About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


1 [1] (December 4, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/goveswa0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Defense Primer: Department of the Navy One Miltary Department wth TwO Miltary 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 December 4, 2025, the Secretary of the Navy is John Phelan, the CNO is Admiral Daryl Caudle, and the Commandant of the Marine Corps is General Eric Smith. Nava 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 n 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. Bue Doars and Green DoLars 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 Updated December 4, 2025 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 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. DON udget The Department of Defense (DOD) characterizes its FY2026 budget submission as including funding requested from two sources: H.R. 1/P.L. 119-21 of July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (aka reconciliation bill, aka megabill), and the FY2026 DOD Appropriations Act. DON states that its FY2026 budget submission includes about $43.3 billion requested for H.R. 1/P.L. 119-21, and about $248.9 billion requested for the FY2026 DOD Appropriations Act, for a combined requested total of about $292.2 billion. The $43.3 billion requested for H.R. 1/P.L. 119-21 equates to about 14.8% of the combined total of about $292.2 billion. Within the requested total of about $292.2 billion, about $235.0 billion (80.4%) is for the Navy and the rest is for the Marine Corps. In terms of appropriation groups, within the $292.2 billion, about $61.9 billion (22.7%) is for military personnel, $93.7 billion (32.1%) is for operations and maintenance, $95.3 billion (32.6%) is for procurement, $29.2 billion (10.0%) is for research and development, $7.4 billion (2.5%) is for military construction, and $0.4 billion (0.1%) is for revolving funds. Within the figure of about $43.3 billion requested for DON for H.R. 1/P.L. 119-21, about $41.0 billion (94.7%) is for the Navy, and more specifically, about $26.5 billion (61.3%) is requested for the Navy's shipbuilding account, known formally as the Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy (SCN) account.