U.S. Navy Mission and Organization

Today's Navy: "On-Scene, On-Call, and On-Demand"

The mission of the U.S. Navy is to maintain, train, and equip combat-ready naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, and maintaining freedom of the seas. The Department of the Navy has three principal components: the Navy Department, consisting of executive offices mostly in Washington, D.C.; the operating forces, including the Marine Corps, the reserve components, and, in time of war, the U.S. Coast Guard (in peace, now a component of the Department of Transportation, but soon to be a component of the new Department of Homeland Security); and the shore establishment.

Today's Navy numbers approximately 384,311 active-duty men and women (54,696 officers, 325,939 enlisted, and 4,276 midshipmen); 158,937 Ready Reservists; and just over 185,500 civilian employees. In the active fleet on 3 December 2002, a day typical of most in the Navy's operational posture, were 310 ships and more than 4,000 operational aircraft; 44 percent of the fleet (136 ships) was underway from homeport on that same date, with 35 percent (110 ships) of them forward-deployed and supporting Operation Enduring Freedom or participating in routine exercises and operations. In the U.S. submarine force, 28 percent (15 submarines) were underway, with 21 percent (11 submarines) on deployment.

The active fleet--fast approaching its smallest size since the Great Depression--continued to maintain a high operational tempo during a year of anti-terrorist activities in Afghanistan, the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Horn of Africa, as well as enforcement of sanctions against Iraq.

The Navy-Marine Corps team's role in the war against international terrorism, code-named Operation Enduring Freedom, demonstrated exceptional flexibility and combat reach. Expeditionary-warfare missions included sea and area control, strike warfare, humanitarian assistance, and force sustainment. According to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark, the war on international terrorism demonstrated the value to the nation of maintaining a combat-credible Navy that is "on-scene, on-call, and on-demand."

Today's Navy also is a force in transition as its capabilities are transformed by the application of sophisticated information technologies and new warfare systems.

A Revolutionary Start

The historical antecedents for today's naval missions and the Navy's organizational structure may be traced directly to the founding of the U.S. Navy on 13 October 1775 during the Revolutionary War.

As the Naval Historical Center aptly states in its monograph on the period, "Beginning with early 1775 actions in coastal waters, followed by Commodore Esek Hopkins' 1776 amphibious assault to capture military stores at New Providence, Bahamas, and reaching a climax in 1781 when French fleet actions off the Virginia Capes led to victory at Yorktown, the war at sea was decisive in the nation's struggle for independence."

The Center's narrative goes on to explain how the small and fragmented Continental naval forces lacked the capabilities for major fleet engagements, but their contributions--usually in a supporting role--were crucial to failure or success ashore. Numerous British merchant ships were captured to provide vitally needed supplies for the hard-pressed Continental Army. Armed vessels transported Washington's troops and joined in the defense of major port cities. American naval officers carried the fight to sea against the British Navy--and beyond to England's shores.

With victory in hand and independence secured, the new republic had, by 1785, sold off the last ships of the Continental Navy. Navies were then, and are today, expensive to build and maintain. The past was prologue, however. The folly of such shortsighted strategic thinking was starkly revealed by the depredations of Mediterranean pirates and by other attacks on U.S. overseas commerce beginning in the 1780s; these were followed by confrontation at sea with France during the 1790s, which culminated in the so-called Quasi War with that country in 1798.

The Constitution of the United States, ratified in 1789, empowered Congress "to provide and maintain a Navy." Congress eventually was moved to action (in 1794) following repeated attacks abroad on the Stars and Stripes. It authorized the procuring and manning of six frigates. Three ships--USS United States, USS Constellation, and USS Constitution--were launched in 1797.

The new United States Navy was born, and its primary mission of defending U.S. commerce overseas would persist until well into the 19th century. From 1794 until 1798, the Department of War administered U.S. naval affairs. In April 1798, however, facing imminent hostilities with France, Congress established the Department of the Navy in order to meet the need for an executive department responsible solely for, and staffed with people expert in, naval affairs. Benjamin Stoddert, who served as secretary of the Continental Board of War during the American Revolution, became the first secretary of the Navy.

The development of a suitable shore establishment to build ships and support the Navy's operating forces was another farsighted initiative undertaken during this formative stage in the Navy's history. Government shipyards were ordered to be built in six ports along the eastern seaboard. Stoddert set other management plans in motion, including some that led to needed improvements to the Navy's officer corps. The foundation for America's eventual dominance as a global sea power was set in place.

The Secretary of the Navy

Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Gordon R. England--nominated to become Under Secretary of Homeland Defense--was sworn in on 24 May 2001 as the 72nd person to hold the post. He derives his principal duties and authority from the Navy's early beginning two centuries ago. SECNAV is responsible for and, under Title 10 of the United States Code, has the authority to conduct all of the affairs of the Department of the Navy, including recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, training, mobilizing, and demobilizing. The secretary also oversees the construction, outfitting, and repair of naval ships, equipment, and facilities, and is responsible for the formulation and implementation of naval policies and programs that are consistent with the national security policies and objectives established by the president and the secretary of defense.

The Department of the Navy consists of two uniformed services: the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Echoing President George W. Bush's affirmation that the war on terrorism will be the principal focus of his administration, England has taken the actions needed to ensure that the Department of the Navy will work closely within the Department of Defense and with other agencies to meet this challenge, no matter how long it takes. England also outlined four key areas that he would focus on during his time in office: (1) people; (2) combat capability; (3) new technologies; and (4) business practices.

Within the Office of the Secretary, four assistant secretaries are assigned functional responsibilities for policy formulation and oversight related to the full spectrum of the tasks of organizing, building, outfitting, manning, and training the Navy and Marine Corps of today and tomorrow. The assistant secretary of the Navy (research, development, and acquisition), for example, is the Department's acquisition executive responsible for all research, development, and procurement of defense systems for the Navy and Marine Corps: aviation, ships, weapons, ground systems, and combat support.

The Department of the Navy's senior uniformed staffs, serving under the chief of naval operations and the commandant of the Marine Corps, assist by defining force-structure requirements in their roles as warfare-resource sponsors--guiding the direction of and priority for Navy and Marine Corps acquisition programs as part of the service's overall strategy-formulation, resource-allocation, and budgeting processes.

Program executive officers (PEOs), assisted by individual program managers, exercise day-to-day responsibility for the secretary of the Navy on research, development, and acquisition matters related to the Department's ship, aircraft, weapons, and systems acquisition programs. The PEOs have a dual reporting chain to Navy and Marine Corps senior civilian and uniformed leaders. In addition to their direct-reporting relationship to the secretary for the execution of acquisition matters, they report to the chief of naval operations (or, for Marine Corps acquisition programs, the commandant of the Marine Corps) through their cognizant system commands on matters related to the life-cycle support of deployed ships, aircraft, weapons, and systems.

The secretary's three additional principal civilian assistants oversee responsibilities for Navy shore installations and environmental matters, financial management, and manpower and reserve affairs. Other staff assistants provide expert support in legal, program-appraisal, legislative-affairs, public-affairs, and criminal-investigative matters.

Chief of Naval Operations

Adm. Vern Clark became chief of naval operations (CNO) on 21 July 2000. He is the senior naval officer in the Department of the Navy and serves as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The CNO is responsible to the secretary of the Navy for the command, use of resources, and operating efficiency of the operating forces of the Navy and of the Navy shore activities assigned by the secretary.

The post of CNO was established by act of Congress in 1915 not long before the U.S. entry into World War I. Adm. William S. Benson was appointed as the first CNO. During World War II, Adm. Ernest J. King held the dual titles of CNO and commander in chief, U.S. Fleet, directing the worldwide operations of the Navy in coordination with the nation's other armed services and with U.S. allies.

According to the official history of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), combat operations during World War II revealed the need for a formal joint-command structure, and the wartime JCS arrangement offered a workable model. The first legislative step was the passage of the National Security Act of 1947, which formally established the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It laid the foundation for the series of legislative and executive changes that produced today's U.S. defense organization.
As a member of the Joint Chiefs, the CNO is the principal naval advisor to the president and to the secretary of defense on the conduct of war, and the principal advisor and naval executive to the secretary of the Navy on the conduct of the activities of the Department of the Navy. The CNO's assistants include the vice chief of naval operations (VCNO), the deputy chiefs of naval operations (DCNOs), and a number of other high-ranking officers.

These officers and their staffs are assigned to what is called the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV). The CNO's responsibilities as a member of the JCS take precedence over all of his other assigned duties.

Early in his assignment, Clark reorganized OPNAV to improve the Navy's ability to define and achieve warfighting requirements and to provide stronger advocacy for fleet readiness at the Navy's highest policy levels. His staff realignments separated staff responsibilities for resources and requirements in an effort to generate more rigor in the Navy's budgeting process. In August 2001, Clark directed that the commander in chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet would serve concurrently as commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, with responsibility for the overall coordination, establishment, and implementation of integrated requirements and policies for manning, equipping, and training both Atlantic and Pacific Fleet units during their interdeployment training cycles.

Since he assumed office, Clark has placed special emphasis on improving the current readiness of deployed and nondeployed naval forces and continuing the acquisition of new long-range, highly accurate, and all-weather weapons systems. These efforts paid rich dividends during combat operations in Afghanistan. The Navy also continues to expand its ability to use networked information systems to share information instantaneously over broad geographic areas. This transformation to network-centric warfare centers on knowledge superiority and battlespace dominance.

Clark has set five top priorities to guide the Navy's future: (1) manpower; (2) current readiness; (3) future readiness, including the Navy's ongoing transformation; (4) quality of service for Sailors and their families; and (5) organizational and message alignment to ensure that the Navy's actions match what its leaders are saying.

Navy Operating Forces

The Navy's operating forces ("the fleet") are composed of ships and aircraft assigned to the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, and the Military Sealift Command. Additional operating units fall under the command of the Chief of Naval Reserve, the Naval Special Warfare Command, and Operational Test and Evaluation forces.

The Navy's primary operational commanders have a dual chain of command. Administratively, they report to the CNO and provide, train, and equip naval forces. Operationally, they provide naval forces and report to the appropriate regional unified commanders (formerly known as commanders in chief, "the CINCs") for U.S. combatant commands. As units of the Navy enter the geographical area of responsibility (AOR) of a unified command, they are operationally assigned (or "chopped") to the appropriate numbered Navy fleet.

All Navy units also report to their appropriate type commanders (air, surface, or submarine) for administrative purposes.

U .S. Atlantic Fleet

The U.S. Atlantic Fleet provides fully trained combat-ready forces to support U.S. and NATO commanders in regions of conflict throughout the world. From the Western Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf, Atlantic Fleet units respond to tasking from combatant commanders and are prepared to defeat any adversary on or from the sea. Recent conflicts involving Atlantic Fleet units include Operation Allied Force in the Adriatic Sea and Operation Desert Fox in the Persian Gulf.
During 2002, Atlantic Fleet units assigned to the U.S. Fifth Fleet provided critical support to combat forces during Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Atlantic Fleet, currently led by Adm. Robert J. Natter, consists of more than 111,503 Sailors, 17,534 civilians, 156 ships, (including Military Sealift Command auxiliaries), and 1,189 aircraft. Also under Natter's jurisdiction are 50 shore stations providing training, maintenance, communications, and logistics support, as well as assistance to Navy and Marine Corps families.

The Atlantic Fleet's AOR covers a massive geographic expanse that includes the area encompassing the Atlantic Ocean from the North Pole to the South Pole, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean waters from Central and South America to the Galapagos Islands. The Norwegian, Greenland, and Barents Seas, and the waters around Africa extending to the Cape of Good Hope, also fall within the Atlantic Fleet's AOR.

The primary operational command in the Atlantic Fleet is the U.S. Second Fleet. It is responsible for operational tasking as well as for training carrier battle groups and amphibious ready groups for forward deployments overseas. Atlantic Fleet forces are supported by type commanders (TYCOMs) responsible for readiness support, logistics support, and administrative management. The type commanders include air, surface, submarine, and Marine forces for the Atlantic Fleet, all headquartered in Norfolk, Va.

Although providing combat-ready forces to theater unified commanders in the world's hotspots is a primary responsibility, the Atlantic Fleet also joins NATO forces in supporting the Standing Naval Forces Atlantic, a permanent squadron of destroyers and frigates representing the alliance's forces in the Atlantic region. Additionally, Atlantic Fleet units participate in the annual UNITAS deployment to South America. This yearly deployment not only creates unique training opportunities with South American navies, but also spreads goodwill to the South American allies of the United States.

The Atlantic Fleet has more efficiently organized its shore-infrastructure management through three regional commanders headquartered in New London, Conn., Norfolk, Va., and Jacksonville, Fla.

U.S. Naval Forces Europe

The commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe (COMUSNAVEUR), Adm. Gregory G. Johnson, provides overall command and operational control of all U.S. naval forces assigned to the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM). From his headquarters in London, Johnson coordinates his forces with other U.S. and allied forces operating within the European Command's AOR to carry out the command's assigned missions.

In addition, as a naval component commander, COMUSNAVEUR develops operational plans and policy and coordinates logistics, communications, legal, and administrative support among naval forces operating in the USEUCOM AOR--which encompasses Europe and its contiguous waters, the Mediterranean Sea, and the continent of Africa. Johnson also is "double hatted" as the commander of NATO's southern region, headquartered in Naples, Italy.

Given the broad geographical focus on multiple regions of vital interest to the United States, NAVEUR forces often take center stage during international crises and contingencies. The forward-deployed ships, aircraft, and ground units of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps figured significantly in the NATO maritime-interdiction and "no-fly" enforcement operations in Bosnia, and COMNAVEUR's naval aviation forces continue to do so over northern Iraq.

The command's other missions include counterterrorist strikes, humanitarian assistance, and noncombatant-emergency evacuations of U.S. citizens and third-country foreign nationals from strife-torn nations in the region. American diplomatic objectives are advanced steadily by port calls aimed at furthering the U.S. engagement strategy throughout the command's AOR, including visits to and exercises with the new democracies in the Baltic and Black Sea regions.

COMUSNAVEUR headquarters is adjacent to the American Embassy in an unobtrusive red-brick building in London at No. 20 Grosvenor Square. A plaque in the headquarters building commemorates Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's periodic use of the facility during his command of allied forces in Europe during World War II.

COMUSNAVEUR's principal operating forces are composed of the ships and aircraft of the U.S. Sixth Fleet operating in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and adjacent areas. Divided into task forces, the U.S. naval forces forward-deployed to the Sixth Fleet usually include an aircraft carrier battle group, an amphibious ready group, a Marine expeditionary unit, and various support ships, as well as land-based patrol aircraft and nuclear-powered submarines.

U.S. Sixth Fleet participation in NATO operations and exercises is a key element of U.S. support to the alliance. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact during the early 1990s, the fleet developed a systematic approach to forward-presence operations that matched Europe's changing security environment. Today, this "Theater Naval Strategy of Forward Presence, Peacetime Engagement, and Power Projection" includes exercises and operations promoting interoperability and mutual cooperation among the littoral nations along the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Unchanged in this post-Cold War period is the fleet's commitment to NATO, combat readiness, and the capability to respond to crisis situations, including the war on international terrorism. In recent years, the Sixth Fleet participated in combat operations against the Former Republic of Yugoslavia during NATO's Operation Allied Force; conducted humanitarian and security missions in conjunction with NATO peacekeeping operations in Kosovo since 1999; and evacuated U.S. and other civilians caught in Liberia's civil war (Operation Assured Response) and in strife-torn Albania (Operation Silver Wake) in 1999.

In September 1995, U.S. naval forces operating in the Adriatic conducted sustained air operations and the first-ever launch of cruise missiles from the Mediterranean. These missions (in Operation Deliberate Force) helped bring warring parties from Bosnia-Herzegovina to the peace table. An extensive series of bilateral and multilateral exercises, ranging in location from the Black Sea to the western Mediterranean, will typically round out Sixth Fleet operations.

U.S. Pacific Fleet

Adm. Walter F. Doran, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, commands naval forces in a geographic AOR covering more than 50 percent of the earth's surface--just over 100 million square miles. Each day, Pacific Fleet ships are at sea in the Pacific, Indian, and Arctic Oceans, from the West Coast of the United States to the Arabian Gulf. The Pacific Fleet is the world's largest naval command, extending from the West Coast of the United States to the eastern shoreline of Africa, and from the North Pole to the South Pole--an area home to more than half the population of the world.

The Pacific Fleet, with its U.S. Third and U.S. Seventh Fleets, numbers 192 ships, (including Military Sealift Command auxiliaries), 1,434 aircraft, 140,366 Sailors, and 29,638 civilian employees. Collectively, these forces keep the sea lanes open, deter aggression, ensure regional stability, and support humanitarian-relief activities--providing a stabilizing influence in a vast ocean area during periods of tension and conflict.

The Pacific Fleet's contribution to the Navy's heritage dates back to 1821 and the establishment that year of the Pacific Squadron, the first permanent U.S. naval presence in the region. This small force initially confined its activities to the waters off South America, but expanded its scope to include the Western Pacific in 1835, when the East India Squadron joined the force.

From its headquarters at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, today's U.S. Pacific Fleet has increased operations with friendly and allied navies, helping to ensure freedom of the seas for all nations. The Pacific Fleet's AOR also includes the Indian Ocean, where aircraft carrier battle groups and amphibious ready groups operate in support of U.S. national interests. U.S. Pacific Fleet Navy and Marine Corps assets are regularly assigned to the operational control of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, and to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, for deployments to the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea, where these forces play a critical role in enforcing U.S. and U.N. policy for Iraq, including maritime interdiction and the enforcement of "no-fly" operations. Pacific Fleet units have been engaged in numerous reactionary combat strikes against Iraq since 1999.

Pacific Fleet units operating with the U.S. Fifth Fleet also conducted critical combat operations during Operation Enduring Freedom and provided continued capabilities to the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific, bolstering U.S. forward presence throughout the region in peace, crisis, and war. Pacific Fleet ships, aircraft, and communication units provided critical support to the Australian-led U.N. peacekeeping effort in East Timor during 1999. Reciprocal port visits have proved to be an effective way to enhance military-to-military understanding and relations.

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command

Vice Adm. Charles W. Moore Jr., commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT), serves as both the naval component commander for the U.S. Central Command and as commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet (COMFIFTHFLT). From his headquarters in Bahrain, Moore is responsible to the commander, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), for the conduct of naval operations in the CENTCOM AOR and to the CNO for training and equipping his assigned U.S. Navy forces. In addition, COMUSNAVCENT is the Maritime Interception Force coordinator for the enforcement of U.N. sanctions against Iraq.

NAVCENT's naval activities during 2002 were highlighted by intensive combat operations in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, enforcement of the no-fly zone over southern Iraq (Operation Southern Watch), and enforcement of maritime sanctions against Iraq.

NAVCENT's AOR reaches from the Horn of Africa through the Arabian Gulf and into Central Asia, and includes 25 nations representing diverse political, economic, and cultural elements in an area encompassing 7.5 million square miles, four major bodies of water, and three strategic choke points (through which pass 70 percent of the world's oil production), making it one of the most important but potentially most volatile regions of the world.

COMUSNAVCENT seeks to promote peace and stability in the region by: (1) ensuring regional choke points remain open; (2) serving as a primary contingency force for CENTCOM to be able to respond to national and transnational threats; (3) supporting Operation Southern Watch's enforcement of the southern no-fly zone over Iraq; (4) conducting maritime-interception operations in support of U.N. resolutions; (5) engaging regional allies; and (6) protecting U.S. forces in the region.

As a numbered fleet commander, Moore exercises overall command and control of his assigned forces including carrier battle groups, an amphibious ready group with an embarked Marine Expeditionary Unit, surface combatants, submarines, maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, and logistics ships. The U.S. Fifth Fleet maintains a highly visible presence in support of the overall U.S. National Security Strategy.

The U.S. Navy's continuous presence in this region of vital interest to the United States has lasted more than 50 years. Forward-deployed forces operate freely in international waters with the inherent capability to conduct, when necessary, operations to support U.S. national interests. Operation Enduring Freedom, the so-called "Tanker War," Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Desert Fox, and counterterrorism strikes against Sudan and Afghanistan demonstrated the freedom of operation that naval forces enjoy while operating in the Central Command's AOR. The mobility, strike, and force-protection capabilities of NAVCENT's naval forces provide a full-spectrum force capable of simultaneously engaging U.S. regional partners, deterring aggression, and, if necessary, fighting and winning a major theater war.

Military Sealift Command

The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC), commanded by Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, provides ocean transportation of equipment, fuel, supplies, and ammunition to sustain U.S. military forces worldwide. The command's 122 civilian-crewed noncombatant ships operate in nearly every time zone of the world and are key to the U.S. military's success in projecting a powerful global presence "Forward ... From The Sea."

Sealift is MSC's primary mission. In wartime, more than 95 percent of the equipment and supplies needed by forward-deployed U.S. forces moves by sea. In addition, MSC provides combat-logistics support to the U.S. Navy's numbered fleets, special ocean-missions support to U.S. government agencies, and afloat prepositioning of U.S. military supplies and equipment in strategic areas overseas.

MSC is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has area commands in Norfolk, Va.; San Diego, Calif.; Naples, Italy; Yokohama, Japan; and Bahrain. Its work force consists of approximately 7,500 employees worldwide, the vast majority of whom are assigned to seagoing billets. MSC's work force is made up primarily of civil service personnel, but also includes military as well as contractor personnel. Some ships also have small military contingents assigned to carry out specialized military functions such as communications and supply operations.

In wartime, the number of contractor-employed mariners can expand to double the peacetime number, and more than 800 MSC reservists can be mobilized.
MSC is one of three component commands reporting to the joint-service U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), which is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. USTRANSCOM is under the command of a four-star general officer who is responsible for the coordination of all common-user DOD air, land, and sea transportation worldwide.

The men and women of MSC played a critical role during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002. Regular underway replenishment enabled ships of the U.S. Fifth Fleet to remain at sea for months on end to conduct sustained combat operations.

A number of other international crises throughout the last decade have underscored the critical role played by MSC in the execution of U.S. national strategy. During the Persian Gulf War, for example, more than 230 ships, both U.S. government-owned and chartered commercial vessels, transported more than 12 million tons of combat equipment and supplies--the largest part of the allied arsenal that defeated Iraqi aggression.

In the years following the Persian Gulf War, MSC has seen a proliferation of requests for its sea-transportation services--ranging from support of U.S. and allied peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and Kosovo to an array of other humanitarian and disaster-relief efforts. MSC's role in providing combat-logistics support to the U.S. Navy fleet also has grown. A sealift-expansion program that started in the late 1990s added 19 new and converted ships to MSC's inventory by the end of 2002. MSC's impressive ocean-transportation resources will remain key elements in U.S. combat readiness in the 21st century.

The Shore Establishment

The shore establishment is the third major component of the Navy's organizational structure. The shore establishment's activities and commands report to the CNO. They support the fleet through such varied activities and functions as the repair of ships, aircraft, weapons, machinery, and electronics; communications; the recruitment, training, and education of naval personnel; legal services; intelligence, meteorological, and oceanographic support; the development of naval doctrine; storage and supply support for repair parts, fuel, and munitions; and medical and dental care for active-duty personnel, retirees, and their families.
Recruiting and retaining the highest-quality Sailors, both enlisted and officer, remain the highest priorities for the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS). Vice Adm. Gerald L. Hoewing leads the Bureau, serving as both chief of naval personnel and deputy CNO (manpower and personnel).

The BUPERS team--located in Washington, D.C., and Millington, Tenn. --oversees Navy recruiting, assignment policies and programs, and the enlisted advancement and officer promotion processes as well as personnel pay, bonus, and retention policies. BUPERS' principal goal is to provide well-prepared Sailors to the fleet, in the proper numbers, on time, and in the most cost-effective manner possible.

Similarly, the chief of naval education and training (CNET), Vice Adm. Alfred G. Harms Jr., is responsible to the CNO for the education and training of Navy and Marine Corps personnel, both officer and enlisted. CNET oversees a network of training and education programs throughout the United States and on ships at sea. One of the largest shore commands in the Navy, CNET is composed of approximately 22,000 military, civilian, and contract personnel stationed at 190 activities nationwide. CNET has a daily average of more than 47,000 military, civilian, and foreign students in training in more than 3,600 different courses at 30 installations on any given day.

CNET also supervises and manages 57 Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) units at colleges and universities throughout the United States and 570 Naval Junior ROTC units at civilian high schools in 43 states, Washington, D.C., Guam, Italy, and Japan.

As a key contributor to naval readiness, CNET's training responsibilities include recruit training, specialized skills training, precommissioning training for officers, warfare-specialty training, and fleet individual and team training. CNET also trains students from foreign nations in various enlisted skills and provides officer flight training for a number of U.S. allies.

Navy Medicine

The 34th surgeon general of the Navy Medical Corps, Vice Adm. Michael L. Cowan, leads a team focused on providing high-quality health care and customer service to more than 550,000 active-duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel and an additional 2.6 million retired and family members--at a little more than half the national per-capita average cost for medical care. Navy health-care professionals also provide medical support during contingency, humanitarian, and joint operations around the world--most recently during the Operation Enduring Freedom missions in Afghanistan.

Navy medicine is focused on the following key goals: (1) service to the fleet--managing the health of Sailors and Marines and delivering effective casualty support to sustain high levels of readiness; (2) managing health, not illness--shifting from a mindset of providing care in response to a medical problem to one of focusing on the whole patient's wellness and managed health care; (3) effective implementation of the TRICARE program; (4) embracing best-business practices; and (5) enhancing data integrity to measure accomplishments and successes.

The central concept of providing health-care programs that protect U.S. fighting forces is called Force Health Protection (FHP). It is a focused and integrated approach to protect and sustain the service's most important resource--its service members. It is designed to improve existing health, proactively address medical concerns, and provide care for any illness or injury that does occur. FHP changes the focus of military medicine from one of casualty care alone to an emphasis on fitness and monitoring forces engaged in military operations. It thrusts preventive medicine to the forefront of ensuring readiness for deployment. It captures the culture shift that is taking place throughout Navy medicine--a shift from episodic responsive care to a fit, healthy lifestyle that results in a ready, capable individual.

Medical care at U.S. Navy facilities continues to improve. In recent years, average objective accreditation scores for Navy hospitals were in the 90th percentile--significantly exceeding the average scores for civilian hospitals. Navy medicine continues to find innovative ways to provide convenient and cost-effective medical and dental care to service members. Pierside clinics, deployments of health-care practitioners with the operating forces, and new programs at recruit training activities all save valuable time and help to keep U.S. Sailors and Marines in good health.

Navy medicine is applying new technology to deliver specialty consultation in remote areas and to improve the ability to provide quality health care to forward-deployed operating forces and at remote medical-treatment facilities. Navy medicine continues to search for new research breakthroughs, such as the scientific discoveries in DNA vaccines for malaria, that will result in healthier lives.

The Systems Commands

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), commanded by Vice Adm. Phillip M. Balisle, is the Navy's central activity for designing, engineering, integrating, building, and procuring U.S. naval ships, shipboard weapons, and combat systems. Its expertise in these areas historically stems from the Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repair and the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, created in 1842, and the Bureau of Ships, which was established in 1940. NAVSEA's responsibilities also include the maintenance, repair, modernization, and conversion of in-service ships and their weapons and combat systems. Additionally, it provides technical, industrial, and logistics support for naval ships and ensures the proper design and development of the total ship, including contractor-furnished shipboard systems.

NAVSEA prides itself on "keeping America's Navy #1 in the world."

Other important NAVSEA functions include the introduction of ships to the fleet; Navy salvage-and-diving operations; explosive-ordnance safety and disposal; the coordination of naval ship conversion and repair for both DOD and the MSC; and the support of ship construction for the Maritime Administration.
NAVSEA is the largest of the five Navy systems commands. Accounting for nearly one-fifth of the Navy's budget (approximately $20 billion), NAVSEA manages more than 130 acquisition programs assigned to six affiliated Program Executive Officers (PEOs) and various headquarters elements. The nearly 50,000 NAVSEA team members serve the fleet in four shipyards, the undersea and surface warfare centers, nine supervisors at major shipbuilding locations, and NAVSEA headquarters at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

NAVSEA also administers more than 1,400 Foreign Military Sales transactions worth about $16.7 billion and involving 80 countries and four NATO organizations.

The Naval Aviation Systems Command (NAVAIR) team, led by Vice Adm. Joseph W. Dyer, partners with industry to develop, acquire, and support naval aeronautical and related technology systems for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. NAVAIR is composed of six elements working as a fully coordinated team: the Naval Air Systems Command, the Naval Inventory Control Point (NAVICP), and four naval aviation PEOs. The latter are responsible for the acquisition and full life-cycle management of most of the aircraft and weapons used by the fleet.

NAVAIR (headquarters, product centers, and naval aviation depots) oversees all weapons programs not managed by the PEOs and provides all of the functional support that the PEOs and their program management teams require--including acquisition management, contracting, research and engineering, test and evaluation, logistics, industrial support, corporate operations, and shore-station management.

The NAVICP is responsible for providing spare and repair parts throughout the life cycles of all naval weapons systems. Although it retains its core capabilities in-house, the NAVAIR team executes most of its work (nearly 80 percent) by contracting with private industry.

Approximately 31,600 civilian and military personnel are assigned to NAVAIR, its four affiliated PEOs, and facilities at eight major sites throughout the United States. NAVAIR manages more than 148 acquisition programs and supports more than 4,000 active aircraft in the Navy and Marine Corps inventory.

The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), commanded by Rear Adm. Kenneth D. Slaght, stands as a leader in infusing advanced technology into the fleet. SPAWAR also develops joint-interoperable modeling and simulation products, and delivers operational systems that greatly enhance training, operational assessment, and acquisition.

SPAWAR has additional responsibilities to provide management-information systems, infrastructure, and communications applications for Navy force-wide combat-support systems. These systems allow commanders to integrate tactical information with key combat support logistics data in both joint and coalition-warfare environments. SPAWAR also develops systems to ensure that the U.S. national-security, DOD, and Navy leadership receives accurate, reliable, secure, and timely information. High-bandwidth communications between afloat and ashore platforms in near real time is essential to success in combat.
The SPAWAR team also develops and fields high-capacity interoperable systems that are affordable, integrated, flexible, and seamless in the joint- and coalition-warfare environments. The SPAWAR mission also includes developing and acquiring undersea-surveillance systems, global weather and oceanographic-forecasting systems, and navigational systems.

The primary mission of the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) is to provide U.S. naval forces with quality supplies and services--at the right place, the right time, and the right price. The command's vision for the 21st century is that a single request by the customer will activate a global network of sources and solutions that delivers best-value products and services--in short, One-Touch Supply.

A principal readiness asset for naval forces, NAVSUP's professional and diverse team delivers information, material, services, and quality-of-life products. Its worldwide work force of more than 24,000 employees manages logistics programs in the areas of supply operations, contracting, conventional ordnance, resale, fuel, transportation, security assistance, food service, and other quality-of-life programs. Rear Adm. Justin D. McCarthy serves as commander, Naval Supply Systems Command, and as the 42nd chief of the Navy Supply Corps.

The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), commanded by Rear Adm. Michael R. Johnson, manages the planning, design, and construction of facilities for U.S. Navy activities around the world. NAVFAC provides technical, engineering, and program-management support for public works, family housing, and public utilities for the Department of the Navy. It also acquires and disposes of the Department of the Navy's real estate, and is the program manager for Navy bachelor housing.

NAVFAC provides technical, engineering, and program-management support to expedite the realignment and closure of naval bases. NAVFAC also manages all of the Navy Department's shoreside environmental projects and programs. Through its Engineering Field Divisions, Engineering Field Activities, and the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, NAVFAC provides the technical expertise needed to support the Navy's environmental initiatives and to interface with numerous legislative and regulatory agencies. It also manages a natural-resource program to enhance the environmental qualities of its land, forests, and wildlife.

NAVFAC's tasks are accomplished through the command's global field activities of Engineering Field Divisions, Engineering Field Activities, the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, the Seabee Logistics Center, and the Navy Crane Center. NAVFAC's annual volume of business is in excess of $8 billion. The Naval Construction Battalion Center provides a structured approach to global management of Naval Construction Force assets and focuses on improving warfighting readiness. "Seabees" deployed to Afghanistan in 2001 to build facilities for forward-deployed U.S. Marines during Operation Enduring Freedom, and to the Philippines in 2002 to upgrade an airfield and other facilities for counter-terrorist activities. NAVFAC and its subordinate commands around the world employ about 16,000 civilian and military personnel. *

The Combatant Commanders of U.S. Military Forces

By presidential directive, U.S. combatant commanders communicate to the secretary of defense and president through the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The term "combatant command" identifies a unified or specified command. Each is led by a designated commander (formerly commander in chief) who exercises day-to-day operational command of U.S. forces in a defined area of responsibility (AOR).

Unified combatant commands were first described by statute in the National Security Act of 1947. The U.S. unified commands have broad continuing missions and are composed of forces from two or more services. They are established and designated by the president through the secretary of defense, with the advice and assistance of the JCS chairman.

In accordance with the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense (DOD) Reorganization Act of 1986, Congress clarified the command line for combatant commanders in order to preserve civilian control of the military. The Act states that the operational chain of command runs from the president to the secretary of defense to the combatant commanders. The Act permits the president to direct that communications to the nation's armed forces pass through the JCS chairman, and gives the secretary of defense wide latitude to assign oversight responsibilities to the chairman for the activities of the combatant commanders.

The Goldwater-Nichols Act requires that forces under the jurisdiction of the military departments be assigned to the combatant commands, with the exception of forces assigned to perform the missions of the military departments (e.g., to recruit, supply, equip, and maintain forces).

Forces within a combatant commander's geographic AOR fall under the unified command of the combatant commander except as otherwise directed by the secretary of defense. The unified command structure is flexible, and changes are made as required to accommodate evolving U.S. national-security needs. A classified document, the Unified Command Plan, establishes the combatant commands, identifies geographic areas of responsibility, assigns primary tasks, defines the authority of the commanders, establishes command relationships, and provides guidance on the exercise of combatant command.

Six joint combatant commanders have operational responsibilities within the geographic areas designated by the Unified Command Plan: U.S. Joint Forces Command (established in October 1999 with the redesignation of the U.S. Atlantic Command), U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command, U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. Northern Command (established on 1 October 2002), and U.S. Southern Command.

The commanders of the remaining combatant commands have worldwide functional responsibilities not bounded by any single geographic area of operations. They are: U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Strategic Command (which absorbed U.S. Space Command on 1 October 2002), and U.S. Transportation Command.

Naval War College

On 6 October 1884, Secretary of the Navy William E. Chandler signed General Order 325, which began simply by stating: "A college is hereby established for an advanced course of professional study for naval officers, to be known as the Naval War College." The order went on to assign Commodore Stephen B. Luce to duty as president of the College, which is located on Coaster's Harbor Island, Newport, R.I. Such were the humble beginnings of what is now the oldest continuing institution of its kind in the world.

Now in its second century of service, the Naval War College continues to prepare its students not only for their next assignments, but also for the remainder of their careers. Under the leadership of the College's president, Rear Adm. Rodney P. Rempt, students are provided with professional military educations based on intellectual flexibility--which flows from a clear understanding of the fundamental principles that have governed national-security affairs in peace and in war throughout history.

McCarty Little Hall, the War College's first major addition to the campus since the early 1970s, will be the Navy's premier wargaming facility for years to come. As a strategic U.S. maritime-research center, it will house the front line of strategic research, decision support, and gaming as the Navy prepares its leaders for the future. The $19 million research center is a three-story structure encompassing approximately 103,000 square feet of floor space.

Academically, the War College's faculty is divided into three teaching departments--Strategy and Policy, National Security Decision Making, and Joint Military Operations--under a dean of academics, who also directs the interdepartmental electives program. The school's research activities are drawn together in the Center for Naval Warfare Studies. The student body is subdivided into four resident colleges and one nonresident college:

* College of Naval Warfare: Senior-level resident school attended by senior-grade officers from all five U.S. military services and civilians from a number of U.S. government agencies.
* College of Naval Command and Staff: Intermediate-level resident school attended by mid-grade officers from all five U.S. services and civilians from a number of U.S. government agencies.
* Naval Command College: Senior-level resident international school attended by senior-grade naval officers from up to 35 nations annually.
* Naval Staff College: Intermediate-level resident international school attended by mid-grade naval officers from some 25 nations in each of two classes per year.
* College of Continuing Education: An intermediate-level nonresident school intended to extend the Naval War College program to U.S. naval/military officers and eligible DOD civilian employees who are unable to attend resident courses.
The Naval War College currently offers courses of study leading to a diploma from each of its five colleges. The College is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges to award a Master of Arts degree in national security and strategic studies. The Naval War College is the only senior-service college in the United States authorized and accredited to confer a graduate degree for a one-year course of instruction.
In addition, U.S. military officers graduating from the Colleges of Naval Warfare and Naval Command and Staff are considered to have completed the first phase of requirements for the Joint Professional Military Education Program, as set forth by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Additional information on the Naval War College may be obtained from its homepage: www.nwc.navy.mil

Type Commands

All U.S. Navy ships of the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Fleets are organized into categories by type. Aircraft carriers, aircraft squadrons, and air stations are under the administrative control of the appropriate Naval Air Force commander. Submarines fall under the respective Atlantic or Pacific Fleet's Submarine Force commander. All other ships fall under each fleet's Naval Surface Force commander. Marine Corps units assigned to each fleet also report administratively to their respective Fleet Marine Force commanders.

The U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Fleet type commands mirror one another in their administrative, training, and support functions. Normally, the type command controls a Navy ship during its primary and intermediate training cycles; the ship shifts to the operational control of a numbered fleet commander during deployments. As an example, the commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC), is the principal advisor to COMPACFLT for submarine matters. Ships assigned to SUBPAC include attack, ballistic-missile, and auxiliary submarines, as well as submarine tenders, floating submarine dry docks, deep submergence vehicles, and a number of submarine-rescue vehicles deployed throughout the Pacific AOR.

When the chief of naval operations established the Fleet Forces Command (FFC) in 2001, lead type commanders were established within each warfare community. Commanders of Naval Surface Forces Pacific, Naval Air Forces Pacific, and Submarine Forces Atlantic have assumed added duties as "Fleet TYCOMs," and are known as commander Naval Surface Forces (COMNAVSURFOR), commander Naval Air Forces (COMNAVAIRFOR), and commander Naval Submarine Forces (COMNAVSUBFOR).

Fleet TYCOMs lead their warfare communities and advise FFC of critical issues pertaining to force modernization needs, training initiatives, and the development of operational doctrine and concepts.

U.S. Naval Academy

The U.S. Naval Academy, founded in 1845, is the undergraduate college of the Navy. Its beautiful and modern buildings and facilities along the Severn River in Annapolis, Md., are designed to meet the academic, athletic, and extracurricular needs of the future officer corps of the Navy. Approximately 1,200 men and women enter the Naval Academy each year. About three fourths of all midshipmen complete the academically demanding curriculum, and upon graduation are commissioned as officers in the Navy or Marine Corps. Vice Adm. Richard J. Naughton currently serves as the Academy's superintendent.

Degrees and Majors: Midshipmen may major in any of 19 principal fields of study: eight in engineering, seven in science and mathematics, and four in the humanities, all leading to a Bachelor of Science degree. All midshipmen also must complete a core curriculum designed to give future naval officers a solid foundation in leadership and character development, naval science, and the humanities.

Costs: Tuition, room, and board expenses are borne by the government. Graduates assume an obligation of five years of active service when they are commissioned. Midshipmen are paid a stipend of approximately $600 per month to cover the cost of uniforms, books, equipment, and personal needs.
Admission Criteria: Candidates must be U.S. citizens, single (without children and not pregnant), and at least 17, and cannot have reached the age of 23 on 1 July of their year of admission to the Academy. They also must be officially nominated, meet the Academy's academic, medical, and physical requirements, and be found to be of good moral character. For more detailed information: call (410) 293­4361; or write to Head of Candidate Guidance, U.S. Naval Academy, 117 Decatur Road, Annapolis, Md. 21402.

Additional information may be found on the Academy's homepage: www.usna.edu