Updated March 19, 2024
Defense Primer: Department of the Navy
One Military Department with Two
maintenance funding primarily for the Navy, while the
Military Services
Operation and Maintenance, Marine Corps (OMMC),
The Department of the Navy (DON) is a single military
appropriation account contains operation and maintenance
department that includes two military services—the Navy
funding for the Marine Corps.
and the Marine Corps. As such, DON has a single civilian
leader, the Secretary of the Navy, and two four-star military
A few DON appropriation accounts include funding for
service chiefs—an admiral whose title is the Chief of Naval
both the Navy and Marine Corps, even though their titles
Operations (CNO), and a general whose title is the
refer only to the Navy. For example, the Aircraft
Commandant of the Marine Corps. Although the title
Procurement, Navy (APN) appropriation account funds the
“Secretary of the Navy” includes only the term “Navy,” the
procurement of both Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, and
secretary serves as the civilian leader for both the Navy and
the Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation, Navy
Marine Corps. The CNO and the Commandant of the
(RDTEN) account includes research and development
Marine Corps are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
funding for both the Navy and Marine Corps. The
(JCS). As of March 19, 2024, the Secretary of the Navy is
Procurement of Ammunition, Navy/Marine Corps
Carlos Del Toro, the CNO is Admiral Lisa Franchetti, and
(PANMC) account includes funding for procuring both
the Commandant of the Marine Corps is General Eric
Navy and Marine Corps ammunition.
Smith.
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
including amphibious ships. Although amphibious ships are
specifically
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 FY2025 budget requests $257.6 billion, of
Corps.” DON officials sometimes refer to the two services
which, DON states, $203.9 billion (79.2%) is for the Navy
as the Navy-Marine Corps team. See also the section below
entitled “The Naval Service.”
and $53.7 billion (20.8%) is for the Marine Corps. In terms

of appropriation groups, $61.9 billion (24.0%) is for
“Navy” in DOD Budget Documents Can
military personnel, $87.6 billion (34.0%) is for operations
Mean DON
and maintenance, $77.1 billion (29.9%) is for procurement,
$25.7 billion (10.0%) is for research and development, and
DOD budget documents that divide the DOD budget into
$5.3 billion (2.1%) is for military construction.
four military departments often label those departments as
Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense-Wide. In using data
DON Personnel
from such documents, it is important to remember that the
DON’s
category called “Navy”
proposed budget for FY2025 requests a total of
in these cases refers to the
825,062 personnel, including 504,600 active-duty
Department of the Navy, and thus includes funding for both
uniformed personnel (61.2%), 90,200 reserve personnel
the Navy and Marine Corps.
(10.9%), and 226,955 civilian personnel (27.9%). The
“Blue Dollars” and “Green Dollars” in
budget requested a total of 597,966 Navy personnel
DON Budget
(332,300 active-duty, 57,700 reserve, and 207,966 civilian),
or about 72.5% of the total requested for DON, and a total
People who work with the DON budget sometimes refer to
“blue dollars,” meaning funding
of 227,096 Marine Corps personnel (172,300 active-duty,
in the DON budget for the
Navy, and “green dollars,”
32,500 reserve, and 22,296 civilian), or about 27.5% of the
meaning funding in the DON
total requested for DON.
budget for the Marine Corps. Of the more than two dozen
appropriation accounts that form DON’s budget, many
Coast Guard in Relation to DON
contain funding specifically for either the Navy or Marine
Unlike DON, which is part of DOD and is covered (along
Corps. For example, the Operation and Maintenance, Navy
with the Departments of the Army and Air Force) in the
(OMN), appropriation account contains operation and
U.S. Code primarily in Title 10, the Coast Guard is part of
https://crsreports.congress.gov

---

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 as the sea services.
Department of Homeland Security, except when operating
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
The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are also
in the declaration or when the President directs, the
sometimes referred to collectively by officials of those
services and other observers as the naval service. For
Coast Guard shall operate as a service in the Navy,
example, a tri-service strategy document released in
and shall so continue until the President, by
December 2020, entitled Advantage at Sea, Prevailing with
Executive order, transfers the Coast Guard back to
Integrated All-Domain Naval Power, states that the three
the Department of Homeland Security. While
services are “collectively known as the Naval Service,” and
operating as a service in the Navy, the Coast Guard
defines the term naval service in its glossary as meaning the
shall be subject to the orders of the Secretary of the
three services. As another example, the April 2020 edition
Navy, who may order changes in Coast Guard
of a tri-service doctrine publication, Naval Doctrine
operations to render them uniform, to the extent
Publication 1, Naval Warfare, states “The United States
such Secretary deems advisable, with Navy
Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the United
operations.” (14 U.S.C. 103(b))
States Coast Guard collectively form the nation’s Naval
The last time the Coast Guard operated as a service in the
Service.” The Coast Guard, however, is not frequently
Navy was during World War II. The possibility that the
referred to as a naval service in annual Navy or Coast
Coast Guard might at some point operate as a service in the
Guard documents submitted to Congress, and the U.S. Code
Navy is why legislation concerning the Coast Guard
does not specifically define the Coast Guard as a naval
sometimes uses phrases such as “the Secretary of the
service (as opposed to a military service or a branch of the
Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.”
Armed 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
the Commandant of the Coast Guard, is not a member of
Tri-Service Strategy Documents
the JCS. The Commandant of the Coast Guard is Admiral
The three services in recent years have from to time issued
Linda L. Fagan.
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
Relevant Statutes
possibility of encountering potential law enforcement
Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle C – Navy and Marine Corps
situations (such as those relating to drug interdiction,
migrant interdiction, and enforcement of fisheries laws)
Title 14, U.S. Code, Chapter 1 – Establishment and Duties of the
sometimes embark detachments of Coast Guard personnel.
Coast Guard

The Coast Guard’s budget is funded primarily through the
Other Resources
annual DHS appropriations act. DON’s budget sometimes
includes small amounts of funding to support the Coast
Department of the Navy, Highlights of the Department of the Navy
Guard’s national defense mission. In addition, the
FY 2025 Budget, 2024, 149 pp., accessed March 19, 2024, at
procurement of one of the Coast Guard’s polar icebreakers
https://www.secnav.navy.mil/fmc/fmb/Documents/25pres/Highligh
(Healy) was funded primarily with FY1990 SCN funding,
ts_Book.pdf.
33 of the Coast Guard’s 49 Island-class 110-foot patrol
Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Budget
boats (which are now being retired) were procured under a
Overview, Fiscal Year 2025, Congressional Justification, undated, 320
Navy contract that included FY1990 SCN funding, and
pp., accessed March 19, 2024, at
$300 million of the funding that has been appropriated for
https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/documents/budget/2025/USCG%2
the Coast Guard’s new Polar Security Cutter (aka polar
0FY%202025%20Congressional%20Justification.pdf.
icebreaker) program was appropriated through the SCN
U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, Advantage at
account ($150 million each in FY2017 and FY2018). The
Coast Guard’s reserve end strength (but not its acti
Sea, Prevailing with Integrated All-Domain Naval Power, December
ve end
2020, 29 pp., accessed March 19, 2024, at
strength) is authorized in the annual National Defense
https://media.defense.gov/2020/Dec/16/2002553074/-1/-
Authorization Act (NDAA).
1/0/TRISERVICESTRATEGY.PDF.
The Navy and Coast Guard have mechanisms, including a

Navy and Coast Guard (NAVGARD) Board, to coordinate
matters of joint interest. The Navy and Coast Guard on at
Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs
least three occasions (2002, 2006, and 2013) have issued
IF10484
https://crsreports.congress.gov

---

Defense Primer: Department of the Navy


Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10484 · VERSION 32 · UPDATED

---