By
GORDON I. PETERSON
Senior
Editor
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, a component of the
Department of Transportation); and the shore establishment.
Today's
Navy numbers approximately 370,000 active-duty men and women (53,000
officers, 313,000 enlisted, and 4,000 midshipmen); 191,400 Ready
Reservists; and just over 195,000 civilian employees. In the active fleet
on 6 December 1999, a day typical of most in the Navy's operational
schedule, were 316 ships and 4,108 operational aircraft; 52 percent of the
fleet (165 ships) was underway from homeport on that same date, with 31
percent (97 ships) forward-deployed and participating in seven exercises
or operations.
Of
the ships in the U.S. submarine force, about 25 percent (14 submarines)
were underway. Port visits were being conducted in 10 countries around the
world. The Navy's active fleet--fast approaching its smallest size since
1931--continued to maintain a high operational tempo, one marked by combat
operations in NATO's Operation Allied Force and in the skies over Iraq. As
Secretary of the Navy Richard J. Danzig observed last year, today's
Navy-Marine Corps team is "always there when the nation calls."
Today's
forward-deployed Navy-Marine Corps team possesses unrivaled operational
and expeditionary capabilities for such missions as sea and area control,
power projection, humanitarian assistance, and force sustainment.
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 action 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 small and fragmented American
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 Royal 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 short-sighted strategic thinking was starkly revealed by
the depredations of Mediterranean pirates and by other attacks on U.S.
overseas commerce beginning in the 1780s, followed by a 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 was eventually 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 persons
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.
Another
initiative during this formative stage in the Navy's history was the
development of a suitable shore establishment to build ships and support
the Navy's operating forces. Government shipyards were ordered built in
six ports along the eastern seaboard. Stoddert set other management plans
in motion, including 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
Richard
J. Danzig, the 71st secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), derives his principal
duties and authority from this early beginning two centuries ago. SECNAV
is responsible for and, under Title 10 of the United States Code, has the
authority to conduct all 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.
During
his first year in office, Danzig worked closely with afloat and shore
commanders to improve the way Sailors and Marines live, work, and fight.
His top priorities are: (1) to support personnel and quality-of-life
programs; (2) to update Navy strategy and programs to adjust to the
land-attack implications of "Forward ... From the Sea;" (3) to
achieve more synergy between the Navy and Marine Corps; and (4) to
implement aggressive information-technology programs across the entire
Navy-Marine Corps spectrum.
The
Department of the Navy consists of two uniformed services: the United
States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Within the Office of the
Secretary, four assistant secretaries of the Navy have 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.
Assistant
Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisition) H. Lee
Buchanan III, for example, is the Department's acquisition executive
responsible for all research, development, and procurement of defense
systems for the Navy and Marine Corps. His staff oversees the sea
services' aviation, ship, weapons, and systems acquisition programs. 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 on behalf of the secretary of the Navy
on research, development, and acquisition matters relating to the
Department of the Navy's ship, aircraft, weapons, and systems acquisition
programs. The PEOs have a dual reporting chain to the Navy's top civilian
and uniformed leadership. 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 relating 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.
The
Chief of Naval Operations
Adm.
Jay L. Johnson, the present chief of naval operations (CNO), is the senior
naval officer in the Department of the Navy. He is serving in the final
year of his appointment. 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 on the eve of World
War I, and 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.
As
noted in the official history of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the need
for a formal joint-command structure was apparent at the end of World War
II, 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 and 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 the Navy on the conduct of war, and the
principal advisor and naval executive to the secretary on the conduct of
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 ranking officers. These officers
and their staffs are assigned to and part of 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.
With
the active development and acquisition of new long-range, highly accurate,
and all-weather weapons systems and the ability to use networked
information systems to share information instantaneously over broad
geographic areas, Johnson has spearheaded a transformation in the Navy's
operational capabilities. In his view, the Navy's continued forward
presence and the ongoing development of global-economic interdependence
will make the 21st century "a naval century."
The
Commandant of the Marine Corps
Just
as the CNO "wears two hats"--as both a service chief and a
member of the JCS--Gen. James L. Jones Jr., the 32nd commandant of the
Marine Corps, offers advice to the president, the secretary of Defense,
and the National Security Council as a member of the Joint Chiefs. Jones
also serves as the senior officer in the Marine Corps with
responsibilities to the secretary of the Navy for the leadership,
management, and administration of the Corps, as well as the operating
efficiency of Marine Corps forces and shore activities.
The
commandant's leadership position dates to November 1775, when the Second
Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, passed a resolution
affirming that "two Battalions of Marines be raised" for service
as landing forces with the Continental Navy. That resolution officially
established the Continental Marines and marked the birth date of the
Corps. The nation's first Marines distinguished themselves in a number of
important operations, including the Corps' first amphibious raid--into the
Bahamas in March 1776, under the command of Capt. (later Maj.) Samuel
Nicholas.
Nicholas,
who was the first commissioned officer in the Continental Marines,
remained the senior Marine officer throughout the American Revolution and
is considered to be the first Marine commandant.
During
the early months of his assignment as commandant, Jones has pledged to pay
more attention to the Corps' operating forces to ensure they remain
properly manned, ready, and successful. He also has emphasized that all
Marines and their families deserve a decent quality of life. In his view,
today's Marine Corps is the best he has seen in his 33 years of service.
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, 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 three four-star fleet commanders in chief (CINCs) for Navy
operating forces--the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, and
U.S. Pacific Fleet--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 in chief for U.S. combatant commands.
As
units of the Navy enter the geographical area of responsibility of a
particular Navy CINC, they are operationally assigned (or
"chopped") to the appropriate numbered fleet.
All
Navy units also have an administrative chain of command, with the various
ships reporting to the appropriate type commander (air, surface, or
submarine).
The
United States 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 Adriatic Sea to the Arabian Gulf, Atlantic Fleet units respond to
National Command Authority tasking. Recent conflicts involving Atlantic
Fleet units include Operation Allied Force in the Adriatic Sea and
Operation Desert Fox in the Persian Gulf.
Led
by Adm. Vernon E. Clark, the Atlantic Fleet consists of over 118,000
Sailors and Marines, 186 ships, and 1,300 aircraft. Additionally, there
are 18 major shore stations providing training, maintenance, and logistics
support, as well as support to Navy and Marine Corps families.
The
Atlantic Fleet area of responsibility (AOR) encompasses a massive
geographic expanse that includes the area of 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. Additionally, the Norwegian, Greenland, and Barents Seas, and the
waters around Africa extending to the Cape of Good Hope, fall within the
fleet's AOR.
The
primary operational unit in the Atlantic Fleet is the Second Fleet. It is
responsible for operational taskings as well as for training carrier
battle groups and amphibious ready groups for forward deployments
overseas.
Atlantic
Fleet forces are supported by type commanders responsible for readiness
support, logistics support, and administrative management. The type
commanders include air, surface, submarine, and Marine forces for the
Atlantic Fleet. All are headquartered in Norfolk, Va.
While
providing combat-ready forces to theater 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 NATO forces in the
Atlantic region. Additionally, Atlantic Fleet units participate annually
in UNITAS, a 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 also is working to further regionalize its
shore-infrastructure management through three regional commanders--in New
London, Conn., Norfolk, Va., and Jacksonville, Fla. Additionally, a
comprehensive review of afloat forces' workload and training has been
chartered by the CNO to reduce the demands placed upon Navy people during
their Interdeployment Training Cycles (IDTCs).
On a
daily basis, a high percentage of the Atlantic Fleet is either deployed
overseas, conducting underway exercises in preparation for deployment, or
involved in another phase of the IDTC. Recent joint initiatives between
the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets have led to a major change in the way
business is conducted for surface ships and aircraft squadrons in the IDTC.
Many inspections and administrative requirements have been eliminated or
reduced in order to provide flexibility to unit commanders.
Adding
to the Atlantic Fleet's exciting new direction is a focus on new concepts
like Smart Ship, Smart Work, and Smart Tool. All are unique management
approaches and applications of technology that encourage the Navy's
leadership to maximize the professionalism of their team while enhancing
the professional experience of Atlantic Fleet Sailors.
U.S.
Naval Forces Europe
The
Commander In Chief, U.S. Naval Forces Europe (CINCUSNAVEUR), Adm. James O.
Ellis Jr., provides overall command and operational control of all U.S.
naval forces assigned to the commander in chief, U.S. European Command (USCINCEUR).
From his headquarters in London, CINCUSNAVEUR coordinates with other U.S.
and allied forces operating within the European Command's area of
responsibility to accomplish the command's assigned operational missions.
In
addition, as a naval component commander, CINCUSNAVEUR develops
operational plans and policy, and coordinates logistics, communications,
legal, and administrative support among the U.S. naval forces operating in
the USCINCEUR area of responsibility--which encompasses Europe and its
contiguous waters, the Mediterranean Sea, and the continent of Africa.
Given
this broad geographical focus on multiple regions of vital interest to the
United States, NAVEUR forces often take center stage during international
crises and contingencies. Navy and Marine Corps forward-deployed ships,
aircraft, and units figure significantly in NATO maritime-interdiction and
"no-fly" enforcement operations in Bosnia and over northern
Iraq. Among the command's other missions are noncombatant-emergency
evacuations of U.S. citizens and third-country foreign nationals from
strife-torn nations in the region, counterterrorist strikes, and
humanitarian assistance. American dip-lomatic objectives are advanced
steadily by port calls aimed at furthering the U.S. engagement strategy
throughout the command's AOR, including visits and exercises with the new
democracies in the Baltic and Black Sea regions.
Of
historical note: CINCUSNAVEUR headquarters is located adjacent to the
American Embassy in an unobtrusive red-brick building in London at No. 20
Grosvenor Square. Occupied initially by Rear Adm. Robert L. Ghormley and
his U.S. Navy staff in June 1941, the building stands close to where one
of the first U.S. residents of the square, John Adams, the first U.S.
Ambassador to the Court of St. James, maintained a combination residence
and embassy (from 1785 to 1788). A plaque in the headquarters building
commemorates Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's periodic use of the building
during his command of allied forces in Europe during World War II.
CINCUSNAVEUR'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, 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, 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. naval operations in the region. With the breakup of the
Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, the fleet developed a systematic approach to
forward-presence operations that matched the changing security environment
of Europe. Today, this "Theater Naval Strategy of Forward Presence,
Peacetime Engagement, and Power Projection" includes exercises and
operations promoting interoperability and mutual cooperation among
Mediterranean and Black Sea littoral nations.
Unchanged
in this post-Cold War period is the fleet's commitment to NATO, combat
readiness, and the capability to respond to crisis situations. Recent
Sixth Fleet operations include combat operations against the Former
Republic of Yugoslavia during NATO's Operation Allied Force; humanitarian
and security missions in conjunction with NATO operations in Kosovo in
1999; maritime peace-implementation operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina
during Operation Joint Endeavor; and the evacuation of U.S. and other
civilians caught in Liberia's civil war (Operation Assured Response) and
fleeing from strife-torn Albania (Operation Silver Wake).
In
September 1995, U.S. naval forces operating in the Adriatic conducted
sustained air operations and the first-ever launch of cruise missiles in
the Mediterranean area. These operations (Operation Deliberate Force)
helped bring warring parties from Bosnia-Herzegovina to the peace table. A
planned and coordinated series of bilateral and multilateral exercises,
ranging from the Black Sea to the western Mediterranean, typically rounds
out Sixth Fleet operations.
U.S.
Pacific Fleet
The
Navy's third four-star CINC, Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, commands a Pacific
Fleet with a geographic area of responsibility 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 encompassing two oceans and
touching six continents, and home to more than half the population of the
world.
The
Pacific Fleet, with its U.S. Third and U.S. Seventh Fleets, numbers
approximately 193 ships, 1,400 aircraft, and 220,900 Sailors, Marines, and
civilian Navy employees. Together they 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, thereby ensuring
freedom of the seas for all nations. The Pacific Fleet's AOR also include
the Indian Ocean, where aircraft carrier battle 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 the U.S. Fifth Fleet for deployments to the
Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea. There, these forces play a critical
role in enforcing U.S. and U.N. policy for Iraq, including maritime
interdiction and enforcement of "no-fly" operations. Pacific
Fleet units were engaged in numerous reactionary combat strikes against
Iraq during 1999.
Pacific
Fleet units operating with the U.S. Seventh Fleet provide critical
capabilities in the Western Pacific, bolstering U.S. forward presence
throughout the region in peace, crisis, or war. Reciprocal port
visits--with China, for example--have proved to be an effective way to
enhance military-to-military understanding and relations. The U.S. Pacific
Command's commander in chief, Adm. Dennis Blair, describes the goal of
these contacts as mutual understanding and openness.
People
are the key to the success of the Pacific Fleet. Every minute of each day,
dedicated men and women are deployed and on watch protecting U.S.
interests and promoting stability, peace, and prosperity throughout the
region.
Military
Sealift Command
The
U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command serves as the ocean-transportation
provider for DOD in peacetime and in war. The command's more than 110
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 U.S. forces moves by sea. In addition,
MSC provides combat-logistics support to the U.S. Navy fleet, 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. Rear
Adm. Gordon S. Holder leads a work force of more than 7,200 employees
worldwide, the vast majority of whom are assigned to seagoing jobs. MSC's
work force is made up of primarily civil service personnel, but also
includes military as well as contractor personnel.
MSC
ships, unlike other U.S. Navy ships, are crewed by civilians. Some ships
also have a small military contingent 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, known as 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.
A
number of international crises throughout the last decade have underscored
the vital role of MSC in the execution of U.S. national strategy. During
the Persian Gulf War, 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 both Bosnia and Kosovo to an array of
humanitarian and disaster-relief efforts.
MSC's
role in combat-logistics support to the U.S. Navy fleet also has grown. A
sealift-expansion program that started in the late 1990s will add 19 new
and converted ships to MSC's inventory by 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 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 Admiral Norbert R. Ryan Jr., 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. John W. Craine
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 29,600 military, civilian, and contract
personnel stationed at 169 activities nationwide. CNET has a daily average
of more than 43,800 military, civilian, and foreign students in training
in more than 3,400 different courses 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 434
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 responsibility
includes 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
33rd surgeon general of the Navy, Medical Corps Vice Adm. Richard A.
Nelson, leads a team focused on providing high-quality health care and
customer service to approximately 570,000 active-duty Navy and Marine
Corps personnel and an additional two million retired and family
members--at a little more than half the national per-capita-average cost
for medical care. At the same time, Navy health-care professionals also
provide medical support during contingency, humanitarian, and joint
operations around the world.
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 for
forward-deployed operating forces and at remote medical-treatment
facilities. Cutting-edge telemedicine technology developed on the
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, Navy medicine's
operational testbed, is now being applied to support operational medical
services on other ships and at facilities ashore. Navy medicine continues
to search for new research breakthroughs, such as the recent 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. George P. Nanos
Jr., 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,
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.
Other
important NAVSEA functions include introduction of ships to the fleet; the
Navy's salvage-and-diving operation; explosive-ordnance safety and
disposal; coordination of naval ship conversion and repair for both DOD
and the MSC; and support of ship construction for the Maritime
Administration.
NAVSEA
is the largest of the five Navy systems commands. Its fiscal year 2000
budget of about $20 billion accounts for approximately 23.5 percent of the
Navy's budget of $84.9 billion. This budget places NAVSEA among the
nation's top business enterprises when comparing the value of assets,
number of employees, and budget (using Fortune Magazine criteria).
NAVSEA
manages 139 acquisition programs, which are assigned to the command's
seven affiliated Program Executive Officers (PEOs) and various
headquarters elements. NAVSEA also administers more than 1,400 foreign
military sales cases worth about $16.7 billion and involving 80 countries
and four NATO organizations.
The
Naval Aviation Systems Command (NAVAIR) team, led by Vice Adm. John A.
Lockard, 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 cycle 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 currently located at eight major sites
throughout the United States. NAVAIR manages more than 148 acquisition
programs and supports more than 4,100 active aircraft in the Navy and
Marine Corps inventory.
The
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), commanded by Rear Adm.
John A. Gauss, 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 has 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 9,000 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. Keith W.
Lippert was named commander, Naval Supply Systems Command, and the 41st
chief of the Navy Supply Corps in August 1999.
The
Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), commanded by Rear Adm.
Louis M. Smith, 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 by 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 approximately $8 billion. Of that amount,
more than $4.3 billion is in fixed-price, competitively bid military
construction-and-repair contracts awarded to private businesses. About
$1.9 billion is expended at public works centers, of which $1 billion is
in contracts awarded within the private sector. NAVFAC and its subordinate
commands around the world employ about 18,000 civilian and military
personnel. *
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. Under the leadership of its current
president, Vice Adm. Arthur K. Cebrowski, the Naval War College mission
was expanded in 1998 to encompass the Naval Warfare Development Command.
CNO Adm. Jay L. Johnson described the reorganization as opening a new era
in the College's history by providing a focus with direct linkages to the
fleet for the development of Navy doctrine and innovation at the Navy's
senior service school.
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. It does this by providing them 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 maritime-research center, it will house the
front line of strategic research, decision support, and gaming as the Navy
prepares its leaders for the next century. The $19 million research center
is a three-story structure that encompasses approximately 103,000 square
feet of classrooms and support/administrative offices.
Academically,
the 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: 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. In March 1991, the College was accredited
by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges to award a Master
of Arts degree in national security and strategic studies. In October
1990, Congress determined that the Naval War College would be 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 at its homepage: www.nwc.navy.mil.
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 entering midshipmen complete the academically
demanding curriculum, and upon graduation are commissioned as officers in
the Navy or Marine Corps. Vice Adm. John R. Ryan 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 $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), 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.
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