§8014 Office of the Secretary of the Navy

Summary

The Department of the Navy must have an Office of the Secretary of the Navy to help the Secretary do his job. That Office includes the Under Secretary, the Assistant Secretaries, the General Counsel, the Navy’s Judge Advocate General, the Naval Inspector General, the Chiefs of Legislative Affairs and Naval Research, and any other offices or officials created by law or chosen by the Secretary. The Office of the Secretary of the Navy is the single place in the Navy that is in charge of seven key functions—like buying equipment, auditing, financial management, information management, inspector general work, legislative affairs, and public affairs—and it must create one office or entity inside it for each function. The same rule mostly applies to research and development, though the Secretary can give parts about military requirements and testing to the Chief of Naval Operations or the Headquarters, Marine Corps. The Secretary must set how those offices work with the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps and make sure they give needed staff help. The head of the auditing office must have at least five years of accounting or auditing experience and be a career reserved position under 5 U.S.C. 3132(a)(8). Some supervisory audit posts cannot be held by active-duty members. The number of people assigned permanently to these three headquarters is capped at 3,150 total, no more than 1,800 active-duty officers, and no more than 74 general or flag officers. Those limits do not apply in time of war, and the total and active-duty officer limits can be increased by up to 15 percent in a national emergency.