Posted on May 29, 2014
SFC Rich Carey
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Can you name the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces?

I have corrected the order of flags in car dealerships, events, and displays.
Have you made corrections, where?
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Responses: 9
CSM Michael Evans
13
13
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Edited >1 y ago
Army Birthday --14 June 1775
Marine Corps Birthday – 10 November 1775
Navy Birthday – 13 Oct 1775-Abolished Feb 1781-Reinstated 7 Sep 1781
Air Force Birthday – 18 September 1947
*Coast Guard Birthday – 4 August 1790

*According to the Institute of Heraldry, and in keeping with the order in which troops are listed in Department of Defense Directive 1005.8, during peacetime the Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security. During wartime, if the Coast Guard comes under the control of the Department of Defense, then the Coast Guard flag would come before the Air Force flag in order of precedence.

Im made the same corrections countless times, as well as fixing finials on top of the staffs.
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CWO4 Jim Doran
CWO4 Jim Doran
6 y
Aa24b119
SFC Rich Carey - Negative. The Marine Corps is a part of the Department of the Navy and always has been. The USAF is not part of the Department of the Army.
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SGM Bill Frazer
SGM Bill Frazer
6 y
LTC Paul Labrador - the Navy was disbanded by Congress for several months and then re instituted- the USMC are before the USN because their is NO break in their service
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LtCol William Bentley
LtCol William Bentley
6 y
LTC Paul Labrador - Paul, come on...I know you are just poking the bear, but you also know that the USMC is a co-equal branch of the Armed Forces, right alongside the US Navy. The USMC is NOT a "subordinate corps" in the Department of the Navy.

During the unification struggles after WWII, one result was the clear declaration that the USMC was -- and always had been -- a separate military service serving alongside the US Navy inside the Department of the Navy. See: Public Law 416, signed in June 1952 by President Truman.

The Commandant doesn't report to the CNO...they both report to the SecNav independently. They rank amongst the other Joint Chiefs according to their date of appointment; the CNO is not inherently senior to the CMC with the exception of an explicitly "Navy" issue like warships. (And similarly, the CNO is NOT senior to the CMC when explicitly "Marine" issues are involved, like training, equipping, organizing, etc., the Marine Corps...)

The Dept of the Navy is a civilian executive branch at the sub-cabinet level...civilian led, with both Marines and Sailors working in the various directorates. With two, separate, Armed Forces. Three if the USCG is added in time of war. Possibly 4 or 5 if NOAA and/or PHS is militarized in time of war (since they already wear naval style uniforms and PHS has quite a few personnel providing medical services directly to USCG...more similarities to naval services than others, although they can be detailed to work as individuals or as the entire Commissioned Corps of each Uniformed Service anywhere their skills are relevant). When in any formation, the USMC is ALWAYS senior to the USN, "first of foot and right on line." https://www.military.com/navy-birthday/navy-marine-precedence.html

See AR 600-25, par. 3-2, at https://www.usarmyband.com/pdf/AR_600_25.pdf:

"3–2. Precedence of soldiers at parades and reviews
a. For the conduct of parades and reviews, see FM 3–21.5, chapters 10 and 11.
b. During ceremonial occasions, except for funerals, soldiers ordinarily are arranged from right to left in line, oldest to youngest lineage, subject to the discretion of the commander of troops.
c. In reviews in which 2 or more branches are present, units of various branches will be posted at the discretion of the commander of troops.
d. In parades and in ceremonies on shore in which several Services are participating, precedence should be according to e below, without regard to the relative grades of the commanding officers of the detachments. A member of the senior Service present will bear the national colors, and the organizational colors of the Services represented will be carried in order of seniority from right to left as viewed from the rear.
e. Members of the Armed Forces of the United States and Merchant Marine midshipmen will take precedence in the following order during formations in which members thereof may participate, except as indicated in e(18), below—

(1) Cadets, United States Military Academy.
(2) Midshipmen, United States Naval Academy.
(3) Cadets, United States Air Force Academy.
(4) Cadets, United States Coast Guard Academy.
(5) Midshipmen, United States Merchant Marine Academy.
(6) U.S. Army.
(7) U.S. Marine Corps.
(8) U.S. Navy.
(9) U.S. Air Force.
(10) U.S. Coast Guard.
(11) Army National Guard of the United States.
(12) U.S. Army Reserve.
(13) Marine Corps Reserve.
(14) Naval Reserve.
(15) Air National Guard of the United States.
(16) Air Force Reserve.
(17) Coast Guard Reserve.
(18) Other training organizations of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, in that order. School cadet corps not organized per 10 USC 2031 (Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) and 10 USC 2102 (Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) do not fall within these categories.
(19) During any period when the U.S. Coast Guard operates as a part of the U.S. Navy, the cadets, United States Coast Guard Academy, and members of the U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve are upgraded in precedence to immediately follow their Navy counterparts (the midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy and members of the
U.S. Navy and Naval Reserve, respectively)."
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LtCol William Bentley
LtCol William Bentley
>1 y
SGM Bill Frazer - Actually after the Continental Marine Corps was disbanded after the War of Independence, along with the Navy, it was not reinstituted formally until 1798. Although, in 1794, individual Marines were authorized as part of the authorizing legislation from Congress that began construction on several frigates, but that legislation did not organize a Marine Corps, per se, and I'm not sure any Marines were actually enlisted or appointed, since the ships didn't exist for several years, and by then, the Act of 1798 was in effect that did organize the USMC, provide a chain of command, authorize specific numbers of Marines at various ranks, etc.

When the USMC was reinstituted, it of course, like the Army and Navy, reached back into the not too distant (within the last 25 years) past and claimed descent from their Continental forebears, although the lineage is a little sketchy during the period after the War of Independence and the Act of 1798...

In any case, until the mid-1840's, the USMC was not part of the Department of the Navy at all, but a separate armed force. In today's governmental construct, the USMC was an Independent Agency. Of course, in close association with the Navy, but also with the Army at various times (War of 1812, Seminole Wars, etc.).

The USMC uniformly and continuously claimed 10 November 1775 as the Service's birthday, and eventually that was accepted into the official screed, while for many decades the USN couldn't decide which date to use as its official birthday. Eventually, the Navy settled upon the earliest date, in October 1775, but by then the Secretary of the Navy had decided that the Marines would be the senior service, always lining up first and right of foot, etc.

Which is why today the USMC's official precedence is before the USN...
Cheers,
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CSM Michael Evans
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Took me some digging in my files, but here it is:

Military organizational flags of the Services in order of precedence
1. Cadets, United States Military Academy
2. Midshipmen, United States Naval Academy
3. Cadets, United States Air Force Academy
4. Cadets, United States Coast Guard Academy
5. Midshipmen, United States Merchant Marine Academy
6. United States Army
7. United States Marine Corps
8. United States Navy
9. United States Air Force
10. United States Coast Guard
11. Army National Guard of the United States
12. Army Reserve
13. Marine Corps Reserve
14. Naval Reserve
15. Air National Guard of the United States
16. Air Force Reserve
17. Coast Guard Reserve
18. Other training organizations of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, in that order, respectively.
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MSG Thomas Currie
MSG Thomas Currie
>1 y
And what file did this come from? Seriously, you can't offer a list like that without citing a source, especially not after stating that you looked it up.
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MSG Nicholas Raben
5
5
0
Edited 8 y ago
How would you display a Department of Justice Agency seal with the seals of the Armed Forces on a building or wall?
This is for a veterans memorial at a Bureau of Prisons (BOP) institution. This institution placed 7 seals from left to right Air National Guard, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, BOP seal, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S.M.C.
I know the order of precedence for the Armed Forces. What I don't know is how the institution should place their BOP seal on the same building wall. Should the BOP seal be placed above the other seals and not in the same row. I do not think the placement of the BOP seal in the middle of the other seals is appropriate. There is no policy within the BOP that gives any guidance. When I called up to the Dept. of Justice, they forwarded me back to the BOP.

Any help would be appreciated.
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LTC John Griscom
LTC John Griscom
>1 y
Could it be that BOP was honoring those personnel who served in the military?
Notice Army National Guard and the Reserve Components of Army, Marines and Air Force aren't recognized, although the Air National Guard is.
Maybe this memorial only applies to this installation. Which leads to more questions.
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CWO4 Jim Doran
CWO4 Jim Doran
6 y
BoP would come after the military, however, DoJ would come after DoD. It's by date of establishment, but DoD uses the Department of War establishment date.
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