ORGANIZATION, COMPOSITION AND FUNCTIONS OF US NAVY

The US Navy consists of the Regular Navy and the Naval Reserve. The Regular Navy consists of officers and enlisted personnel who have elected to make the naval service a lifetime career. The Naval Reserve is to provide qualified individuals and trained units to be available for active duty in time of war or national emergency.

The term " Department of the Navy" is synonymous with the term " Naval Establishment." It is construed to mean the Navy Department, the United States Marine Corps; the entire Operating Forces of the US Navy, including naval aviation, and the reserve compo­nents of such forces; all HQ, forces, bases and installations, under the control or supervision of the Secretary of the Navy and the US Coast Guard when operating as part of the Navy.

The DN consists of the principal parts as follows:

The Operating Forces (OF) of the Navy, which comprise the several fleets, sea­going forces, sea frontier forces, the Military Sea Transportation Service and such shore activities of the Navy and other forces as may be assigned to the OF of the Navy by the President or the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV).

The Navy Department, which is the central executive authority of the Department of the Navy (DN) comprises the Office of the SECNAV, the Naval Staff headed by the Chief of Naval Operations and the HQ of the United States Marine Corps (USMC).

The Navy Department (ND) is the HQ of the Naval Establishment. So the term " Navy Department" is quite different in its meaning from the term " Department of the Navy."

The Shore Establishment comprises all activities of the DN not assigned to the OF of the Navy and not part of the ND. These activities include air stations, ordnance plants, recruit depots and training stations, shipyards, supply depots, and other shore activities of the US Navy and the USMC.

The ships that provide transportation for all Military Services are operated under the control of the OF as the Military Sealift Command.

The Coast Guard, which is a part of the Armed Forces, operates under the Treasury Department in peacetime and under the Navy in wartime.

Ships of the OF are organized under three different organizational systems.
First, the majority of forces are assigned to Type Commanders for
administration control and for operation control during primary and intermediate training phases.

Second, the same forces are assigned to Fleet Commanders for advanced training and operations.

Third, some elements of these forces are further assigned to Task Organizations for specific operations and missions.

Type Organization. All ships are organized into broad categories under Commands whose titles are self-explanatory, such as Amphibious, Destroyer, Mine, Submarine, Air, etc.

Each type command contains further admin subdivisions such as flotillas, squadrons and divisions.

Fleet Organization. There are four regularly constituted fleets — the Third and Seventh in the Pacific under the CinC, Pacific, and the Second and Sixth Fleets in the Atlantic under CinC, Atlantic Fleet.

Task Force Organization. In order to provide flexibility of organization and ease of communications, the task Force Organization (Task Fleet Organization) are formed. Under this system a flexible structure is provided consisting of fleets further divided into forces, groups, units, elements.

The organization of the ship is based on the requirements for battle of combatant vessel. The ship is organized into six main departments: the operations department, the navigation department, the gunnery department, the engineering department, the supply department, and the medical department. In aircraft carriers there is also the air department. Each department is organized into divisions under the division officer.