Updated August 11, 2021
Defense Primer: Department of the Navy
One Military Department with Two
Operation and Maintenance, Marine Corps (OMMC),
Military Services
appropriation account contains operation and maintenance
The Department of the Navy (DON) is a single military
funding for the Marine Corps.
department that includes two military services—the Navy
and the Marine Corps. As such, DON has a single civilian
A few DON appropriation accounts include funding for
leader, the Secretary of the Navy, and two four-star military
both the Navy and Marine Corps, even though their titles
service chiefs—an admiral whose title is the Chief of Naval
refer only to the Navy. For example, the Aircraft
Operations (CNO), and a general whose title is the
Procurement, Navy (APN) appropriation account funds the
Commandant of the Marine Corps. Although the title
procurement of both Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, and
“Secretary of the Navy” includes only the term “Navy,” the
the Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation, Navy
secretary serves as the civilian leader for both the Navy and
(RDTEN) account includes research and development
Marine Corps. The CNO and the Commandant of the
funding for both the Navy and Marine Corps. The
Marine Corps are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Procurement of Ammunition, Navy/Marine Corps
(JCS). The Secretary of the Navy is Carlos Del Toro, the
(PANMC) account includes funding for procuring both
CNO is Admiral Michael Gilday, and the Commandant of
Navy and Marine Corps ammunition.
the Marine Corps is General David Berger.
The Navy’s shipbuilding account, known formally as the
“Naval” Refers to Both the Navy and
Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy (SCN) appropriation
Marine Corps
account, funds the procurement of various types of ships,
Although the term “naval” is often used to refer specifically
including amphibious ships. Although amphibious ships are
to the Navy, it more properly refers to both the Navy and
Navy ships operated by Navy crews, the primary function
Marine Corps, because both the Navy and Marine Corps are
of amphibious ships is to transport Marine Corps personnel
naval services. Even though the Marine Corps sometimes
and equipment and support Marine Corps ship-to-shore
operates for extended periods as a land fighting force (as it
movements and Marine Corps operations ashore. The
did in recent years, for example, in Afghanistan and Iraq),
Navy’s amphibious ships are sometimes referred to
and is often thought of as the country’s second land army, it
informally as the “Gator Navy,” a shortening of the term
nevertheless is, by law, a naval service. 10 U.S.C.
alligator, an animal that, like the Marine Corps, can move
8001(a)(3) states that “The term ‘member of the naval
from the water to land, and then back into the water.
service’ means a person appointed or enlisted in, or
inducted or conscripted into, the Navy or the Marine
DON Budget
Corps.” DON officials sometimes refer to the two services
DON’s proposed FY2022 budget requests $211.7 billion, of
as the Navy-Marine Corps team. See also the section below
which, DON states, $163.9 billion (77.4%) is for the Navy
entitled “The Naval Service.”
and $47.9 billion (22.6%) is for the Marine Corps. In terms
of appropriation groups, about 26.7% is for military
“Navy” in DOD Budget Documents Can
personnel, about 33.6% is for operations and maintenance,
Mean DON
about 27.5% is for procurement, about 10.7% is for
DOD budget documents that divide the DOD budget into
research and development, about 1.4% is for infrastructure,
four military departments often label those departments as
and about 0.1% is for revolving and management funds.
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 FY2022 requests a total of
Department of the Navy, and thus includes funding for both
843,213 personnel, including 524,700 active-duty
the Navy and Marine Corps.
uniformed personnel (62.2%), 95,400 reserve personnel
(11.3%), and 223,113 civilian personnel (26.5%). The
“Blue Dollars” and “Green Dollars” in
budget requested a total of 604,992 Navy personnel
DON Budget
(346,200 active-duty, 58,600 reserve, and 200,192 civilian),
People who work with the DON budget sometimes refer to
or about 71.7% of the total requested for DON, and a total
“blue dollars,” meaning funding in the DON budget for the
of 238,221 Marine Corps personnel (178,500 active-duty,
Navy, and “green dollars,” meaning funding in the DON
36,800 reserve, and 22,921 civilian), or about 28.3% 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
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Defense Primer: Department of the Navy
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is
The Sea Services
covered primarily in Title 14. Even though the Coast Guard
The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are sometimes
is not part of DOD, Title 14 states that the Coast Guard
referred to collectively by officials of those services and
“shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces
other observers as the sea services.
of the United States at all times .” (14 U.S.C. 101) Title 14
states that the Coast Guard “shall be a service in the
The Naval Service
Department of Homeland Security, except when operating
The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are also
as a service in the Navy” (14 U.S.C. 103(a)), and that
sometimes referred to collectively by officials of those
services and other observers as the naval service. For
Upon the declaration of war if Congress so directs
example, a tri-service strategy document released in
in the declaration or when the President directs, the
December 2020, entitled Advantage at Sea, Prevailing with
Coast Guard shall operate as a service in the Navy,
Integrated All-Domain Naval Power, states that the three
and shall so continue until the President, by
services are “collectively known as the Naval Service,” and
Executive order, transfers the Coast Guard back to
defines the term naval service in its glossary as meaning the
the Department of Homeland Security. While
three services. As another example, the April 2020 edition
operating as a service in the Navy, the Coast Guard
of a tri-service doctrine publication, Naval Doctrine
shall be subject to the orders of the Secretary of the
Publication 1, Naval Warfare, states: “The United States
Navy, who may order changes in Coast Guard
Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the United
operations to render them uniform, to the extent
States Coast Guard collectively form the nation’s Naval
such Secretary deems advisable, with Navy
Service.”
operations.” (14 U.S.C. 103(b))
The last time the Coast Guard operated as a service in the
The Coast Guard, however, is not frequently referred to as a
Navy was during World War II. The possibility that the
naval service in annual Navy or Coast Guard documents
Coast Guard might at some point operate as a service in the
submitted to Congress, and the U.S. Code does not
Navy is why legislation concerning the Coast Guard
specifically define the Coast Guard as a naval service (as
sometimes uses phrases such as “the Secretary of the
opposed to a military service or a branch of the armed
Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.”
forces) in 10 U.S.C. 8001(a)(3), 14 U.S.C. 101, 14 U.S.C.
103(a), or other provisions.
The four-star admiral who heads the Coast Guard, called
Tri-Service Strategy Documents
the Commandant of the Coast Guard, is not a member of
the JCS. The Commandant of the Coast Guard is Admiral
The three services in recent years have from to time issued
Karl Schultz.
joint maritime strategy documents, including, most
recently, the previously mentioned document entitled
Unlike the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, the
Advantage at Sea, Prevailing with Integrated All-Domain
Coast Guard is not only a military service and a branch of
Naval Power, which was released in December 2020.
the armed forces, but also a law enforcement agency. For
this reason, Navy ships whose operations create a distinct

possibility of encountering potential law enforcement
Relevant Statutes
situations sometimes embark detachments of Coast Guard
Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle C – Navy and Marine Corps
personnel.
Title 14, U.S. Code, Chapter 1 – Establishment and Duties of the
The Coast Guard’s budget is funded primarily through the
Coast Guard
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
Other Resources
(Healy) was funded primarily through the SCN account, in
Department of the Navy, Highlights of the Department of the Navy
FY1990, 33 of the Coast Guard’s 49 Island-class 110-foot
FY 2022 Budget, accessed June 9, 2021, at
patrol boats were procured under a Navy contract that
https://www.secnav.navy.mil/fmc/fmb/Documents/22pres/Highligh
included FY1990 SCN funding, and $300 million of the
ts_Book.pdf
funding that has been appropriated for the Coast Guard’s
U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, Advantage at
new Polar Security Cutter (aka polar icebreaker) program
Sea, Prevailing with Integrated Al -Domain Naval Power, December
was appropriated through the SCN account ($150 million
2020, 29 pp. accessed June 9, 2021, at https://media.defense.gov/
each in FY2017 and FY2018). The Coast Guard’s reserve
2020/Dec/17/2002553489/-1/-1/0/201217-N-NO101-176.JPG.
end strength (but not its active end strength) is authorized in
the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The Navy and Coast Guard have mechanisms, including a
Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs
Navy and Coast Guard (NAVGARD) Board, to coordinate
matters of joint interest. The Navy and Coast Guard on at
IF10484
least three occasions (2002, 2006, and 2013) have issued
National Fleet policy statements on the coordination of their
procurement and operational activities.
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Defense Primer: Department of the Navy


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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10484 · VERSION 18 · UPDATED

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