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BTW - Happy Birthday!

By The Armorer on October 13, 2004 | | Comments (9)

...to the U.S. Navy. Founded (appropriately enough) on Friday the 13th of October, 1775.

And, in about the last time the Navy let itself get snookered by another service - it's Junior to the Marine Corps, a subordinate organization... hee hee hee.

The Marine Corps has had precedence over the Navy since 1921 because the Marine Corps has been very consistent in citing its origins as the legislation of the Continental Congress that established the Continental Marines on 10 November 1775. In constrast [sic], the United States Navy until 1972 gave various responses to the question of when it was founded, often citing legislation dating from its reestablishment in the 1790s. At the time the order of precedenceof the U.S. services was established, the Navy was using the dates from the 1790s, as its founding, and hence was viewed as a younger service than the Marine Corps. Despite several efforts to reverse the Marine Corps/Navy order of precedence in recent years, it has not occurred.

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9 Comments

By John on October 13, 2004 2:30 PM
The Continental Navy was disbanded shortly after the Revolutionary War. In August 4, 1790, Congress authorized the funding for 10 cutters to enforce the revenue. These cutters were the beginning of the Revenue Cutter Service. In 1798, Congress authorized the creation of the Department of the Navy. What happened to the Revenue Cutters? In 1915, the service merged with the U.S. Lifesaving Service and was renamed the United States Coast Guard! So, the U.S. Coast Guard is older than the U.S. Navy. Semper Paratus!
 
By John of Argghhh! on October 13, 2004 2:34 PM
Hoist on their own petard, too! I've never been to a parade where all five services were present. Does the Coast Guard have precedence?
 
By John of Argghhh! on October 13, 2004 2:44 PM
Ah, I see they are not. The official precedence list for the US military is: Cadets, U.S. Military Academy Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy Cadets, U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) Cadets, U.S. Coast Guard Academy Midshipmen, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy U.S. Army U.S. Marine Corps U.S. Navy U.S. Air Force U.S. Coast Guard Army National Guard of the U.S. U.S. Army Reserve U.S. Marine Corps Reserve U.S. Naval Reserve Air National Guard of the U.S. U.S. Air Force Reserve U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Other training organizations of the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Coast Guard, in that order When the U.S. Coast Guard operates as part of the U.S. Navy, the Cadets, U.S. Coast Guard Academy; U.S. Coast Guard; and U.S. Coast Guard Reserve precede the Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy; U.S. Navy; and U.S. Naval Reserve, respectively Troops of the U.S. Air Force are positioned as follows: officers, USAFA cadets, Officer Training School (OTS) students, and airmen Here's where I confirm I'm not a Ring Knocker. I didn't know (nor do I understand the logic of, at first glance) why the various denizens of the Academy's have precedence. Any of you Ring Knockers know the answer to that? But OHO! Look at that... when push comes to shove, the Coasties *ARE* senior to the Squids!
 
By Ed on October 13, 2004 4:37 PM
It's kinda a chicken and egg thing. You can't have the Naval Infantry unless you've got the navy. Hurts to think about it.
 
By Eric on October 13, 2004 4:50 PM
..subordinate?... Sir, how do you figure that?.. I never had a a sailor in MY chain of command... unless he was chairman of the JCS... Marines may be in the "Department of the Navy"... but, rest assured, we are the Mens Department... and, in no way, subordinate to them...
 
By John of Argghhh! on October 13, 2004 5:40 PM
Sorry, Eric. Until there is a Secretary of the Marine Corps... But I won't argue with the "Men's Department" bit.
 
By Harvey on October 14, 2004 12:14 AM
I won't argue it either, 'cuz it takes a REAL man to keep the XO's passageway waxed to such perfection. Which is about all the Marines ever did on the Enterprise. Except for playing "chase the invisible intruder" games that involved brandishing weapons at everyone on the mess decks. I *swear* they enjoyed that WAY too much :-)
 
By Eric on October 14, 2004 2:31 PM
...I thought the Secretary of the Navy was a civilian?...
 
By Puddle Pirate on October 14, 2004 5:01 PM
The Coast Guard traces its lineage back to August 4, 1790. We are the oldest continuing seagoing service, as John of Brown Hound demonstrated.