While the Navy has its own internal organization, it is a component of the much larger Department of Defense (DoD). How these two elements of national defense interact is complex and not always clearly understood.
Joint Chiefs of Staff
DoD is headed by the Secretary of Defense (SecDef), who answers directly to the President of the United States (POTUS), and he or she is assisted by a senior military officer, known as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), who can come from any of the services. The senior military officers of each service (Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Space Operations, and the National Guard Bureau) serve collectively as the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The CJCS (with the assistance of the other Joint Chiefs) serves only as a principal advisor to the President, National Security Council, and SecDef. At SecDef’s direction, the CJCS may issue directives to operating forces, but these directives are always issued with the understanding they originated with SecDef, not the CJCS.
The service chiefs are not actually in the operational chain of command. Constitutionally, POTUS is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and he or she issues operational orders to the SecDef, who in turn passes them to the appropriate combatant commander(s).
Unified Combatant Commands
There are 11 generals and/or admirals serving as unified combatant commanders, sometimes referred to as combatant commanders, or unified commanders, or CCDRs. Each CCDR is responsible for a geographic region of the world or has a worldwide function as can be seen below:
Africa Command (AfriCom) is responsible for the African continent, its island nations, and the surrounding waters. The only exception is Egypt.
Central Command (CentCom) includes countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and central Asia (most notably, Afghanistan).
European Command (EuCom) covers more than 50 countries and territories, including Europe, Russia, Greenland, and Israel. The EuCom commander also serves as the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, NATO.
Northern Command (NorthCom) provides military support to civil authorities in the United States and protects U.S. territories and national interests, including Alaska (but not Hawaii), Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas, as well as Canada, Mexico, and the air, land, and sea approaches to these areas. NorthCom would be the primary defender against a U.S. mainland invasion.
Indo-Pacific Command (IndoPaCom) is responsible for the Pacific Ocean area (including Hawaii) and the Indian Ocean.
Southern Command (SouthCom) provides contingency planning and operations in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the Panama Canal.
Space Command (SpaceCom) has a global area of operations defined as the area surrounding the earth at altitudes equal to or greater than 100 kilometers above average sea level and is responsible for space operations related to the military.
Special Operations Command (SoCom) oversees the various special operations component commands of the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.
Strategic Command (StratCom) is charged with strategic warning, integrated missile defense, and global command and control, communications, computers, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance efforts supporting the combatant commands.
Transportation Command (TransCom) conducts various air, land, and sea mobility operations for DoD, both in peace and war.
Cyber Command (CyberCom) unifies cyberspace operations, strengthens DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrates and bolsters DoD cyber expertise. The commander of CyberCom also serves as the director of the National Security Agency and chief of the Central Security Service.
Component Commanders
Working directly for the CCDRs are the service component commanders. These commanders control personnel, aircraft, ships, and other elements from their respective services that can be made available to the unified commanders for operations when needed. For example, the CentCom commander has the following service component commands assigned to carry out operations that fall within CentCom’s area of responsibility:
• U.S. Army Central Command
• U.S. Central Command Air Forces
• U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
• U.S. Marine Forces Central Command
It is through these CCDRs and their component commanders that DoD and the Navy operational organizations come together.
Anomalies
Because the U.S. Coast Guard is assigned to the Department of Homeland Security, rather than DoD, its Commandant is not a formal member of the JCS.
While the Vice President of the United States is a “heartbeat away” from being commander-in-chief, she or he is not in the operational chain of command. Nor is any other cabinet secretary.
