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United States Secretary of the Navy

The secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer (10 U.S.C. § 8013) and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense.

Not to be confused with Chief of Naval Operations.

Secretary of the Navy

Mister Secretary
The Honorable (formally)

SECNAV

18 June 1798 (18 June 1798)

The Under Secretary
(Principal Civilian Deputy)
Chief of Naval Operations
(Navy Advisor and Deputy)
The Commandant
(Marine Corps Advisor and Deputy)

By law, the secretary of the Navy must be a civilian at least five years removed from active military service. The secretary is appointed by the president and requires confirmation by the Senate.


The secretary of the Navy was, from its creation in 1798, a member of the president's Cabinet until 1949, when the secretary of the Navy (and the secretaries of the Army and Air Force) were by amendments to the National Security Act of 1947 made subordinate to the secretary of defense.[1]


On August 7, 2021, Carlos Del Toro was confirmed as secretary of the Navy.[2]


From 2001 to 2019, proposals to rename the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps, which would have also renamed the secretary of the Navy to the secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps, were introduced with wide support in the United States Congress, but failed due to the opposition of Senator and former U.S. Navy officer John McCain.[3]

The Navy Secretariat[edit]

The Office of the Secretary of the Navy, also known within DoD as the Navy Secretariat or simply just as the Secretariat in a DoN setting, is the immediate headquarters staff that supports the secretary in discharging his duties. The principal officials of the Secretariat include the under secretary of the Navy (the secretary's principal civilian deputy), the assistant secretaries of the Navy (ASN), the general counsel of the Navy, the judge advocate general of the Navy (JAG), the Naval inspector general (NIG), the chief of Legislative Affairs, and the chief of naval research. The Office of the Secretary of the Navy has sole responsibility within the Department of the Navy for acquisition, auditing, financial and information management, legislative affairs, and public affairs.[8]


Pursuant to SecNavInst 5090.5F, the Department of the Navy Environmental Programs Manual, the secretary of the Navy and chief of naval operations recognize a number of commands annually for achievements in such areas as environmental quality, environmental cleanup, natural resources conservation, cultural resources management, pollution prevention, and recycling.[9]


The chief of naval operations and the commandant of the Marine Corps have their own separate staffs, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (also known by its acronym OPNAV) and Headquarters Marine Corps.

Military awards of the United States Department of the Navy

Secretary of the Navy Council of Review Boards

the only Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate States of America

Stephen Mallory

Official website