10 U.S.C. § 5031
Section 5031 · Office of the Chief of Naval Operations: function; composition
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 10 court decisions — leading case Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy (1961)
Most recently applied in Nancy I. Brown v. Department of the Navy (April 1992)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) There is in the executive part of the Department of the Navy an Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. The function of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations is to assist the Secretary of the Navy in carrying out his responsibilities.
(b) The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations is composed of the following:
(1) The Chief of Naval Operations.
(2) The Vice Chief of Naval Operations.
(3) The Deputy Chiefs of Naval Operations.
(4) The Assistant Chiefs of Naval Operations.
(5) The Surgeon General of the Navy.
(6) The Chief of Naval Personnel.
(7) The Chief of Chaplains of the Navy.
(8) Other members of the Navy and Marine Corps assigned or detailed to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
(9) Civilian employees in the Department of the Navy assigned or detailed to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
(c) Except as otherwise specifically prescribed by law, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations shall be organized in such manner, and its members shall perform such duties and have such titles, as the Secretary may prescribe.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 5031, acts Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 278; Sept. 2, 1958, Pub. L. 85–861, §1(107), 72 Stat. 1490; Sept. 7, 1962, Pub. L. 87–651, title II, §211, 76 Stat. 524; Aug. 14, 1964, Pub. L. 88–426, title III, §§305(4), 306(j)(3), 78 Stat. 422, 431; Oct. 14, 1981, Pub. L. 97–60, title II, §204(a)(1), 95 Stat. 1007, related to Secretary of the Navy and responsibilities of Secretary, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 99–433, §511(e). See section 5013 of this title.