U.S. Navy mission and organization

Sea Power, Jan 2003

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, -- 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.