32 C.F.R. Subpart B—The Department of the Navy
Title 32 - National Defense

Title 32: National Defense
PART 700—UNITED STATES NAVY REGULATIONS AND OFFICIAL RECORDS

Browse Previous |  Browse Next

Subpart B—The Department of the Navy

§ 700.201   Origin and authority of the Department of the Navy.

(a) The naval affairs of the country began with the war for independence, the American Revolution. On 13 October 1775, Congress passed legislation for ships. This, in effect, created the continental Navy. Two battalions of Marines were authorized on 10 November 1775. Under the Constitution, the First Congress on 7 August 1789 assigned responsibility for the conduct of naval affairs to the War Department. On 30 April 1798, the Congress established a separate Department of the Navy with the Secretary of the Navy as its chief officer. On 11 July 1798, the United States Marine Corps was established as a separate service, and in 1834 was made a part of the Department of the Navy.

(b) The National Security Act of 1947, as amended, is the fundamental law governing the position of the Department of the Navy in the organization for national defense. In 1949, the Act was amended to establish the Department of Defense as an Executive Department, and to establish the Departments of the Army, Navy and Air Force (formerly established as Executive Departments by the 1947 Act) as military departments within the Department of Defense.

(c) The Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 further defined the roles of the military departments within the Department of Defense. In addition to establishing the office of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and further emphasizing the operational chain of command, the Act provided detailed statements of the roles of the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and their respective principal assistants.

(d) The responsibilities and authority of the Department of the Navy are vested in the Secretary of the Navy, and are subject to reassignment and delegation by the Secretary. The Secretary is bound by the provisions of law, the direction of the President and the Secretary of Defense and, along with all persons in charge of Government agencies, the regulations of certain non-defense agencies addressing their respective areas of functional responsibility.

§ 700.202   Mission of the Department of the Navy.

(a) The Navy, within the Department of the Navy, shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained combat incident to operations at sea. It is responsible for the preparation of naval forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war except as otherwise assigned, and, in accordance with integrated joint mobilization plans, for the expansion of the peacetime components of the Navy to meet the needs of war.

(b) The Navy shall develop aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization and equipment of naval combat and service elements. Matters of joint concern as to these functions shall be coordinated between the Army, the Air Force and the Navy.

(c) The Marine Corps, within the Department of the Navy, shall be organized, trained, and equipped to provide fleet marine forces of combined arms, together with supporting air components, for service with the fleet in the seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and for the conduct of such land operations as may be essential to the prosecution of a naval campaign. In addition, the Marine Corps shall provide detachments and organizations for service on armed vessels of the Navy, shall provide security detachments for the protection of naval property at naval stations and bases, and shall perform such other duties as the President may direct. However, these additional duties may not detract from or interfere with the operations for which the Marine Corps is primarily organized.

(d) The Marine Corps shall develop, in coordination with the Army and the Air Force, those phases of amphibious operations that pertain to the tactics, technique and equipment used by landing forces.

(e) The Marine Corps is responsible, in accordance with integrated joint mobilization plans, for the expansion of peacetime components of the Marine Corps to meet the needs of war.

§ 700.203   Composition.

(a) The Department of the Navy is separately organized under the Secretary of the Navy. It operates under the authority, direction and control of the Secretary of Defense.

(b) The Department of the Navy is composed of the following:

(1) The Office of the Secretary of the Navy;

(2) The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations;

(3) The Headquarters, Marine Corps;

(4) The entire operating forces, including naval aviation, of the Navy and of the Marine Corps, and the reserve components of those operating forces;

(5) All field activities, headquarters, forces, bases, installations, activities and functions under the control or supervision of the Secretary of the Navy; and

(6) The Coast Guard when it is operating as a service in the Navy.

§ 700.204   The principal elements of the Department of the Navy.

(a) The Department of the Navy consists of three elements; the Navy Department, the Operating Forces of the Navy and the Marine Corps, and the Shore Establishment.

(b) The Navy Department refers to the central executive offices of the Department of the Navy located at the seat of Government. The Navy Department is organizationally comprised of the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Headquarters, Marine Corps. In addition, the Headquarters, Coast Guard, is included when the Coast Guard is operating as a service in the Navy.

(c) The operating forces of the Navy and the Marine Corps comprise the several fleets, seagoing forces, Fleet Marine Forces, other assigned Marine Corps Forces, the Military Sealift Command and other forces and activities that may be assigned thereto by the President or the Secretary of the Navy.

(d) The shore establishment is comprised of shore activities with defined missions approved for establishment by the Secretary of the Navy.