"[2] All past and present members of official United States Navy bands are eligible for membership.

The NMA was founded in 1995 by a group of retired Navy musicians residing in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia who had served at the United States Armed Forces School of Music and in the United States Atlantic Fleet band.

The organization has grown to accept former and present members of all official U.S. Navy bands.

The annual reunion of the Navy Musicians Association is held in June of each year.

A reunion highlight, when location and scheduling permit, is a concert of patriotic music by an active-duty Navy band.