Updated August 4, 2023
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
Navy ships operated by Navy crews, the primary function
to the Navy, it more properly refers to both the Navy and
of amphibious ships is to transport Marine Corps personnel
Marine Corps, because both the Navy and Marine Corps are
and equipment and support Marine Corps ship-to-shore
naval services. Even though the Marine Corps sometimes
movements and Marine Corps operations ashore. The
operates for extended periods as a land fighting force (as it
Navy’s amphibious ships are sometimes referred to
did, for example, in Afghanistan and Iraq), and is often
informally as the “
thought of as the country’s second land army, it
Gator Navy,” a shortening of the term
alligator, an animal that, like the Marine Corps, can move
nevertheless is, by law, a naval service. 10 U.S.C.
from the water to land, and then back into the water.
8001(a)(3) states that “The term ‘member of the naval
service’ means a person appointed or enlisted in, or
DON Budget
inducted or conscripted into, the Navy or the Marine
DON’s proposed FY2024 budget requests $255.8 billion, of
Corps.” DON officials sometimes refer to the two services
which, DON states, $202.5 billion (79.2%) is for the Navy
as the Navy-Marine Corps team. See also the section below
entitled “The Naval Service.”
and $53.2 billion (20.2%) is for the Marine Corps. In terms

of appropriation groups, about 23.7% of DON’s proposed
“Navy” in DOD Budget Documents Can
FY2024 budget is for military personnel, about 33.1% is for
Mean DON
operations and maintenance, about 30.0% is for
procurement, about 10.5% is for research and development,
DOD budget documents that divide the DOD budget into
and about 2.7% is for military construction and family
four military departments often label those departments as
housing.
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 FY2024 requests a total of
Department of the Navy, and thus includes funding for both
837,055 personnel, including 519,300 active-duty
the Navy and Marine Corps.
uniformed personnel (62.0%), 90,800 reserve personnel
“Blue Dollars” and “Green Dollars” in
(10.8%), and 226,955 civilian personnel (27.1%). The
DON Budget
budget requested a total of 608,950 Navy personnel
(347,000 active-duty, 57,200 reserve, and 204,750 civilian),
People who work with the DON budget sometimes refer to
“blue dollars,” meaning funding
or about 72.7% of the total requested for DON, and a total
in the DON budget for the
Navy, and “green dollars,”
of 228,105 Marine Corps personnel (172,300 active-duty,
meaning funding in the DON
33,600 reserve, and 22,205 civilian), or about 27.3% 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
National Fleet policy statements on the coordination of their
covered primarily in Title 14. Even though the Coast Guard
procurement and operational activities.
is not part of DOD, Title 14 states that the Coast Guard
“shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces
The Sea Services
of the United States at all times.” (14 U.S.C. 101) Title 14
The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are sometimes
states that the Coast Guard “shall be a service in the
referred to collectively by officials of those services and
Department of Homeland Security, except when operating
other observers as the sea services.
as a service in the Navy” (14 U.S.C. 103(a)), and that
The Naval Service
Upon the declaration of war if Congress so directs
in the declaration or when the President directs, the
The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are also
sometimes referred to collectively by officials of those
Coast Guard shall operate as a service in the Navy,
services and other observers as the naval service. For
and shall so continue until the President, by
example, a tri-service strategy document released in
Executive order, transfers the Coast Guard back to
December 2020, entitled Advantage at Sea, Prevailing with
the Department of Homeland Security. While
Integrated All-Domain Naval Power, states that the three
operating as a service in the Navy, the Coast Guard
services are “collectively known as the Naval Service,” and
shall be subject to the orders of the Secretary of the
defines the term naval service in its glossary as meaning the
Navy, who may order changes in Coast Guard
three services. As another example, the April 2020 edition
operations to render them uniform, to the extent
of a tri-service doctrine publication, Naval Doctrine
such Secretary deems advisable, with Navy
Publication 1, Naval Warfare, states: “The United States
operations.” (14 U.S.C. 103(b))
Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the United
The last time the Coast Guard operated as a service in the
States Coast Guard collectively form the nation’s Naval
Navy was during World War II. The possibility that the
Service.” The Coast Guard, however, is not frequently
Coast Guard might at some point operate as a service in the
referred to as a naval service in annual Navy or Coast
Navy is why legislation concerning the Coast Guard
Guard documents submitted to Congress, and the U.S. Code
sometimes uses phrases such as “the Secretary of the
does not specifically define the Coast Guard as a naval
Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.”
service (as opposed to a military service or a branch of the
armed forces) in 10 U.S.C. 8001(a)(3), 14 U.S.C. 101, 14
The four-star admiral who heads the Coast Guard, called
U.S.C. 103(a), or other provisions.
the Commandant of the Coast Guard, is not a member of
the JCS. The Commandant of the Coast Guard is Admiral
Tri-Service Strategy Documents
Linda L. Fagan.
The three services in recent years have from to time issued
joint maritime strategy documents, including, most
Unlike the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, the
recently, the previously mentioned document entitled
Coast Guard is not only a military service and a branch of
Advantage at Sea, Prevailing with Integrated All-Domain
the armed forces, but also a law enforcement agency. For
Naval Power, which was released in December 2020.
this reason, Navy ships whose operations create a distinct
possibility of encountering potential law enforcement
Relevant Statutes
situations (such as those relating to drug interdiction,
Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle C – Navy and Marine Corps
migrant interdiction, and enforcement of fisheries laws)
sometimes embark detachments of Coast Guard personnel.
Title 14, U.S. Code, Chapter 1 – Establishment and Duties of the
Coast Guard
The Coast Guard’s budget is funded primarily through the

annual DHS appropriations act. DON’s budget sometimes
Other Resources
includes small amounts of funding to support the Coast
Guard’s national defense mission. In addition, the
Department of the Navy, Highlights of the Department of the Navy
procurement of one of the Coast Guard’s polar icebreakers
FY 2024 Budget, undated, 155 pp., accessed March 23, 2023, at
(Healy) was funded primarily with FY1990 SCN funding,
https://www.secnav.navy.mil/fmc/fmb/Documents/24pres/SCN_B
33 of the Coast Guard’s 49 Island-class 110-foot patrol
ook.pdf.
boats (which are now being retired) were procured under a
Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Budget
Navy contract that included FY1990 SCN funding, and
Overview, Fiscal Year 2024, Congressional Justification, undated, 317
$300 million of the funding that has been appropriated for
pp., accessed March 23, 2023, at
the Coast Guard’s new Polar Security Cutter (aka polar
https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/documents/budget/2024/Coast_G
icebreaker) program was appropriated through the SCN
uard_FY2024_Congressional_Justification.pdf.
account ($150 million each in FY2017 and FY2018). The
Coast Guard’s reserve end strength (but not its active end
U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, Advantage at
Sea, Prevailing with Integrated All-Domain Naval Power, December
strength) is authorized in the annual National Defense
2020, 29 pp., accessed March 23, 2023, at
Authorization Act (NDAA).
https://media.defense.gov/2020/Dec/17/2002553489/-1/-1/0/
The Navy and Coast Guard have mechanisms, including a
201217-N-NO101-176.JPG.
Navy and Coast Guard (NAVGARD) Board, to coordinate

matters of joint interest. The Navy and Coast Guard on at
least three occasions (2002, 2006, and 2013) have issued
Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs
IF10484
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Defense Primer: Department of the Navy


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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10484 · VERSION 27 · UPDATED

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