Structure of the United States Navy

[1][2] 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.

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.

This was gradually reflected in administrative arrangements; by the 1970s, formations such as Cruiser-Destroyer Groups (CruDesGrus) came into existence.

[clarification needed] In 1834, the United States Marine Corps (USMC) came under the Department of the Navy.

[24] Historically, the United States Navy has enjoyed a unique relationship with the Marines, partly because they both specialize in seaborne operations.

The USMC does not train chaplains, hospital corpsmen or medical doctors; thus officers and enlisted sailors from the Navy fulfill these roles.

[25] Because of the lack of full-scale amphibious operations in recent conflicts, there has been pressure to cut the "gator navy" below the two-regiment requirement of the Marines.

[26] This is a reduction from the programmatic goal of 2.5 Marine Expeditionary Brigades and actual structure of 2.07 MEB equivalents in 1999.

This is a symbol of the special status and honor granted to US Marines, and is a unique aspect of the Navy-Marine relationship.

The United States Coast Guard fulfills this law enforcement role in naval operations.

The Coast Guard also jointly staffs the Navy's Naval Coastal Warfare Groups and Squadrons (the latter of which were known as Harbor Defense Commands until late-2004), which oversee defense efforts in foreign littoral combat and inshore areas.