In the United States Navy, commissioned officers are either line officers or staff corps officers. Staff corps officers are specialists in career fields that are professions unto themselves, such as physicians, lawyers, civil engineers, chaplains, and supply specialists. For example, a physician can advance to become the commanding officer (CO) of a hospital, the medical hospital on a hospital ship or large warship, or a medical school; or the Chief of the Medical Corps or of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. A supply officer can become the CO of a supply depot or a school, or the head of the Naval Supply Systems Command, etc.
The eight staff corps fall under different organizations throughout the Navy. The four medicine-related corps (Medical Corps, Dental Corps, Nurse Corps, and Medical Service Corps) all fall under the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED).[1] The Civil Engineer Corps and Supply Corps fall under two of the Navy's systems commands, respectively Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and Naval Supply Systems Command.[2][3] The Judge Advocate General's Corps and Chaplain Corps are directly under the Navy Secretariat.[4][5]
Staff Corps officers wear their specialty insignia on the sleeve of the dress blue uniforms and on their shoulder boards, in place of the star worn by line officers. On winter blue and khaki working uniforms, the specialty insignia is a collar device worn on the left collar, while the rank device is worn on the right.[6]
YouTube Encyclopedic
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1/5Views:80 18015 6516 39719 27026 897
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VBSS -- Visit, Board, Search & Seizure
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Your Navy Role | What’s the Difference Between Officers and Enlisted Sailors?
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CIVIL ENGINEERS OF THE U.S. NAVY COMBAT ENGINEERS SEABEES 74412
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Beyond the Call: LCDR Ken Vargas
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Path to Commissioning | How to Become a Navy Officer
Transcription
Complacency is what gets people hurt. This particular mission you have to go execute it. Not everybody succeeds. I know that if I turn this corner my teammate will be right there. Visit, Board, Search and Seizure is a mission area comprised of a team on board the ship that allows Sailors to do other work on board to come together... they go over on a small boat to a cargo ship and they can inspect it under a United Nations Security Council Resolutions to look for contraband or... ... weapons that potentially could get in the enemy's hands. And if you do find weapons, if you do find drugs that you're not suspected of, first and foremost you integrate that from the rest of the ship and make sure they cannot be used against you. In addition we use the same teams to go fight piracy around the world, in areas when we're called, if there was a ship under attack, we would go into the area and use this team to board them and detain them. The course is nineteen training days long. Male or Female Sailors can apply and volunteer for the program. We try to throw as much information at them as we can, 'cause that's what a real boarding mission's going to give them. It's a lot of work. I mean they're taking in a lot of information. It's like trying to take a drink of water through a fire hose. They have to go through individual training... My instructors take them in and teach them all the fundamentals and tactics that they need. As a team they go through training to make sure that they work well together. And I always tell myself my teammates are there and they have my back. It's a lot of trust of the team. We're all here for one reason and that's to get the training to go out there and do this stuff for real. Make the wrong decision in a training environment, we can correct on it, we can re-train and re-set... "And when we de-conflict, de-conflict with your non firing hand." ... gives them that much more experience so that when they get in country, they get in theater, that they're gonna have the confidence to know what they have to do. It's a really exciting mission to be a part of. You can imagine being out at sea, doing your regular job, and then when we get called into an anti-piracy mission, getting in the small boat, briefing what's gonna happen, and then going out and taking care of it. It draws you out of your normal, everyday, seven day work week into, ok, what are we doing this week? Ok, we're doing a boarding. We're doing a help and comfort. Our mission is constantly changing. It's important that our students are able to go out there and provide value. VBSS isn't necessarily anti-piracy and anti-piracy only. We have a team that can go in and be a first responder. [ no voice over ] "Sir how you doin' today? USA boarding team, we're conducting a search on your vessel." Global Force For Good ties into our role as a deterrent force. We're able to stay on station. We're able to go out on the seas, and our friends and allies are re-assured by our presence. It really speaks to the diversity that is paramount to all the operations we conduct all over the world and what really does separate the American Navy from all navies across the globe.
History
Current corps
The office of Purveyor of Public Supplies, which would eventually evolve into the modern Supply Corps, was the first staff corps established, in 1795.[7] The insignia of an oak leaf and acorn was adopted in 1830 to signify members of all staff corps then in existence, which included doctors and pursers. The Medical Corps originally additionally used a rod of Asclepius, while the Pay Corps (renamed the Supply Corps in 1919) used a cornucopia.[8]
The Medical Corps was formally founded in 1871,[9] and after several design changes, in 1894 symbols resembling the modern insignia were adopted.[8]
The Chaplain Corps was established and conferred relative rank in 1863. Chaplains had been appointed to the Navy since at least 1799. The staff corps insignia has evolved to include, as of 2019, four faith symbols: the Christian (Latin) cross, the Jewish Star of David and tablets, the Muslim crescent moon, and the Buddhist wheel of law.[10]
The Civil Engineer Corps came into existence and was conferred relative rank in 1881, despite the fact that civil engineers had been employed by the Navy at least since 1827. The insignia of two crossed silver sprigs was adopted in 1905.[8]
The Nurse Corps was established in 1908, and was granted relative rank in 1942. In 1948, female Naval officer uniforms were standardized using the current corps insignia.
The Dental Corps was established in 1912, and its current insignia was adopted the following year.
The Medical Service Corps was established in 1947; from 1941 until 1947, these officers had been part of the Hospital Corps, which previously had contained only warrant officers and enlisted men. Its current insignia was adopted the following year.[8]
Although there had been a Judge Advocate General of the Navy since 1865, naval lawyers were line officers until they were split into their own staff corps, the Judge Advocate General's Corps, in 1967.[11]
In 1918, the uniforms for all staff corps became identical to those of line officers, except for the distinguishing staff corps insignia. This was in response to complaints of inequality from staff corps officers. Prior to this, staff corps were distinguished by colored bands between the rank stripes, with a different color for each corps.[12]
As of January 2015, the chiefs of five of the eight staff corps were women, including the Medical and Nurse Corps. The chiefs of the Civil Engineer, Chaplain, and Judge Advocate General's Corps were the first women to hold those posts.[1][13]
Former corps
The Engineer Corps was established in 1842, and they were conferred relative rank in 1859. From 1861 their insignia was four silver oak leaves in the form of a cross. The corps was disestablished in 1899 when its officers became line officers.[8] The absorption of ship engineers into the line was the result of conflicts in the chain of command; as staff officers, engineers were not authorized to command ships, but when in battle the engineer was in charge of maneuvering the ship while under steam power, which occurred usually during battle. An exchange of open letters in 1878 voiced line officers' concerns that discipline was suffering because engineers were sometimes of higher rank than the ship's second-in-command executive officer. The assimilation of engineers as line officers was a compromise that clarified the chain of command and elevated the status of engineers. This move made the United States Navy unusual, as other modern navies such as the Royal Navy still have a separate engineering corps. Due to the increasing complexity of ships' engineering systems after World War II, commanding officers were themselves required to undergo basic engineering training.[14]
The Corps of Professors of Mathematics was established in 1848, consisting of schoolmasters responsible for instructing midshipman at the Naval Academy, Naval Observatory, and aboard ships.[8] Although they were civilians, discipline at the Naval Academy required that they be commissioned officers. Despite the name, their specialties were not limited to mathematics, but included astronomy, engineering, justice, and the teaching of foreign languages.[15] They were conferred relative rank in 1863, and in 1866 their insignia was defined as a silver live oak leaf and an acorn. In 1916 it was provided that no further appointments would be made to the Corps of Professors of Mathematics, but that existing members would retain their appointment until all such members had died, resigned, or been dismissed.[8] The corps' dissolution was the result of their own efforts in training line officers who would replace them, making civilian appointments as professors unnecessary.[15]
The Naval Construction Corps was established and assigned relative rank in 1863, before which they were civilians. Their insignia was two silver leaves of live oak arranged vertically.[8] In 1940, the corps was abolished and naval constructors became line officers.[16]
List of current staff corps
| Name | Designator† | Insignia | Highest-ranking position/Chief | Incumbent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Corps | 210X | 
|
Surgeon General of the United States Navy |  RADM Darin K. Via |
| Chief, Medical Corps |  RDML Guido F. Valdes[17] | |||
| Dental Corps | 220X | 
|
Chief, Dental Corps |  RDML Walter D. Brafford[18] |
| Nurse Corps | 290X | 
|
Director, Nurse Corps |  RDML Robert J. Hawkins[18] |
| Medical Service Corps | 230X | 
|
Director, Medical Service Corps |  RDML Matthew Case[17] |
| Chaplain Corps | 410X | varies by religion:
|
Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy |  RADM Gregory N. Todd[19] |
| Supply Corps | 310X | 
|
Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command |  RDML Kenneth W. Epps[20] |
| Civil Engineer Corps | 510X | 
|
Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command |  RADM Dean A. VanderLey[21] |
| Judge Advocate General's Corps | 250X | 
|
Judge Advocate General of the Navy |  VADM Darse E. Crandall Jr.[22] |
[1]†An officer designator describes their general community or profession. The (fourth) digit (X) denotes whether the officer has a Regular (0), Reserve (5), or Full Time Support (7) commission.
See also
- Staff and line
- List of Naval Officer Designators
- United States Navy officer rank insignia
- Uniforms of the United States Navy
- Badges of the United States Navy
- U.S. Navy midshipman rank insignia can be found in the midshipman article.
- U.S. Navy warrant officer rank insignia can be found in the warrant officer (United States) article.
- List of United States Navy enlisted warfare designations
- United States Navy enlisted rate insignia
- Navy Enlisted Classification
- List of United States Navy ratings
- United States Army branch insignia
- List of United States Army careers
- List of United States Marine Corps MOS
- Air Force Specialty Code
- List of United States Coast Guard ratings
References
- This article incorporates text in the public domain from the United States Navy.
- ^ a b c "Navy Medicine Leadership". US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ "Key Leadership". US Naval Facilities Engineering Command. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- ^ "Supply Corps". US Naval Supply Systems Command. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ^ "Organization". US Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ^ "10 U.S. Code § 5142 – Chaplain Corps and Chief of Chaplains". Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ^ "United States Navy Specialty Insignia — Staff Corps". Navy Data. U.S. Navy. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
- ^ "Managing Logistics Across History: Navy Supply Corps 1795–2014". Navy Live. United States Navy. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lawrence, Alma R. (6 October 1952). "Insignias: Op-296/ARL". US Navy Department Library. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ "Navy's Top Doc Honors Medical Corps Birthday". United States Navy. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ^ Berkeley, Ronit Y. Stahl, University of California (2019-11-15). "How the US military embraced America's religious diversity". Military Times. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Navy JAG History". US Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
- ^ Broderick, Justin T. (17 April 2014). "U.S. Navy Officer Corps Insignia Changes, 1918–1922". Uniform-Reference.Net. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ^ "Top Female Leadership". US Navy Personnel Command. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- ^ Kopin, Zach (30 April 2013). "Convergent Corps: Line Officers, Staff Officers and the Modernization of the U.S. Navy". Naval Historical Foundation. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
- ^ a b Peterson, C. J. (1987). "The United States Navy Corps of Professors of Mathematics". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 19: 1037. Bibcode:1987BAAS...19.1037P. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
- ^ "An Act To transfer the active list of the Construction Corps to the line of the Navy; and for other purposes.". Public Law No. 76-657 of 25 June 1940 (PDF).
- ^ a b "Navy Medicine Leadership". US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ a b "Navy Medicine Leadership". Navy Medicine. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
- ^ "Webcast: Change of Office for the Chaplains". DVIDS. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ "Command Biographies". Naval Supply Systems Command. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
- ^ Dunne, Christopher (12 August 2022). "NAVFAC Holds Change of Command". DVIDS. Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D. C.: Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "August 2021 Roster (Public)" (PDF). MyNavyHR. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
This page was last edited on 13 March 2024, at 02:29