management system (VMS)," said Searer. "It's a computer navigation system that takes in GPS and gyro inputs to provide an electronic navigational chart. A majority of navigation is done through mathematical equations and VMS is able to do that for us very quickly. This system allows us to compute accurate coordinates very quickly, while at the same time eliminating the huge amount of paper we previously needed to print navigational charts."

Innovation has simplified many complex processes and made it easier for humans to accomplish what would have been dangerous and almost impossible centuries earlier. While these tools are very useful and give navigators a step up, there is a resurgence of tried and tested techniques from the past.

"In the world we live in today where technology, especially in the field of electronics, is changing so rapidly, we need to keep in mind how susceptible our tools are," said Searer. "Today, countries are developing technology that can tap into our GPS and it's obviously a huge issue if your enemy knows exactly where you are.

While there are strategic reasons why it's important to maintain trained navigators, there are also safety reasons.

"There are times during crucial evolutions like underway replenishments, or special anchor detail when there would be catastrophic consequences if our computer systems gave out," said Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Baker, Nimitz' Navigation Department's assistant leading petty officer. "VMS provides a great cruise control for our ship, but it can't adapt and make split second decisions. That's why the human element is still so important even though we have electronics."

If you look at the past and present of navigation you will find they have a distinct difference in the utilization of GPS and other electronic instruments. Look a little closer though and you will find they still have much in common.

The mathematics and key fundamentals that make navigation possible are still very much the same. The tools we use today are a powerful asset that allow us to navigate accurately and seamlessly, but every navigator is still responsible to learn the basics for being able to manually chart the sea.

While the methods for navigation have been subject to change, the fundamentals still keep Sailors anchored to our past. The future will always incorporate innovation, but naval traditions keep history very much alive. Since the inception of the United States Navy, the quartermaster has been at the forefront of navigation, paving the way for those to come, preserving a naval lineage rich in tradition and honor.

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For more news from USS Nimitz (CVN 68), visit http://www.navy.mil/.