https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated July 10, 2024
Defense Primer: Department of the Navy
One Military Department with Two
Military Services
The Department of the Navy (DON) is a single military
department that includes two military services—the Navy
and the Marine Corps. As such, DON has a single civilian
leader, the Secretary of the Navy, and two four-star military
service chiefs—an admiral whose title is the Chief of Naval
Operations (CNO), and a general whose title is the
Commandant of the Marine Corps. Although the title
“Secretary of the Navy” includes only the term “Navy,” the
secretary serves as the civilian leader for both the Navy and
Marine Corps. The CNO and the Commandant of the
Marine Corps are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
(JCS). As of July 10, 2024, the Secretary of the Navy is
Carlos Del Toro, the CNO is Admiral Lisa Franchetti, and
the Commandant of the Marine Corps is General Eric
Smith.
“Naval” Refers to Both the Navy and
Marine Corps
Although the term “naval” is often used to refer specifically
to the Navy, it more properly refers to both the Navy and
Marine Corps, because both the Navy and Marine Corps are
naval services. Even though the Marine Corps sometimes
operates for extended periods as a land fighting force (as it
did, for example, in Afghanistan and Iraq), and is often
thought of as the country’s second land army, it
nevertheless is, by law, a naval service. 10 U.S.C.
8001(a)(3) states that “The term ‘member of the naval
service’ means a person appointed or enlisted in, or
inducted or conscripted into, the Navy or the Marine
Corps.” DON officials sometimes refer to the two services
as the Navy-Marine Corps team. See also the section below
entitled “The Naval Service.”
“Navy” in DOD Budget Documents Can
Mean DON
DOD budget documents that divide the DOD budget into
four military departments often label those departments as
Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense-Wide. In using data
from such documents, it is important to remember that the
category called “Navy” in these cases refers to the
Department of the Navy, and thus includes funding for both
the Navy and Marine Corps.
“Blue Dollars” and “Green Dollars” in
DON Budget
People who work with the DON budget sometimes refer to
“blue dollars,” meaning funding in the DON budget for the
Navy, and “green dollars,” meaning funding in the DON
budget for the Marine Corps. Of the more than two dozen
appropriation accounts that form DON’s budget, many
contain funding specifically for either the Navy or Marine
Corps. For example, the Operation and Maintenance, Navy
(OMN), appropriation account contains operation and
maintenance funding primarily for the Navy, while the
Operation and Maintenance, Marine Corps (OMMC),
appropriation account contains operation and maintenance
funding for the Marine Corps.
A few DON appropriation accounts include funding for
both the Navy and Marine Corps, even though their titles
refer only to the Navy. For example, the Aircraft
Procurement, Navy (APN) appropriation account funds the
procurement of both Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, and
the Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation, Navy
(RDTEN) account includes research and development
funding for both the Navy and Marine Corps. The
Procurement of Ammunition, Navy/Marine Corps
(PANMC) account includes funding for procuring both
Navy and Marine Corps ammunition.
The Navy’s shipbuilding account, known formally as the
Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy (SCN) appropriation
account, funds the procurement of various types of ships,
including amphibious ships. Although amphibious ships are
Navy ships operated by Navy crews, the primary function
of amphibious ships is to transport Marine Corps personnel
and equipment and support Marine Corps ship-to-shore
movements and Marine Corps operations ashore. The
Navy’s amphibious ships are sometimes referred to
informally as the “Gator Navy,” a shortening of the term
alligator, an animal that, like the Marine Corps, can move
from the water to land, and then back into the water.
DON Budget
DON’s proposed FY2025 budget requests $257.6 billion, of
which, DON states, $203.9 billion (79.2%) is for the Navy
and $53.7 billion (20.8%) is for the Marine Corps. In terms
of appropriation groups, $61.9 billion (24.0%) is for
military personnel, $87.6 billion (34.0%) is for operations
and maintenance, $77.1 billion (29.9%) is for procurement,
$25.7 billion (10.0%) is for research and development, and
$5.3 billion (2.1%) is for military construction.
DON Personnel
DON’s proposed budget for FY2025 requests a total of
825,062 personnel, including 504,600 active-duty
uniformed personnel (61.2%), 90,200 reserve personnel
(10.9%), and 226,955 civilian personnel (27.9%). The
budget requested a total of 597,966 Navy personnel
(332,300 active-duty, 57,700 reserve, and 207,966 civilian),
or about 72.5% of the total requested for DON, and a total
of 227,096 Marine Corps personnel (172,300 active-duty,
32,500 reserve, and 22,296 civilian), or about 27.5% of the
total requested for DON.
Coast Guard in Relation to DON
Unlike DON, which is part of DOD and is covered (along
with the Departments of the Army and Air Force) in the
U.S. Code primarily in Title 10, the Coast Guard is part of
