Jones Renews Effort To Rename Dept. of Navy

[thedrifter]

Jones Renews Effort To Rename Dept. of Navy

What's in a name? In Washington, almost everything.

This town is obsessed with names, ranks, titles, organizational flow charts and preserving one's turf. And now there's a renewed effort by Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) to rename the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.

It may seem like a small technical detail, but Jones said it would help establish the Marine Corps' equal standing with the Army, Air Force and Navy and extend a simple courtesy to the families of Marines killed in action.

“There isn’t a subordinate relationship between the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marines Corps,” Jones said in a statement. “They are equivalent parts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and it is time to recognize their equal status.”

Currently the Department of Defense includes a Department of the Army, Department of the Air Force and Department of the Navy, which consists of the Navy and Marine Corps.

"The Navy and Marine Corps always sell themselves before Congress as 'one fighting team,'" Jones said. “If you're one team, then why isn’t the teams name Navy and Marine Corps?”

Jones, whose district includes the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base, said a name change would also extend a courtesy to the families of Marines killed in action who currently receive condolence letters printed on Department of the Navy letterhead and begin with the sentence, "On behalf of the Department of the Navy..." with no explicit mention of the Marine Corps anywhere in the letter.

“If that letter of condolences doesn’t tell the story, I don’t know what does," Jones said in an interview.

A Navy spokesman declined to comment on the letters and the pending legislation.

Jones has proposed the name change every year for the past eight years. It has the support of his fellow members on the House Armed Services Committee and several military associations, but the bill has failed every year to clear conference committee negotiations with the Senate.

“I think this will be a new push," Jones said of his latest bill, H.R. 24. "We’ve got a new president. This is the right thing to say to the Marine Corps: you are an equal fighting partner.”

Can you think of any other government agencies or military offices that deserve a name change? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Jones pushes for Marine Corps recognition
Written by Bruce Ferrell

(WASHINGTON)--In each congress since 2001, Rep. Walter Jones of Farmville has introduced a bill that would rename the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. This year is no exception. Jones says the Marines are a legally distinct military service within the Navy Department and should get name recognition. The bill would not change the resources or missions of either the Navy or the Marines.

Jones says The Navy and the Marine Corps have operated as one entity for more than two centuries, and his bill would ensure the name of the department they share exemplifies this fact.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Jones wants to give Marines equal status
Comments 1 | Recommend 1
Rep. Walter Jones introduces bill to re-designate the Department of the Navy
January 9, 2009 - 6:37 PM
JENNIFER HLAD

Sailors occasionally like to give Marines a hard time and remind them the Marine Corps is a department of the Navy.

The typical Marine response? "Yeah. The men's department."

The joke wouldn't pack quite as much punch if House Resolution 24 passes.

Rep. Walter Jones introduced the bill this week, an effort to re-designate the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.

"There isn't a subordinate relationship between the chief of naval operations and the commandant of the Marine Corps," Jones said in a news release about the bill.

"They are equivalent parts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and it is time to recognize their equal status. This legislation is not about changing the responsibilities of the secretary, reallocating resources between the Navy and Marine Corps or altering the course of their missions. Rather, it is about showing the nation the true meaning of the department and recognizing the overall importance of the Marine Corps to our national security."

Jones has introduced similar legislation in each Congress since 2001, working to give the Marine Corps recognition in the department's name.

"The Navy and the Marine Corps have operated as one entity for more than two centuries, and H.R. 24 would ensure the name of the department they share exemplifies that fact," Jones said.

Local veterans say they would welcome the change as a recognition of the Corps' importance as a distinct military service.

"I have always thought of the Marine Corps as being a separate entity... than the Navy," said George Barrows, a retired Marine who served from 1945 to 1967 and now serves as the chairman of numerous local veterans' organizations. "We get funded through the Navy, that doesn't stop. But I do believe the Marine Corps should have equal footing with the Navy, just like the Air Force and the Army."

Joe Houle - a retired Marine who served from 1964 to 2000 and now is active in numerous veteran organizations and works as the operations director for the Museum of the Marine - also lauded the idea.

"I think it's about time that the Marine Corps is equal to the rest to the services. I mean, every year the Marine Corps comes up short when it comes to budget... The Marine Corps pulls a big load in this country, they ought to be treated as fairly as the rest of the services," Houle said.

Houle said he thought most sailors would support the change as well.

"The Marine Corps has been part of the Navy for a long time, but the Marine Corps is still older than the Navy," Houle said. "We don't have as many people, but our responsibility to the American people is more so, or at least equal to, all the other services, and we ought to be treated the same. I applaud Congressman Jones for continuing his push for making that so."

John Cooney, a retired Marine who serves as adjutant of the Beirut Memorial Chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, said he doesn't think the bill will pass, but he appreciates the effort.

He noted that the Marine Corps has its own commandant, and that Gen. Peter Pace, a Marine, served as 16th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"I think it's a great idea," Cooney said.

Navy veteran Verl Matthews also said he likes the idea.

Matthews served 21 years in the Navy, including six as a corpsman with Marines, and now works alongside Marines in the Beirut Memorial Chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. He said he thinks other sailors also would support the measure, especially if they had spent time working with Marines.

"I think it would be good," Matthews said. "It should be two departments, together in one."

Contact interactive content editor and military reporter Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8467.

Ellie