§8014 Office of the Secretary of the Navy

Summary

Creates an Office of the Secretary of the Navy to help the Secretary do his job. The Office includes the Under Secretary, the Assistant Secretaries, the General Counsel, the Judge Advocate General, the Naval Inspector General, the Chiefs of Legislative Affairs and Naval Research, and any other offices the law or the Secretary creates. The Office alone must run seven main functions across itself, the Chief of Naval Operations, and Marine Corps headquarters: acquisition, auditing, financial management, information management, inspector general work, legislative affairs, and public affairs. The Secretary must set up one office or entity inside the Office to handle each function, explain how those offices will work with the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and make sure they provide needed staff support. Other parts of the Navy may give advice or help when directed. The head of the auditing office must have at least five years of accounting or auditing experience and be a career reserved position, and supervisors in that auditing office may not be active-duty members. The Office also must handle research and development, though the Secretary can give parts about military requirements and testing to the Chief of Naval Operations and Marine Corps; one office must be named to run R&D and its relationship to CNO and the Commandant must be set. No more than 3,150 people may be permanently assigned to the three headquarters combined, and no more than 1,800 active-duty Navy and Marine Corps officers may be assigned there. The total number of general and flag officers on permanent duty in those offices may not exceed 74. These limits do not apply in time of war. In a national emergency, the first two limits may be increased by 15 percent.