2008 Almanac Highlights

U.S. Navy Organization and Missions

Traditionally, the U.S. Navy served as a front line of defense in the nation’s conflicts, as well as a guarantor of security for commerce, often working with allies to enforce the law of the sea and encourage the free movement of trade. Building upon its inherent capabilities — assured access, deep strike and projected defense — the Navy and its Marine Corps partner have proven to be the National Command Authority’s first choice for projecting power abroad —one has only to consider naval aviation’s pre-eminent role in striking the Taliban regime and al Qaeda forces in land-locked Afghanistan, more than 400 nautical miles from the sea.

Armies and land-based air forces depend upon foreign facilities to gain access and provide support for their forces. Host nation support may be unreliable, depending on the political environment, as was the case with Turkey during the U.S. build-up to war in Iraq in 2003. Conversely, the fleet needs no one’s permission to transit the ocean to an operating area. Once on-scene and based in the global commons of international waters, the Navy may create and defend its own lines of access and extend its influence far inland if necessary. Thus globally engaged, today’s Navy is first and foremost about the business of “maintaining current warfighting readiness, building a Navy for tomorrow and providing for … our sailors, our civilian employees and our very special families, whose hallmark is sacrifice and self-reliance,” according to Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations.

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan enter different phases, the role of the Navy will increasingly emphasize presence and engagement — in the littoral or coastal regions, as well as in the “brown water” of inland waterways — and global maritime dominance. The Navy’s core competencies in this role are:

1) To shape conditions throughout an operational space by gathering, producing and acting upon intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

2) Partnering with others to extend influence and deny sanctuary to potential adversaries, in counterterrorism and maritime interdiction operations, for example. Roughead is committed to increasing U.S. naval presence in regions “where we have not routinely operated: South America and Africa,” while remaining fully engaged in Western and Central Asia and other fronts crucial in the war against terrorism.

Meanwhile, as the cost of wartime operations — in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, the Philippines and elsewhere — tops $450 billion, the Navy and its sister services must confront the challenges of balancing funding for current operations, with near- and long-term readiness, as well as future recapitalization. “The cost of future systems and the speed of technological innovation will challenge our ability to deliver a balanced force,” Roughead said. “Therefore, we must be exacting in our requirements, mindful of the factors that increase costs, disciplined in our process to be effective and efficient, and timely in delivering future capability while simultaneously maintaining our current readiness.”

The Navy Today

As of October, the fleet comprised 279 deployable battle force ships and submarines, and more than 4,000 operational aircraft. Of this total, 98 ships and 31 submarines were on deployment. The total force included 337,690 active duty (including 51,428 officers, 281,872 enlisted and 4,390 midshipmen) and 5,805 mobilized reserves. A total of 53,068 personnel were deployed around the world. The Department of the Navy also has 175,416 civilian employees.

Legacy

The modern U.S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental navy, a small, commerce-raiding force founded on Oct. 13, 1775, during the American Revolution. Following the Treaty of Versailles (1783) the new republic sold off its small but expensive fleet and was without a naval battle force until the end of the decade. At the time, confrontations with North African pirates threatened American interests abroad and spurred Congress and the administration to change their policy toward one of naval engagement.

In 1789, recognizing the need to defend the maritime lines of commerce upon which the nation depended, the framers of the Constitution empowered Congress “to provide and maintain a Navy.” Legislators appropriated funds for the construction, fitting-out and manning of six frigates: Constitution, President and United States of 44 guns; and Congress, Constellation and Chesapeake of 36 guns. With the launch of the first of these vessels in 1797, the U.S. Navy was born. In April 1798, Congress established the Department of the Navy and President John Adams named merchant seaman Benjamin Stoddert as its first secretary.

The Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter is the 74th secretary of the Navy, having been sworn in on Jan. 3, 2006. Winter is a former executive with Northrop Grumman and from 1980-1982 served with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as program manager for space acquisition and tracking programs. Winter’s vision for the Navy emphasizes its core strengths, including the protection of U.S. commerce overseas, while embracing new and traditional capabilities that enable maritime dominance in every region of the world.

“Providing combat airpower, carrying out land-attack missions, providing amphibious assault capability, providing military logistics and executing strike missions at sea continue to be our raison d’etre,” Winter told the 18th Biennial International Seapower Symposium at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., Oct. 18. “Faced with these requirements, we are diversifying the fleet. We are developing new littoral capabilities: the first Riverine force since Vietnam has already been deployed to the Euphrates River. We are conducting maritime security operations in the littorals of the northern Arabian Gulf. These operations are aimed at both protecting oil platforms and protecting shipping in and out of this vital body of water.” The secretary’s constitutionally mandated role is to act as the civilian head of the Department of the Navy, responsible for recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, training, mobilizing and demobilizing naval forces, including those of the Marine Corps. The secretary develops and implements naval policies and programs, and oversees the construction, fitting-out and maintenance of naval ships, equipment and facilities.

Within the office of the secretary of the Navy, three assistant secretaries (ASNs) have functional responsibilities for organizing, building and outfitting the fleet, and manning and training its sailors and Marines. The three assistants are: ASN (Installations & Environment) B.J. Penn; ASN (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) William A. Navas Jr.; and ASN (Research, Development & Acquisition) Delores M. Etter, who resigned in late 2007.

The Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead was sworn in as the 29th chief of naval operations (CNO) Sept. 2. Roughead previously served as commandant of the Naval War College; commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet; and commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, which includes the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. He held six operational commands, including the Aegis destroyer USS Barry and the Aegis cruiser USS Port Royal. He also has led Cruiser Destroyer Group Two, the George Washington Battle Group, U.S. Second Fleet/NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic and Naval Forces North Fleet East. Roughead is a 1973 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

During an Oct. 11 ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard, Roughead outlined his commitment to the operational force’s readiness and his aggressive approach to defining the requirements for modernizing and recapitalizing the fleet. “We live in a changing security environment, and we cannot afford to rest on our laurels and expect to achieve future success,” Roughead said. “Our ships, our submarines, our aircraft, our networks, our weapon systems must stay ahead of potential adversaries.

“The cost of future systems and the speed of technological innovation will challenge our ability to deliver a balanced force. Therefore, we must be exacting in our requirements, mindful of the factors that increase costs, disciplined in our process to be effective and efficient, and timely in delivering future capability while simultaneously maintaining our current readiness.” The CNO is the senior staff officer in the Department of the Navy and is a member of the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Joint Chiefs of Staff. The CNO is responsible to the secretary of the Navy for the development and resourcing of requirements, and the administration of forces. The vice CNO, Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, is the service’s representative on the DoD’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council, which is responsible for reviewing and endorsing the requirements of platform and weapon system acquisition programs.

Organization and Missions

The Navy’s operating forces comprise the ships and aircraft assigned to the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, as well as those of the Military Sealift Command. Additional operating units fall under the command of the chief of naval reserve and the Naval Special Warfare Command. Operational commands have a dual chain of responsibility. Administratively, they report to the CNO as they carry out his orders to provide, train and equip naval forces. Operationally, the commands report to regional unified commanders of U.S. combatant commands, such as U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Central Command. As Navy operational units enter the geographical Area of Responsibility (AOR) of combatant commanders, they are assigned to a numbered Navy fleet within that AOR.

Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (COMUSFFC); U.S. Second Fleet

Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., and led by Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, COMUSFFC is responsible for manning, equipping and training all operational units in the Navy, and deterring, detecting and defending against homeland maritime threats. COMUSFFC is the senior fleet organization responsible for meeting requirements and maintaining readiness for fleets on both coasts and bases overseas.

As a replacement for the Atlantic Fleet, COMUSFFC also is a combatant command responsible for providing forces for U.S. and NATO operations in the Western Hemisphere. COMUSFFC’s geographic AOR includes the Atlantic Ocean from the North to the South Poles, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean waters from Central and South America to the Galapagos Islands. COMUSFFC also is the naval component commander for U.S. Northern Command, the Defense Department’s joint command tasked with homeland defense. U.S. Second Fleet, under Vice Adm. Evan M. Chanik, is COMUSFFC’s component responsible for the training and support of deploying forces, as well as a multinational strike force.

Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLT); U.S. Third Fleet; U.S. Seventh Fleet

Adm. Robert F. Willard leads the U.S. Navy’s largest operational command, covering more than 50 percent of the Earth’s surface area (more than 100 million square nautical miles). Headquartered at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii, PACFLT’s components include Third Fleet, based at San Diego under Vice Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, and Seventh Fleet, based at Sasebo, Japan, under Vice Adm. William D. Crowder. PACFLT commands approximately 200 ships, 2,000 aircraft and almost 240,000 sailors, Marines and civilians. These units are deployed to combatant commands in the Pacific, Indian and Arctic Oceans; from the West Coast of the United States to the Persian Gulf. PACFLT’s forward operating areas include political hot spots, such as Korea, and crucial choke points for international trade, such as the Strait of Malacca.

The command’s strike groups contribute to combat and stability operations from the West Coast of the United States to East Africa. PACFLT’s ships, aircraft, sailors and Marines have operated in the Iraqi and Afghan theaters, deployed to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea.

Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT); U.S. Fifth Fleet

Headquartered at Manama, Bahrain, Vice Adm. Kevin J. Cosgriff’s NAVCENT is the naval component of a wartime combatant command with an AOR encompassing the eastern Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa, the Persian Gulf and the Central Asian landmass. U.S. Central Command’s AOR includes 27 nations, encompassing 7.5 million square miles, four major bodies of water and three strategic choke points, through which pass more than two-thirds of the world’s oil trade.

NAVCENT units support Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, as well as coalition maritime interdiction operations and other activities in support of the war on terrorism. Fifth Fleet includes a variable number of carrier strike groups and expeditionary strike groups, as well as approximately 23,000 sailors and Marines. Combined Maritime Forces, an organization that interoperates with local and coalition forces, conducts maritime security operations throughout Central Command’s AOR, with a focus on counterterrorism.

Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR); U.S. Sixth Fleet

Based at Naples, Italy, NAVEUR, now led by Adm. Mark P. Fitzgerald, provides naval forces to the U.S. European Command. His command includes U.S. forces operating in European waters, including the Mediterranean Sea, as well as off the west coast of Africa. Fitzgerald also leads NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command, also based at Naples. NAVEUR’s operating forces include the ships and aircraft, sailors and Marines of the Sixth Fleet, under the command of Vice Adm. James A. Winnefeld. Sixth Fleet’s units deploy for multinational training and coalition operations throughout the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and adjacent areas.

Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS); Navy Personnel Command

Vice Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., deputy chief of naval operations, Manpower, Education, Training and Education, is the chief of naval personnel. He is responsible for recruiting and retaining the Navy’s enlisted sailors and officers. Headquartered in Washington and Millington, Tenn., Navy Personnel Command is led by Rear Adm. Edward Masso. The command oversees all assignment policies and programs, and the enlisted advancement and officer promotion processes, as well as personnel pay and bonuses.

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED)

Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson is surgeon general of the Navy and chief, BUMED. Robinson’s command comprises 51,000 medical personnel (including 43,000 active duty and reservists) providing medical and dental services for nearly 3 million people. Navy Medicine operates 33 hospitals, 213 medical clinics, 168 dental clinics and a number of research and development laboratories and institutes.

While the top priority for BUMED is to support the readiness of naval personnel to carry out their missions, Robinson has said that the bureau’s duty goes beyond clinical care. “The highest quality care is not reserved only for those who are active duty or war-wounded heroes, but all beneficiaries and those closest to them,” Robinson wrote in a Sept. 24 message to BUMED personnel. “… The philosophy of Navy medicine is treat the patient, care for the entire family.”

Caring for sailors’ and Marines’ mental health also is a priority for BUMED. Recognizing an upward trend in operational stress among those involved in combat, Navy medicine has provided teams of psychiatrists and psychologists capable of deploying with Marine Corps ground units. Teams have been assigned to each of the three active Marine divisions.

Naval Education and Training Command (NETC)

Rear Adm. Gary R. Jones leads the organization responsible for all sailors’ education and training. One of the largest shore commands in the Navy, NETC is headquartered at Pensacola, Fla., and includes 22,000 military, civilian and contract personnel stationed at 190 locations nationwide. NETC provides training courses for every rating and specialization, at installations throughout the United States, overseas and aboard deployed ships. A daily average of more than 47,000 military, civilian and foreign students are in training in more than 3,600 different courses at 30 installations. NETC is comprised of several activities, including the Human Performance Center, the Naval Education Training Professional Development Technology Center, the Naval Service Training Command, the Naval Personnel Development Command and the chief of Naval Air Training.

NETC also supervises and manages 57 Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) units at colleges and universities throughout the United States, and 570 Naval Junior ROTC units at civilian high schools in 43 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Italy and Japan.

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)

Vice Adm. Paul E. Sullivan leads the largest of the Navy’s five systems commands. NAVSEA develops and produces new naval ships, submarines and mission systems. NAVSEA manages more than 150 acquisition programs at 33 activities in 16 states. The command, five associated program executive offices and the field activities — including the Naval Surface Warfare Centers and the Naval Undersea Warfare Centers — maintain and modernize the fleet’s surface vessels, submarines and mission equipment. Other duties include diving and salvage operations, explosive ordnance disposal, naval shipbuilding and foreign military sales. NAVSEA’s annual total obligation authority — approximately $25 billion — is nearly one-fifth of the Navy’s overall authority ($127.3 billion in fiscal year 2007).

The nation’s naval shipyards are linked under NAVSEA’s “One Shipyard” enterprise concept, including Norfolk, Va.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Portsmouth, Maine; and Puget Sound, Wash. NAVSEA also administers the Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair facilities located across the United States.

Naval Aviation Systems Command (NAVAIR)

Based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and led by Vice Adm. David J. Venlet, NAVAIR is responsible for developing, producing and supporting naval air forces, aircraft and weapon systems, including those of the Navy and Marine Corps. More than 28,000 personnel man NAVAIR locations across the United States, including the weapons systems ranges at China Lake and Point Mugu, Calif.; aircraft programs at Patuxent River; training systems at Orlando, Fla.; support facilities at Lakehurst, N.J.; and depots at Jacksonville, Fla., North Island, Calif., and Cherry Point, N.C. Overseas, NAVAIR administers support facilities at Atsugi, Japan, and Naples, Italy. The Navy and Marine Corps’ complementary vision, outlined in “Naval Aviation Vision 2010,” emphasizes flexibility, presence and “unequivocal striking power.” NAVAIR supports the achievement of these goals through a business initiative called the Naval Aviation Enterprise, which represents a $38 billion investment in the acquisition and maintenance of aircraft, weapons systems and sensors, and supporting services for the Navy and Marines for fiscal 2007.

Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR)

San Diego-based SPAWAR is led by Rear Adm. Michael C. Bachmann. SPAWAR is responsible for Navy-wide engineering services and applications in support of networked command and control, communication and space systems, and their products (such as intelligence data and imagery). SPAWAR comprises 7,550 personnel and has a total obligation authority of $5.4 billion, including the operating funds for Systems Centers at San Diego, Charleston, S.C., New Orleans and Norfolk, Va.

Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP)

Rear Adm. Alan S. Thompson leads Mechanicsburg, Pa.-based NAVSUP and Navy Supply Corps. The command is dedicated to supply chain management for surface-, aviation- and shore-based activities, and integrated support for deployed naval operating forces. NAVSUP administers the Logistics Support Center and the Fleet Industrial Support Center to deliver a variety of services. Additionally, NAVSUP serves more than 126 million meals a year at more than 360 afloat and ashore galleys. NAVSUP also administers the Navy’s military post offices and mail programs.

Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC)

Rear Adm. Wayne G. Shear Jr., chief of naval engineers, commands the Washington Navy Yard-based NAVFAC. The command is responsible for the design and construction of naval shore facilities in the United States and around the world.

NAVFAC provides technical, engineering and program-management support for public works, family housing and public utilities. In addition to contingents at Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, NAVFAC has three specialty centers including: The Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, the Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center and the Navy Crane Center. NAVFAC also serves as the headquarters for the “Seabees,” the Naval Construction Battalions of the Civil Engineering Corps.

Naval Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM)

Vice Adm. H. Denby Starling II leads a NETWARCOM global force of more than 14,000 military, civilians and contract personnel stationed at more than 175 activities and detachments. NETWARCOM was established 2002 to act as the Navy’s central operational authority for information technology requirements, networks, information operations and naval space operations in support of naval forces afloat and ashore. NETWARCOM also oversees FORCEnet, which integrates warriors, sensors, networks, command and control, platforms and weapons into a networked, distributed combat force to make net- centric warfare an operational reality.

In 2006, commander, Naval Security Group, and subordinate Naval Security Group Activities and Detachments merged with NETWARCOM to become Naval Information Operations, with commands and detachments located worldwide. Reporting to commander, U.S. Fleet Forces, NETWARCOM is based at Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Norfolk, Va.