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United States Navy
Navy, United States, dates its existence from 13 October 1775, when the Continental Congress voted to purchase a small number of warships in defense of American liberties, then being abused by the British colonial power. In the course of the War of Independence, the Continental Navy operated more than fifty warships, including thirteen frigates Congress ordered built. Their mission was to protect trade and to prey on British commerce. John Paul Jones, captain of warship Bonhomme Richard, brought the war to the enemy's shores when he led daring raids on the English coast. When asked to surrender his ship during a fierce battle with Royal Navy warship Serapis in 1779, Jones answered, "I have not yet begun to fight," and led his sailors to victory. In October 1781, combined American and French land and sea forces finally compelled the surrender of British Lord Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown, Virginia. American independence followed this decisive victory.
A New Nation's Navy
During the next twenty years, corsairs controlled by the Barbary powers of North Africa repeatedly sortied from Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli to seize the merchant ships and cargoes of the new and energetic, but virtually defenseless, American nation. In the last years of the eighteenth century, Congress established a Department of the Navy, which soon included a U.S. Marine Corps, and authorized construction of six fast, powerfully armed frigates and other vessels to deal with overseas threats. USS Constitution and the other warships of the United States eventually convinced the rulers of the Barbary states that preying on American overseas commerce could be disastrous to their fortunes.
The navies of France and Great Britain also interfered with American trading vessels. U.S. and French warships fought pitched sea battles during the so-called Quasi-War of 1798–1800 over maritime trade and other issues (see France, Quasi-War With). The British often angered Americans by stopping their ships and seizing or "impressing" into the Royal Navy American merchant sailors and even U.S. Navy bluejackets. In 1812, impressment and other contentious issues finally led to war. The U.S. Navy was heavily outgunned by the Royal Navy, but the speed and firepower of the American frigates and the professional skill of their sailors routinely brought victory to the American side. Commodore Thomas Macdonough won an impressive victory on inland waters in the Battle of Lake Champlain. Peace in Europe removed the principal irritants that had led to war between the United States and Great Britain, prompting an end to the last war between these two nations. American success in battle ensured a peace treaty in 1814 that protected U.S. interests.
During the next forty-five years, U.S. naval vessels sailed in all the world's oceans while charting new lands and seas, promoting U.S. diplomatic interests, and protecting American merchantmen. The navy fought Caribbean pirates, established a patrol off the coast of Africa to stop the transportation of slaves to the Americas, and played a prominent role in the
Civil War and Postwar Decline
The focus of the U.S. Navy turned toward home during the 1860s, as the issues of slavery and states' rights brought on internal conflict. Soon after eleven Southern states seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America, President Abraham Lincoln directed the navy to blockade Norfolk, New Orleans, and other key ports.
To counter the blockade, the Confederate navy launched steam-powered ironclad warships, including CSS Virginia. In March 1862, the vessel boldly attacked the Union squadron off Norfolk and in a matter of hours destroyed two wood-hull sailing ships. With disaster looming, the North's own revolutionary ironclad, USS Monitor, arrived on the scene and fought a pitched battle that prevented the Virginia from destroying more Union ships. The Battle of Hampton Roads heralded a new era of naval warfare.
In addition to blockading Southern ports, the U.S. Navy mounted combined operations with the U.S. Army on the Mississippi and other major rivers to control those waterways and divide the Confederate states. David Farragut led naval forces that won the battles of New Orleans and Mobile Bay while David Dixon Porter helped General Ulysses S. Grant seize Vicksburg on the Mississippi. In short, the U.S. Navy was vital to Union victory in the long, bloody Civil War that ended in April 1865.
The absence of a threat from overseas and the small size of the post–Civil War merchant marine convinced Congress that funding for a large, modern fleet was not warranted. By the 1880s, the huge, powerful wartime fleet had declined to a small force of obsolete, rotting sailing ships and rusting monitors.
Emergence of a Sea Power
The navy's prospects began to change in the 1880s, when Congress authorized construction of the fleet's first steel-hull cruisers—USS Atlanta, USS Boston, and USS Chicago.
Naval strategists Theodore Roosevelt and Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that the new industrial power and maritime commercial interests of the United States demanded a modern fleet capable of winning a major sea battle against any European naval power.
Their sea power theories passed the test in the Spanish-American War (partly ignited by the destruction of USS Maine on 15 February 1898 in the harbor of Havana, Cuba). U.S. naval forces under George Dewey and William T. Sampson destroyed enemy squadrons in the battles of Manila Bay and Santiago de Cuba.
American expansionists and navalists stressed anew that the United States needed a first-rank navy to protect its newly won overseas empire. As president, Theodore Roosevelt championed construction of a battle fleet of heavily armed and armored battleships, propelled by coal-fired boilers and capable of seizing and maintaining control of the sea. During this period, the U.S. Navy and its foreign counterparts also developed two weapon systems that would revolutionize twentieth-century naval warfare—the submarine and the airplane.
Naval leaders recognized that to operate the machinery of the new steel warships they needed more technically skilled bluejackets, professionally prepared officers, and a more rational naval organization. This era witnessed the creation of technical schools for enlisted personnel and establishment of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1915, in response to the efforts of reformist naval officers, Congress established the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations to improve direction of the battle fleet.
The U.S. Navy's most important accomplishments during World War I were two fold. First was the provision of warship escorts to Allied convoys bringing supplies and American troops to the European theater. Second was the laying of a massive minefield in the North Sea where German submarines operated.
With international agreements restricting the construction of battleships during the period between the world wars, the navy focused on developing improved weapon systems and battle tactics. The future of naval aviation got a boost when aircraft carriers USS Langley, USS Saratoga, and USS Lexington entered the fleet. Almost yearly during the 1930s, the navy refined its battle tactics in "fleet problems," or exercises. The Marine Corps, tasked in war plans with establishing advanced bases in the vast Pacific Ocean, developed a doctrine for amphibious warfare.
The surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941 heralded a war in which sea power would figure prominently. As the naval, air, and ground forces of Japan seized U.S. and Allied possessions throughout the western Pacific in early 1942, the Kriegs-marine of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany unleashed U-boats against merchant ships all along America's East Coast. The U.S. Navy defeated both threats with decisive victories against the Japanese at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 and against the Germans in a long antisub-marine campaign in the Atlantic Ocean. Allied codebreaking and other intelligence units played key roles in both victories. The start of operations on and around Guadalcanal Island by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps units in August 1942 marked the opening of a major Allied counteroffensive in the South Pacific.
Meanwhile, U.S. and British naval forces had deployed Allied armies ashore in North Africa that went on to help destroy German and Italian forces in the combat theater. Following on this success, U.S. Navy and Royal Navy amphibious assault forces put American and British troops on Italian soil with landings in Sicily and on the mainland at Salerno.
To strengthen the Allied advance on Japan, in November 1943 Admiral Chester W. Nimitz launched his Pacific Fleet on a major thrust across the central Pacific. The bloody but successful marine landing on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands was followed by the seizure of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. The Japanese fleet tried to prevent Allied capture of the Marianas in June 1944 but lost hundreds of first-line aircraft in the attempt during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
On 6 June 1944—D-Day—the U.S. and British navies executed one of the most masterful amphibious operations in history when they deployed ashore on the Normandy coast of France five combat divisions. The Allied armies that followed them ashore in succeeding months joined Soviet forces in bringing about the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of the war in Europe in May 1945.
Admiral Nimitz's fleet helped pave the way for the defeat of the Pacific enemy with its decisive victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy in the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf. The elimination of enemy forces in the Philippines and on the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa during the first half of 1945, combined with the destruction of the Japanese merchant marine by the U.S. submarine force, foretold the demise of the Japanese empire. That end, hastened when American planes dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, came with the Japanese surrender onboard battleship USS Missouri on 2 September 1945.
A Global Navy
The navy suffered severe cutbacks in ships and sailors during the post–World War II years but still mustered enough strength to oppose the invasion of South Korea by North Korean communist forces on 25 June 1950. In this first conflict of the Cold War, navy and marine units executed one of the most decisive amphibious operations in history with the landing at Inchon behind enemy lines. Aircraft carriers, battleships, destroyers, minesweepers, hospital ships, and supply vessels proved indispensable to success in this war, which ended on 27 July 1953.
Throughout the Cold War, powerful U.S. naval forces remained permanently deployed on the periphery of the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, and other communist countries. Throughout the era, carrier task forces responded to threats and crises in the Mediterranean and the western Pacific. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, the navy was instrumental in isolating communist Cuba from outside support and monitoring the removal of Soviet nuclear-armed missiles from the island nation.
A vital national mission of the navy throughout the Cold War was to deter a direct attack on the United States by the Soviet Union. To that end, the navy developed nuclear-powered Polaris, Poseidon, and Trident submarines, carrying nuclear-armed, long-range ballistic missiles, and deployed those vessels deep under the surface of the world's oceans. Fast, quiet, and lethal attack submarines prepared to destroy Soviet naval vessels if it came to war.
During the long struggle for Southeast Asia in the 1960s and early 1970s, navy carrier aircraft struck enemy bridges, railways, and supply depots. Battleships and destroyers bombarded troops concentrations; patrol ships and "Swift" boats prevented coastal infiltration; and riverine warfare units teamed up with army troops to fight Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army units on the waterways of Indochina.
A new concern developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the Soviet Union increasingly put to sea heavily armed and capable warships and built a powerful military establishment in Russia. To counter the threat, the navy developed a new operational approach—a Maritime Strategy—that emphasized offensive action. If the Soviet Union started a war, the navy planned to launch attacks by powerful carrier and amphibious groups against enemy forces in northern Russia and in the Soviet Far East.
Even after the demise of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, the need for international peace and order demanded that the navy remain on station in distant waters. The unprovoked invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's Iraqi armed forces on 2 August 1990 signaled that naked aggression would continue to plague the world. As part of an international coalition, the navy deployed ships, planes, and troops to the Persian Gulf region to defend America's allies and to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqis. In Operation Desert Storm, which began on 17 January 1991, Tomahawk ship-launched cruise missiles and carrier aircraft struck targets throughout Iraq and Kuwait. A massive ground assault by U.S. Marine, U.S. Army, and coalition units, assisted by a naval feint operation, ended the short war on 28 February.
The end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first brought the navy no respite. Ethnic conflict in the Balkans required navy carriers and cruise missile–launching surface ships and submarines to take part in strike operations against Serbian forces in Bosnia and Kosovo. The bloody terrorist attack on the United States on 11 September 2001 and the subsequent U.S.led war on terrorism involved aircraft carriers, missile-launching ships, SEAL special warfare units, and other naval forces in military operations from Afghanistan to the Philippines. In short, throughout its more than 225 years of existence, the U.S. Navy has defended the United States and its interests at sea, on land, and in the air all across the globe.
Bibliography
Baer, George W. One Hundred Years of Sea Power: The U.S. Navy, 1890–1990. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1994.
Bradford, James C., ed. Quarterdeck & Bridge: Two Centuries of American Naval Leaders. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
Godson, Susan H. Serving Proudly: A History of Women in the U.S. Navy. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001.
Holland, W. J., Jr., ed. The Navy. Washington: Naval Historical Foundation, 2000.
Howarth, Stephen. To Shining Sea: A History of the United States Navy, 1775–1991. New York: Random House, 1991.
Marolda, Edward J. By Sea, Air, and Land: An Illustrated History of the U.S. Navy and the War in Southeast Asia. Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1994.
Marolda, Edward J., and Robert J. Schneller, Jr. Shield and Sword: The U.S. Navy and the Persian Gulf War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2001.
Millett, Allan R. Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps. Rev. ed. New York: The Free Press, 1991.
Morison, Samuel E. The Two Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War. Boston: Little Brown, 1963.
Spector, Ronald H. Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan. New York: Free Press, 1984.
WordNet:
United States Navy
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
the navy of the United States of America
Synonym:
Wikipedia:
United States Navy
"USN" redirects here. USN may also refer to University of
Southern Nevada or University School of Nashville.
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The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. The U.S. Navy currently has over 340,000 personnel on active duty and nearly 128,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 279 ships in active service and more than 4,000 aircraft.[1]
The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was disbanded shortly thereafter. The United States Constitution, though, provided the legal basis for a seaborne military force by giving Congress the power "to provide and maintain a navy."[2] Depredations against American shipping by Barbary Coast corsairs spurred Congress to employ this power[3] by passing the Naval Act of 1794 ordering the construction and manning of six frigates. The U.S. Navy came into international prominence in the 20th century, especially during World War II. It was a part of the conflict from the onset of American military involvement — the Attack on Pearl Harbor — to Japan's official surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri. In the subsequent Cold War, the U.S. Navy evolved into a nuclear deterrent and crisis response force while preparing for a possible global war with the Soviet Union.
The 21st century United States Navy maintains a sizable presence in the world, deploying in such areas as East Asia, Southern Europe, and the Middle East. Its ability to project force onto the littoral regions of the world, engage in forward areas during peacetime, and rapidly respond to regional crises makes it an active player in American foreign and defense policy. The United States Navy is the largest in the world with a tonnage greater than that of the next 17 largest combined[4] and has a budget of $127.3 billion for the 2007 fiscal year.[5]
The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, which is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Navy. The Department of the Navy is, itself, a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The highest ranking Navy officer is the Chief of Naval Operations.
History
Origins
In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, the establishment of an official navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, and make it easier to seek out support from foreign countries. Detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the world's preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking.[3]
While Congress deliberated, it received word that two unarmed British supply ships from England were heading towards Quebec without escort. A plan was drawn up to intercept the ships, however the armed vessels to be used were owned not by Congress, but by individual colonies. Of greater significance, then, was an additional plan to equip two ships that would operate under the direct authority of Congress to capture British supply transports. This was not carried out until October 13 1775, when George Washington announced that he had taken command of three armed schooners under Continental authority to intercept any British supply ships near Massachusetts. With the revelation that vessels were already sailing under Continental control, the decision to add two more was made easier;[6] the resolution was adopted and October 13 would later become known as the United States Navy's official birthday.[7]
The Continental Navy achieved mixed results; it was successful in a few individual engagements and raided many British merchant vessels, but it lost 24 ships[8]and at one point was reduced to two in active service.[9] As Congress turned its attention after the conflict towards securing the western border of the new United States, a standing navy was considered to be dispensable because of its high operating costs and its limited number of national roles.[3]
From reestablishment to the Civil War
The United States would be without a navy for nearly a decade — a state of affairs that exposed its merchant ships to a series of attacks by Barbary pirates. The sole armed maritime presence between 1790 and the launching of the U.S. Navy's first warships in 1797 was the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service (USRCS), the primary "ancestor" of the U.S. Coast Guard. Although USRCS Cutters conducted operations against these pirates, the depredations far outstripped the abilities of the USRCS and Congress ordered the construction and manning of six frigates on March 27 1794;[8] three years later the first three were welcomed into service: the USS United States, USS Constellation and USS Constitution.
Following an undeclared Quasi-War with France, the U.S. Navy saw substantial action in the War of 1812, where it defeated rival British frigates on more than one occasion and emerged victorious in freshwater battles at Lake Champlain and Lake Erie. However, the U.S. Navy was not strong enough to prevent the British from blockading American ports and landing troops at will.[3] After the war, the U.S. Navy again focused its attention on protecting American shipping assets, sending squadrons to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, South America, Africa, and the Pacific.[8] The United States went to war in 1846 against Mexico and the Navy contributed by instituting a blockade, assisting the American takeover of California, and participating in the U.S. military's first large-scale amphibious operation at Vera Cruz.[3] The United States Navy established itself as a player in American foreign policy through the actions of Commodore Matthew Perry in Japan, which resulted in the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.
Naval power would play a significant role during the Civil War, where the Union had a distinct advantage over the Confederacy on the seas.[3] A Union blockade on shipping handicapped the Southern effort throughout the conflict. The two American navies would help usher in a new era in world naval history by putting ironclad warships into combat for the first time. The Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862, which pitted USS Monitor against CSS Virginia, became the first engagement between two steam-powered ironclads.[9] Soon after the war, however, the U.S. Navy slipped into obsolescence because of neglect.
20th century
A modernization program beginning in the 1880s brought the U.S. into the first rank of the world's navies by the end of the century. In 1907, several of the Navy's ships, dubbed the Great White Fleet, were showcased in a 14-month circumnavigation of the world. Ordered by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was a mission designed to demonstrate the Navy's capability to extend to the global theater.[8]
The Navy saw little action during World War I, but grew into a formidable force in the years before World War II. Though ultimately unsuccessful, Japan attempted to allay this strategic threat with the late-1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Following American entry into the war, the U.S. Navy grew tremendously as the United States was faced with a two-front war on the seas. It achieved notable acclaim in the Pacific Theater in particular, where it was instrumental to the Allies' successful "island hopping" campaign.[9] The U.S. Navy participated in many significant battles, including: the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and the Battle of Okinawa. By war's end in 1945, the United States Navy had added hundreds of new ships, including 18 aircraft carriers and 8 battleships.[10]
With the potential for armed conflict with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the U.S. Navy continued to advance technologically by developing new weapons systems, ships, and aircraft. United States naval strategy changed to that of forward deployment in support of U.S. allies with an emphasis on carrier battle groups.[11] The Navy was a major participant in the Vietnam War, blockaded Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and through the use of ballistic missile submarines, became an important aspect of the United States' nuclear strategic deterrence policy. The United States Navy conducted various combat operations in the Persian Gulf against Iran in 1987 and 1988, most notably Operation Praying Mantis.
21st century
The United States Navy continues to be a major support to American interests in the 21st century. Since the end of the Cold War, it has shifted its focus from a large-scale war with the Soviet Union to special operations and strike missions in regional conflicts.[12] The Navy participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, the Iraq War, and the ongoing War on Terrorism largely in this capacity. Development continues on new ships and weapons, including the CVN-21 aircraft carrier and the Littoral combat ship. Because of its size, weapons technology, and ability to project force far from American shores, the current U.S. Navy remains a potent asset for the United States Commander-in-Chief (the President of the United States).
Organization
The Navy falls under the administration of the Department of the Navy, under civilian leadership of the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV). The most senior naval officer is the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), a four-star admiral who is immediately under and reports to the Secretary of the Navy. At the same time, the Chief of Naval Operations is one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which is the second-highest deliberatory body of the armed forces after the United States National Security Council, although it only plays an advisory role to the President and does not nominally form part of the chain of command. The Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations are responsible for organizing, recruiting, training, and equipping the Navy so that it is ready for operation under the command of the Unified Combatant Commanders.
Operating forces
There are nine components to the operating forces of the U.S.
Navy:
The United States Navy has five active numbered fleets — Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh — that are each led by a three-star Vice Admiral. These five fleets are further grouped under Fleet Forces Command (the former Atlantic Fleet), Pacific Fleet, Naval Forces Europe, and Naval Forces Central Command, whose commander also doubles as Commander Fifth Fleet; these four commands are led by four-star full Admirals. The First Fleet existed after the Second World War from 1947 at least, but it was redesignated Third Fleet in early 1973.[13] Likewise, Fourth Fleet has not been in operation for some time and no other active fleet has been renamed as such.
Shore establishments
Shore establishment commands exist to support the mission of the afloat fleets through the use of facilities on land. Focusing on logistics and combat-readiness, they are essential for the full, smooth, and continuous operation of operating forces. The variety of commands reflect the complexity of the modern U.S. Navy and range from naval intelligence to personnel training to maintaining repair facilities. Two of the major logistics and repair commands are Naval Sea Systems Command and Naval Air Systems Command. Other commands such as the Office of Naval Intelligence, the United States Naval Observatory, and the Navy War College are focused on intelligence and strategy. Training commands include the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center and the United States Naval Academy.
The Navy maintains several "Naval Forces Commands" which operate naval shore facilities and serve as liaison units to local ground forces of the Air Force and Army. Such commands are answerable to a Fleet Commander as the shore protector component of the afloat command. During times of war, all Naval Forces Commands augment to become task forces of a primary fleet. Some of the larger Naval Forces Commands in the Pacific Ocean include Commander Naval Forces Korea (CNFK), Commander Naval Forces Marianas (CNFM), and Commander Naval Forces Japan (CNFJ).
Military Sealift Command
Military Sealift Command (MSC) serves not only the United States Navy, but the entire Department of Defense as the ocean carrier of materiel during peacetime and war. It transports equipment, fuel, ammunition, and other goods essential to the smooth function of United States armed forces worldwide. Up to 95% of all supplies needed to sustain the U.S. military can be moved by Military Sealift Command.[14] MSC operates approximately 120 ships with 100 more in reserve and is unique in that its ships are manned not by active duty Navy personnel, but by civil service or contract merchant mariners.
Relationships with other service branches
United States Marine Corps
Historically, the United States Navy has enjoyed a unique relationship with the United States Marine Corps (USMC), partly because they both specialize in seaborne operations. At the very top level of civilian organization, the USMC is part of the Department of the Navy and reports to the Secretary of the Navy. However, it is considered to be a distinct, separate service branch and not a subset of the Navy; the highest ranking Marine officer, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, does not report to a Navy officer. Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients are awarded the Navy variant and Marines are eligible to receive the Navy Cross. The United States Naval Academy trains Marine Corps commissioned officers while Navy officers undergo instruction by Marine NCO Drill Instructors, in addition to their normal Recruit Division Commander.
The relationship extends to the operational theater as well. As amphibious assault specialists, Marines often deploy on and attack from Navy vessels; while being transported on a Navy ship, they must obey the orders of its captain. Marine strike-fighter air squadrons operate alongside Navy strike-fighter air squadrons from aircraft carriers, though they frequently have distinct missions and rarely fly sorties together; except to directly support Marine ground troops. Other types of marine air squadrons operate from amphibious assault ships in support of marine amphibious operations. The USMC does not train chaplains, Religious Programs Specialists and Hospital Corpsmen or medical doctors; thus officers and enlisted sailors from the Navy fulfill these roles. They generally wear Marine uniforms that are emblazoned with Navy insignia and markings to distinguish themselves from Marines. Corpsmen, Religious Program Specialists, and chaplains enjoy a great sense of camaraderie with the Marines due in part because they work closely with them and often are embedded with Marine units. They operate under the command of the Marine Corps under the auspices of the Fleet Marine Force, often called "green side" corpsman.[15]
United States Coast Guard
Although the Posse Comitatus Act applies only to the Army and Air Force, Department of Defense rules effectively require the Navy and Marine Corps to act as if Posse Comitatus did apply, preventing them from enforcing the law. The United States Coast Guard fulfills this role in naval operations. It provides Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETs) to Navy vessels, where they perform arrests and other law enforcement duties during Navy boarding and interdiction missions. In times of war, or when directed by the President, the Coast Guard operates as a service in the Navy and is subject to the orders of the Secretary of the Navy until it is transferred back to the Department of Homeland Security. At other times, Coast Guard Port Security Units are sent overseas to guard the security of ports and other assets. The Coast Guard also jointly staffs the Navy's Naval Coastal Warfare Groups and Squadrons (the latter of which were known as Harbor Defense Commands until late-2004), which oversee defense efforts in foreign littoral combat and inshore areas.
Personnel
The United States Navy has nearly 500,000 personnel, approximately a quarter of whom are in ready reserve. Of those on active duty, more than eighty percent are enlisted sailors while commissioned officers make up around fifteen percent; the rest are midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy (who are on active duty) and NROTC units at over 180 universities around the country.[1]
Sailors prove they have mastered skills and deserve responsibilities by completing Personnel Qualification Standards (PQS) tasks and examinations. Among the most important is the "warfare qualification," which denotes a journeyman level of capability in Aviation Warfare, Special Warfare, Surface Warfare, or Submarine Warfare. Many qualifications are denoted on a sailor's uniform with U.S. Navy badges and insignia.
Commissioned officer
- See also: List of United States Navy staff corps
Commissioned officers in the Navy have pay grades ranging from O-1 to O-10, with O-10 being the highest; those with paygrades between O-1 through O-4 are considered junior officers (Junior Officer status, as well as JOPA membership, is lost once an officer accepts a Department Head billet) and officers in the O-7 to O-10 range are called flag officers or the "admiralty." Promotion is based on performance in an officer's current paygrade, which is recorded in "FITREPS" (fitness reports), usually self-written by the officer and edited by superiors. Above the rank of Admiral is Fleet Admiral (O-11), which was awarded to a select few in World War II and is intended to be used only during a declared war. In 1899, a special rank called Admiral of the Navy was created for George Dewey, a war hero of the Spanish-American War, with the condition that it would cease to exist upon his death.[16] The honor was also significant because at that time, the United States Navy had no living admirals.[17] Commissioned officers originate from the United States Naval Academy, Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC), Officer Candidate School (OCS), and a host of other commissioning programs such as the Seaman to Admiral-21 program, the Limited Duty Officer Selection Program, and the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Commissioned officers can generally be divided into line officers and staff corps; line officers can be further split into unrestricted and restricted communities. Unrestricted Line Officers are the warfighting command element and are authorized to lead ships, aviation squadrons, and special operations units. Restricted Line Officers, on the other hand, concentrate on non-combat related fields, such as engineering and maintenance; they are not qualified to command combat units. Staff Corps officers are specialists in fields that are themselves professional careers and not exclusive to the military, for example: medicine, law, and civil engineering.
| Commissioned Officer Rank Structure of the United States Navy | ||||||||||
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| Fleet Admiral | Admiral | Vice Admiral | Rear Admiral (Upper Half) |
Rear Admiral (Lower Half) |
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| O-11 | O-10 | O-9 | O-8 | O-7 | ||||||
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| Captain | Commander | Lieutenant Commander | Lieutenant | Lieutenant Junior Grade | Ensign |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O-6 | O-5 | O-4 | O-3 | O-2 | O-1 |
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Chief Warrant Officer
Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) pay grades range from CWO2 to the highest rank of CWO5. United States Navy CWOs are commissioned officers whose role is to provide leadership and skills for the most difficult and demanding operations in a particular technical specialty. They occupy a niche that is not as well served by the line officer community, which tends to have a broader focus. CWOs come from the senior non-commissioned officer ranks of the enlisted and receive their commission after completing the appropriately named Chief Warrant Officer Program. They typically become CWOs in specialties that are most related to their previous enlisted rating. Like Staff Corps officers, CWOs wear special insignia above the rank devices on their shoulder boards and sleeves to indicate their field of expertise.
| Chief Warrant Officer Rank Structure of the United States Navy | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CWO5 | CWO4 | CWO3 | CWO2 | |||||||
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Enlisted sailors
- See also: List of United States Navy ratings
Enlisted members of the Navy have pay grades from E-1 to E-9, with E-9 being the highest. All enlisted sailors with paygrades of E-4 and higher are considered Petty Officers while those at E-7 and higher are further named Chief Petty Officers. Unlike commissioned officers, who are given authority by the government, NCOs are promoted through the ranks of the enlisted. Those who demonstrate superior performance are given an increase in paygrade; the official Navy term is to be advanced. Two notable advancements are from Seaman to Petty Officer Third Class (E-3 to E-4) and from Petty Officer First Class to Chief Petty Officer (E-6 to E-7). Advancement to Chief Petty Officer is especially significant and is marked by a special initiation ceremony.
Enlisted members of pay grades E-4 and above are said to be "rated," meaning that they possess a rating, or occupational specialty. Members of grades E-1 to E-3 can be "strikers," meaning they have the same rating designation as a Petty Officer in their field (example: a BM3 is a Petty Officer Third Class rated as a Boatswain's Mate; BMSN is a Seaman designated as a Boatswain's Mate striker), but do not necessarily have to be. Whether a designated striker or not, personnel in the pay grades of E-3 and below are all considered "Non-Rates." There are more than 50 ratings covering a broad range of skills and subspecialties.
| Non-Commissioned Officer and Enlisted Rate Structure of the United States Navy | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy | Master Chief Petty Officer | Senior Chief Petty Officer | Chief Petty Officer | Petty Officer First Class | ||||||
| E-9 | E-9 | E-8 | E-7 | E-6 | ||||||
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| Petty Officer Second Class | Petty Officer Third Class | Seaman | Seaman Apprentice | Seaman Recruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-5 | E-4 | E-3 | E-2 | E-1 |
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No insignia |
Uniforms and appearance
The uniforms of the United States Navy are designed to combine professionalism and naval heritage with versatility, safety, and comfort.[18] The Navy currently incorporates many different styles that are specific for a variety of uses and occasions. In most cases, distinctions are made to distinguish officers and enlisted men in their uniformed appearance. U.S. Navy uniforms can generally be divided into three categories: dress uniforms, service uniforms, and working uniforms.
- Dress uniforms are worn during military-related formal occasions, such as ceremonies and other official functions. Many types of dress uniforms are used in the Navy with the full range of formal requirements represented. Service dress is the least formal dress uniform, full dress is one step higher in formality, and mess dress is the most formal dress available.
- Service uniforms are designed for daily wear and are most often worn in office or classroom-type settings, as well as other occasions in which physical activity is at a minimum.[19] The most visible distinction between officers and enlisted personnel are the color of the service uniform. Only officers and chief petty officers are authorized to wear service khaki; all other personnel must wear winter blue or summer white.
- Working uniforms prioritize comfort and safety first and thus are the most utilitarian of the Navy uniforms. They are intended for use in underway ships and in occasions that involve dirty, physical labor. Many working uniforms are variations of the service uniforms except with less formal requirements. This category includes Navy coveralls, which are authorized to be worn by members of all ranks.
Recently, the Navy completed a project named "Task Force Uniform" to streamline Navy uniforms. Among the changes are that enlisted personnel from Seaman Recruit to Petty Officer First Class (E1-E6) will have one year-round service uniform instead of Winter Blues and Summer Whites. All personnel from Seaman Recruit to Admiral will also have new working uniforms dubbed Navy Working Uniform (NWU) to replace the wash khakis, coveralls, dungarees, and aviation working greens currently in use. The uniform is a digital patterned camouflage in predominantly haze gray and blue hues.[20]
Grooming for both male and female sailors is regulated to a high degree, with exact standards in regards to hair, facial hair, use of cosmetics, and jewelry. New male recruits are given the military crew cut and are prohibited from having hair longer than four inches while in the service. Men are required to be clean shaven at all times, although mustaches are allowed. Women do not have a hair length regulation, however hair cannot fall past the bottom edge of the uniform collar and the style of hair is strictly controlled. Multicolored hair, body piercing, and tattoos on the head are banned for both sexes.[21]
Bases
The size, complexity, and international presence of the United States Navy require a large number of navy installations to support its operations. While the majority of bases are located on the West and East coasts of the United States, the Navy maintains a significant number of facilities farther inland and abroad, either in U.S.-controlled territories or in foreign countries under a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).
Eastern United States
The second-largest concentration of installations is in Hampton Roads, Virginia, where the Navy occupies over 36,000 acres (146 km²) of land, making it the largest naval base in the world. It is the homeport of the Atlantic Fleet and the location of Northrop Grumman Newport News, a privately owned company that builds the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The state of Florida is the location of two major bases, Naval Station Mayport, the Navy's third largest, near Jacksonville and Naval Air Station Pensacola, the primary training base for Navy and Marine pilots. The main U.S. Navy submarine base is located in Groton, Connecticut.
Western United States and Hawaii
As of 2007, the Navy's largest complex is located in San Diego in Southern California. An important port for the Pacific Fleet, it contains the Naval Special Warfare Center, the main training center for SEALs. The other major collection of naval bases on the west coast is in Puget Sound, Washington. Among them, Naval Station Everett is one of the newer bases in operation and the Navy states that it is its most modern facility.[22] The naval presence in Hawaii is centered on Pearl Harbor, which hosts the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet and many of its subordinate commands.
United States territories
Guam, an island strategically located in the Western Pacific Ocean, maintains a sizable Navy presence. The westernmost U.S. territory, it contains a Naval Air Station and a natural deep water harbor capable of harboring even aircraft carriers in emergencies.[23] Puerto Rico in the Caribbean formerly housed a navy facility, but it was shut down in 2004 shortly after the controversial closure of the live ordnance training area on nearby Vieques Island.
Foreign countries
The largest overseas base is in Yokosuka, Japan,[24] which serves as the homeport for the Navy's largest forward-deployed fleet and is a significant base of operations in the Western Pacific. European operations revolve around facilities in Italy and Greece with Gaeta, Italy as the homeport for the Sixth Fleet. In the Middle East, naval facilities are located almost exclusively in countries bordering the Persian Gulf, with Manama, Bahrain serving as the headquarters of Fifth Fleet. Guantánamo Bay in Cuba is the oldest overseas facility and has become known in recent years as the location of a detention camp for suspected al-Qaeda operatives.
Ships
- See also: List of ships of the United States Navy
The names of commissioned ships of the U.S. Navy start with "USS",[25] designating 'United States Ship'. Non-commissioned, civilian-manned vessels of the U.S. Navy have names that begin with "USNS", standing for 'United States Naval Ship'. Additionally, each ship is given a letter-based hull classification symbol (for example CVN and DDG) to indicate the vessel's type and a hull number. The names of ships are officially selected by the