United States Department of the Navy
The United States Department of the Navy is a sub-cabinet executive department of the United States government. It is responsible for the U.S Navy and Marine Corps.
Composition
The department was led by a secretary and undersecretary. The abbreviation SECNAV is commonly used.
Several assistant secretaries oversee offices. Programs are overseen by a program executive officer (PEO).
The general counsel is the senior legal advisor to the secretary.
These offices and programs report to the assistant secretary of Research, Development and Acquisition (ASN(RDA)):
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These offices and programs report to the assistant secretary of Manpower and Reserve Affairs (ASN(M&RA)):
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These offices and programs report to the comptroller, more formally known as the assistant secretary of Financial Management (ASN(FM)):
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These offices and programs report to the assistant secretary of Energy, Installations and Environment (ASN(EI&E)):
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Most assistant secretaries have a principal deputy assistant secretary and several deputy assistant secretaries. In some cases, there are separate positions for a principal civilian deputy and principal military deputy. These are abbreviated similarly to the undersecretaries themselves.
History
The Department of War was created for civilian command over the Revolutionary Army, with the president as commander-in-chief being first in command and a secretary of War being second. Adams created the separate Department of the Navy in 1798. Both of these departments were cabinet-level positions.
In 1947, Truman reorganized the department into a sub-cabinet department. The National Military Establishment (NME), led by a secretary of Defense, oversaw it and the new sub-cabinet departments of Army and Air Force. While the Marine Corps was guaranteed status as a separate branch of the Armed Forces, it was not raised to the same level as these three. The NME was renamed to the DOD in 1949. However, it was Eisenhower who reorganized it into the modern DOD, in 1958.
Efforts have been made historically to rename the department to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. These most recently failed in 2019 in the Senate.