Updated March 17, 2020
Defense Primer: Department of the Navy
One Military Department with Two
A few DON appropriation accounts include funding for
Military Services
both the Navy and Marine Corps, even though their titles
The Department of the Navy (DON) is a single military
refer only to the Navy. For example, the Aircraft
department that includes two military services—the Navy
Procurement, Navy (APN) appropriation account funds the
and the Marine Corps. As such, DON has a single civilian
procurement of both Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, and
leader, the Secretary of the Navy, and two four-star military
the Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation, Navy
service chiefs—an admiral whose title is the Chief of Naval
(RDTEN) account includes research and development
Operations (CNO), and a general whose title is the
funding for both the Navy and Marine Corps. The
Commandant of the Marine Corps. Although the title
Procurement of Ammunition, Navy/Marine Corps
“Secretary of the Navy” includes only the term “Navy,” the
(PANMC) account includes funding for procuring both
secretary serves as the civilian leader for both the Navy and
Navy and Marine Corps ammunition.
Marine Corps. The CNO and the Commandant of the
Marine Corps are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Navy’s shipbuilding account, known formally as the
(JCS).
Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy (SCN) appropriation
account, funds the procurement of various types of ships,
“Naval” Refers to Both the Navy and
including amphibious ships. Although amphibious ships are
Marine Corps
Navy ships operated by Navy crews, the primary function
Although the term “naval” is often used to refer specifically
of amphibious ships is to transport Marine Corps personnel
to the Navy, it more properly refers to both the Navy and
and equipment and support Marine Corps ship-to-shore
Marine Corps, because both the Navy and Marine Corps are
movements and Marine Corps operations ashore. The
naval services. Even though the Marine Corps sometimes
Navy’s amphibious ships are sometimes referred to
operates for extended periods as a land fighting force (as it
informally as the “Gator Navy,” a shortening of the term
has done in recent years, for example, in Afghanistan and
alligator, an animal that, like the Marine Corps, can move
Iraq), and is often thought of as the country’s second land
from the water to land, and then back into the water.
army, it nevertheless is, by law, a naval service. 10 U.S.C.
8001(a)(3) states that “The term ‘member of the naval
DON Budget
service’ means a person appointed or enlisted in, or
DON’s proposed budget for FY2021 requests a total of
inducted or conscripted into, the Navy or the Marine
$207.1 billion, of which, DON states, $161.0 billion
Corps.” DON officials sometimes refer to the two services
(77.8%) is for the Navy and $46.0 billion (22.2%) is for the
as the Navy-Marine Corps team.
Marine Corps. In terms of appropriation groups, about
26.7% of DON’s proposed FY2021 budget is for military
“Navy” in DOD Budget Documents Can
personnel, about 34.1% is for operations and maintenance,
Mean DON
about 27.6% is for procurement, about 10.4% is for
DOD budget documents that divide the DOD budget into
research and development, and about 1.3% is for
four military departments often label those departments as
infrastructure.
Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense-Wide. In using data
from such documents, it is important to remember that the
DON Personnel
category called “Navy” in these cases refers to the
DON’s proposed budget for FY2021 requests a total of
Department of the Navy, and thus includes funding for both
850,101 personnel, including 531,900 active-duty
the Navy and Marine Corps.
uniformed personnel (62.6%), 97,300 reserve personnel
(11.4%), and 220,901 civilian personnel (26.0%). The
“Blue Dollars” and “Green Dollars” in
budget requests a total of 604,605 Navy personnel (347,800
DON Budget
active-duty, 58,800 reserve, and 198,005 civilian), or about
People who work with the DON budget sometimes refer to
71.1% of the total requested for DON, and a total of
“blue dollars,” meaning funding in the DON budget for the
245,496 Marine Corps personnel (184,100 active-duty,
Navy, and “green dollars,” meaning funding in the DON
38,500 reserve, and 22,896 civilian), or about 28.9% of the
budget for the Marine Corps. Of the more than two dozen
total requested for DON.
appropriation accounts that form DON’s budget, many
contain funding specifically for either the Navy or Marine
Coast Guard in Relation to DON
Corps. For example, the Operation and Maintenance, Navy
Unlike DON, which is part of DOD and is covered (along
(OMN), appropriation account contains operation and
with the Departments of the Army and Air Force) in the
maintenance funding primarily for the Navy, while the
U.S. Code primarily in Title 10, the Coast Guard is part of
Operation and Maintenance, Marine Corps (OMMC),
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is
appropriation account contains operation and maintenance
covered primarily in Title 14. Even though the Coast Guard
funding for the Marine Corps.
is not part of DOD, Title 14 states that the Coast Guard
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Defense Primer: Department of the Navy
“shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces
patrol boats were procured under a Navy contract that
of the United States at all times.” (14 U.S.C. 101) Title 14
included FY1990 SCN funding, and $300 million of the
states that the Coast Guard “shall be a service in the
funding that has been appropriated for the Coast Guard’s
Department of Homeland Security, except when operating
new Polar Security Cutter (aka polar icebreaker) program
as a service in the Navy” (14 U.S.C. 103(a)), and that
was appropriated through the SCN account ($150 million
each I FY2017 and FY2018). The Coast Guard’s reserve
Upon the declaration of war if Congress so directs
end strength (but not its active end strength) is authorized in
in the declaration or when the President directs, the
the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Coast Guard shall operate as a service in the Navy,
and shall so continue until the President, by
The Navy and Coast Guard have mechanisms, including a
Executive order, transfers the Coast Guard back to
Navy and Coast Guard (NAVGARD) Board, to coordinate
the Department of Homeland Security. While
matters of joint interest. The Navy and Coast Guard on at
operating as a service in the Navy, the Coast Guard
least three occasions (2002, 2006, and 2013) have issued
shall be subject to the orders of the Secretary of the
National Fleet policy statements on the coordination of their
Navy, who may order changes in Coast Guard
procurement and operational activities.
operations to render them uniform, to the extent
such Secretary deems advisable, with Navy
The Three Sea Services
operations.” (14 U.S.C. 103(b))
The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are sometimes
The last time the Coast Guard operated as a service in the
referred to collectively as the sea services. The three
Navy was during World War II. The possibility that the
services in recent years have from to time issued joint
Coast Guard might at some point operate as a service in the
maritime strategy documents.
Navy is why legislation concerning the Coast Guard

sometimes uses phrases such as “the Secretary of the
Relevant Statutes
Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.”
Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle C – Navy and Marine Corps
The four-star admiral who heads the Coast Guard, called
Title 14, U.S. Code, Chapter 1 – Establishment and Duties of the
the Commandant of the Coast Guard, is not a member of
Coast Guard
the JCS.


Unlike the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, the
Coast Guard is not only a military service and a branch of
Other Resources
the armed forces, but also a law enforcement agency. For
Department of the Navy, Highlights of the Department of the Navy
this reason, Navy ships whose operations create a distinct
FY 2021 Budget, accessed March 17, 2020, at
possibility of encountering potential law enforcement
https://www.secnav.navy.mil/fmc/fmb/Documents/21pres/Highligh
situations sometimes embark detachments of Coast Guard
ts_book.pdf
personnel.
Department of the Navy FY2021 Budget Materials, accessed
The Coast Guard’s budget is funded primarily through the
March 17, 2020, at
https://www.secnav.navy.mil/fmc/fmb/Pages/Fiscal-Year-2021.aspx
annual DHS appropriations act. DON’s budget sometimes
includes small amounts of funding to support the Coast
Guard’s national defense mission.

In addition, the
procurement of one of the Coast Guard’s polar icebreakers
Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs
(Healy) was funded primarily through the SCN account, in
FY1990, 33 of the Coast Guard’s 49 Island-class 110-foot
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Defense Primer: Department of the Navy


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