The structure of the United States Navy consists of four main bodies: the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the operating forces (described below), and the Shore Establishment.
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations
The chief of naval operations presides over the Navy Staff, formally known as the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV).navy.mil Chief of Naval Operations − Responsibilities. Retrieved 3 July 2010. The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory organization within the executive part of the Department of the Navy, and its purpose is to furnish professional assistance to the secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) and the chief of naval operations (CNO) in carrying out their responsibilities.
The OPNAV organization consists of: The chief of naval operations (CNO) The vice chief of naval operations (VCNO), the principal deputy of the chief of naval operations, delegated complete authority to act for the CNO in all matters not specifically reserved by law to the CNO. The director of the Navy Staff (DNS). Several deputy chiefs of naval operations (DCNOs)10 U.S. Code § 5036 - Deputy Chiefs of Naval Operations of either three or two-star rank, heading functional directorates. (N1) DCNO Personnel, Manpower, and Training/Chief of Naval Personnel (N2/N6) DCNO Information Warfare/Director of Naval Intelligence (N3/N5) DCNO Operations, Plans, and Strategy (N4) DCNO Installations & Logistics (N8) DCNO Integration of Capabilities & Resources (N7) DCNO Warfighting Development (N9) DCNO Warfare Systems (N00D) The master chief petty officer of the Navy (MCPON), appointed by the chief of naval operations to serve as a spokesperson to address the issues of enlisted personnel to the highest positions in the Navy. (N00N) The director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, a unique eight-year posting held by a 4 star admiral, which was originally created and served in by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover. The appointment as Director is both a military and civilian position as it is the head of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program in the Department of the Navy and deputy administrator for the Office of Naval Reactors of the National Nuclear Security Administration in the Department of Energy. (N093) The surgeon general of the Navy, the most senior officer in the Medical Corps who heads the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED). (N095) The chief of Navy Reserve/commander, Navy Reserve Force. (N097) The chief of chaplains. In addition, there are officials who are by either law or regulation part of the Office of the Secretary of the Navy (also known as the Secretariat), but who advise the CNO and OPNAV, on an additional duty basis, within their area of specialty, these include: (N09C) Special Assistant for Public Affairs Support, additional duty for the Chief of Information (CHINFO). (N09G) Special Assistant for Inspection Support, additional duty for the Naval Inspector General (NIG). (N09J) Special Assistant for Legal Services, additional duty for the Judge Advocate General of the Navy (JAG). (N09L) Special Assistant for Legislative Support, additional duty for the Chief of Legislative Affairs (CLA). (N09N) Special Assistant for Naval Investigative Matters and Security, additional duty for the Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Policy documents emanating from the CNO are issued in the form of OPNAV Instructions.
OPNAV is one of the three headquarters staffs in Department of the Navy mainly based at the Pentagon, with the others being the Office of the Secretary of the Navy and Headquarters Marine Corps.
Operating forces
The operating forces consists of nine components: United States Fleet Forces Command/Naval Forces Northern Command United States Pacific Fleet United States Naval Forces Central Command United States Naval Forces Southern Command United States Naval Forces Europe-Africa U.S. Fleet Cyber Command United States Navy Reserve United States Naval Special Warfare Command Operational Test and Evaluation Force
Fleets in the United States Navy take on the role of force provider; they do not carry out military operations independently, rather they train and maintain naval units that will subsequently be provided to the naval forces component of each Unified Combatant Command. While not widely publicized, groups of ships departing U.S. waters for operational missions gain a Task force type designation, almost always with the Second or Third Fleets. On entry into another numbered fleet's area of responsibility, they are redesignated as a task group from that fleet. For example, a carrier task group departing the Eastern Seaboard for the Mediterranean might start out as Task Group 20.1; on crossing the mid-Atlantic boundary between Fleet Forces Command and United States Naval Forces Europe - Naval Forces Africa, it might become ('inchop') Task Group 60.1.
Numbered fleets The United States Navy currently has seven active numbered fleets. Various other fleets have existed, but are not currently active.
{| class="wikitable sortable" width="90%" |+U.S. Navy Numbered Fleets (2015) ! Numbered Fleet ! Status ! Parent Command !Geographic Region ! Notes |- valign="top" | 1st Fleet | Inactive | Pacific Fleet |N/A | The First Fleet was created in 1947 in the Pacific. It was deactivated when the Third Fleet assumed its responsibilities in early 1973. The United States Coast Guard has sometimes informally been called the "First Fleet." |- valign="top" | 2nd Fleet | Active | Fleet Forces Command |Western North Atlantic Ocean | The Second Fleet was redesignated from the Second Task Fleet in 1950 as part of the then-United States Atlantic Fleet. It was deactivated in 2011,Reilly, Corinne, "Navy's Second Fleet Sails Off Into History Books", Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 1 October 2011. then reactivated on 4 May 2018. |- valign="top" | 3rd Fleet | Active | Pacific Fleet |Eastern Pacific Ocean | The Third Fleet was active during World War II and was deactivated in 1945. It was reactivated in early 1973 when it assumed the responsibilities previously assigned to the First Fleet. |- valign="top" | 4th Fleet | Active | Naval Forces Southern Command |Southern Atlantic Ocean | The Fourth Fleet was active during World War II and deactivated in 1950 when its responsibilities passed to Second Fleet. It was reactivated in 2008. |- valign="top" | 5th Fleet | Active | Naval Forces Central Command |Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and part of Indian Ocean | The Fifth Fleet was deactivated in 1947 after serving during World War II. It was reactivated in 1995 to assume responsibilities in the Persian Gulf previously assigned to Seventh Fleet. |- valign="top" | 6th Fleet | Active | Naval Forces Europe |Eastern North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean | The Sixth Fleet was redesignated from Sixth Task Fleet in 1950 and has been continuously active in the Mediterranean since 1950. |- valign="top" | 7th Fleet | Active | Pacific Fleet |Western Pacific Ocean & Indian Ocean | The Seventh Fleet was activated in 1943, redesignated Naval Forces Western Pacific in 1947, Seventh Task Fleet in 1949 and to its current designation in 1950. |- valign="top" | 8th Fleet | Inactive | Atlantic Fleet |N/A | The Eighth Fleet was established in 1943 from Northwest African Force. It operated in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, with its forces briefly reassigned to Twelfth Fleet. From 1946-47 served as the heavy striking arm of the United States Atlantic Fleet before being redesignated Second Task Fleet and later Second Fleet.Thomas A. Bryson, 'Tars, Turks, and Tankers: The Role of the United States Navy in the Middle East,' Scarecrow Press, Inc., Metuchen, NJ, and London, 1980. |- valign="top" | 9th Fleet | Inactive | Atlantic and Pacific |N/A | Before 15 March 1943, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe served as Commander Task Force 99, of the 9th Fleet, which was under the direct command of Admiral King. On 15 March 1943, TF 99 was redesignated TF 92. On 15 August, the 9th Fleet was redesignated 11th Fleet, still under the direct command of Admiral King, and TF 92 was redesignated TF 112. Task Forces in the 90s series have been used since World War II. In 1945, under Admiral Nimitz, CINCPOA, as Commander Ninth Fleet, Task Forces 90-92 formed the North Pacific Force, and the higher numbers were used for Strategic Air Force, POA, and local defences (Marshals-Gilberts Force, Hawaiian Sea Frontier, etc.). Naval Forces Far East used 90-series task forces in Korea. |- valign="top" | 10th Fleet | Active | Fleet Cyber Command |Global | The Tenth Fleet was active during World War II and reactivated in 2010 for assignment to Fleet Cyber Command.Navy Stands Up Fleet Cyber Command, Reestablishes U.S. 10th Fleet, |- valign="top" | 11th Fleet | Inactive | Pacific Fleet and Atlantic Fleet |N/A | Redesignated on 15 August 1943 from 9th Fleet and subsequently transferred to Atlantic Fleet |- valign="top" | 12th Fleet | Inactive | Naval Forces Europe |N/A | The Twelfth Fleet was active in European waters during World War II. It was redesignated United States Naval Forces Mediterranean in 1946, which later became Sixth Task Fleet.Peter M. Swartz, Captain, USN (Retired), Colloqium on Contemporary History, September 2003. Retrieved June 2008.
Additional numbered fleets have existed; for a period after World War II, the Sixteenth and Nineteenth Fleets were assigned as the reserve elements for Atlantic and Pacific Fleets.Kit and Carolyn Bonner, "Warship Boneyards", MBI Publishing Company, 729 Prospect Avenue, Osceola, WI., 2001, , p.79, via Google Books.
Organization
The organization of the Navy has changed incrementally over time. During World War II administrative organization for many ship types included divisions, for example Battleship Divisions (abbreviated BatDivs), Cruiser Divisions, Destroyer Divisions, or Escort Divisions (CortDivs, also rendered ComCortDiv for Commander, Escort Division), usually composed of two ships, often members of the same class. These made up squadrons (e.g. Battle Squadron, Cruiser Squadron, Escort Squadron (CortRon) etc.) of several divisions. Yet the exigencies of World War II forced the creation of the task force system where ships no longer fought solely as part of same-type divisions or squadrons. This was gradually reflected in administrative arrangements; by the 1970s, formations such as Cruiser-Destroyer Groups (CruDesGrus) came into existence.
The Navy is currently organized as such:
U.S. Fleet Forces Command / Naval Forces Northern Command Type commands, including Submarine Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Surface Forces Atlantic, and Naval Air Forces Atlantic Second Fleet operates in the Atlantic Ocean from the North to South Pole, from the Eastern United States to Western Europe and Africa, and along both the eastern and western shores of Central and South America. Second Fleet is the sole operational fleet within Fleet Forces Command, providing force training and exercises of assigned maritime forces and providing combat-ready Naval forces to support Service missions and global requirements. Second Fleet works with the Combined Joint Operations from the Sea/Center of Excellence to complete its mission. Military Sealift Command (MSC) serves not only the United States Navy, but the entire Department of Defense as an ocean carrier of materiel. It transports equipment, fuel, ammunition, and other goods essential to the smooth function of United States armed forces worldwide. Up to 95% of all supplies needed to sustain the U.S. military can be moved by Military Sealift Command. MSC operates approximately 120 ships with 100 more in reserve. Ships of the command are not crewed by active duty Navy personnel, but by civil service or contracted merchant mariners.