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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
For the first
nine years of the Federal Government, naval affairs were administered by
the Secretary of War. After realizing that a separate Navy was needed,
it was established by Act of Congress on April 30, 1798. A "corps of marines"
within the Navy Department was authorized by Congress on July 11, 1798.
During the War
of 1812 it became apparent that the Navy needed more technical oversight
and closer administrative oversight of its affairs. Congress reacted in
1815 by creating a Board of Navy Commissioners under the Secretary of the
Navy. The Board continued in effect until 1842 when it was replaced by
a system of naval "bureaus" under which the Navy's affairs were arranged
along functional lines within five bureaus. In 1909 a General Board of
the Navy was established to serve as an advisory body to the Secretary
on matters of personnel, operations, matériel, and inspections.
Legislation in 1915 created the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations
that was charged with the operation of the fleet and preparation and readiness
of war plans. In the 1920's the responsibilities for operation of the fleet
were assigned to the newly created position of Commander-in-Chief of the
U.S. Fleet. In March of 1942 the positions of Commander-in-Chief of the
U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations were consolidated; once again,
the total direction and support of the Navy operating forces were under
a single person.
Today the Office
of the Chief of Naval Operations within the Department of the Navy assists
the Secretary of the Navy in executing his responsibilities. The office
includes:
The Chief of Naval Operations;
- The Vice Chief of Naval Operations;
:
- Deputy Chiefs of Naval Operations for:
- Manpower, Personnel, and Training
- Logistics
- Plans, Policy, and Operations
- Program Planning
- Assistant Chiefs of Naval Operations for:
- Undersea Warfare
- Surface Warfare
- Air Warfare
- Directors of Staff Offices:
- Naval Intelligence
- Surgeon General
- Space
- Command and Control
- Naval Reserve
- Oceanographer
- Chief of Chaplains
- Research and Development Requirements
- Test and Evaluation
- The Department of the Navy
is responsible for the preparation of the Navy
and Marine Corps
forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war and military operations
short of war and, under the integrated joint mobilization plans, for the
expansion of the peacetime component of the Navy and Marine Corps to meet
the needs of war. Within the Department of the Navy, the Navy includes
naval combat and service forces and such aviation as may be organic. Some
of the major functions of the Navy and Marine Corps are to:
- Organize, train, equip and furnish navy and Marine Corps forces for the conduct of
prompt and sustained combat incident to operations at sea, including operations of sea-based aircraft and land-based naval air components; specifically,
forces to seek out and destroy enemy naval forces and to suppress enemy sea commerce, to gain and maintain general naval supremacy, to establish
and maintain local superiority in an area of naval operations, to seize and defend advanced naval bases, and to conduct such land, air and space
operations as may be essential to the prosecution of a naval campaign;
- Organize, equip, and furnish naval forces, including naval close air support and space forces, for the conduct of joint amphibious operations;
- Organize, train, equip, and provide forces for strategic nuclear warfare to support strategic deterrence;
- Organize, train, equip, and provide forces for reconnaissance, antisubmarine warfare, protection of shipping, aerial refueling and minelaying, and controlled minefield operations;
- Furnish the afloat forces for strategic sealift;
- Furnish air support essential for naval operations;
- Organize, train, equip, and provide forces for appropriate air and missile defense and space control operations, including forces required for the strategic defense of the United States, under joint doctrines;
- Organize, train, equip, and furnish forces to operate sea lines of communication;
- Organize, train, equip, and furnish forces for the support and conduct of special operations; and
- Coordinate with the Department of Transportation for the peacetime maintenance of the Coast Guard.
- Some of the major functions of the Marine Corps
are to:
- Organize, train, and equip to provide Fleet Marine Forces of combined arms, together with supporting air components, for service with the fleet in the seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and for the conduct of such land operations as may be essential to the prosecution of a naval campaign;
- Furnish security detachments and organizations for service on vessels of the Navy;
- Furnish security detachments for the protection of property at naval stations and bases;
- Perform other duties as the President may direct; and,
- Develop landing force doctrines, tactics, techniques, and equipment that are of common interest to the Army and Marine Corps.
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