Quote:
Originally Posted by xerxes
The first case (general Pace), is surprising to me, because it is the first time a Marine has been appointed to the highest military position in the US armed forces. This is surprising because Marine Corps is still officially part of US Navy, which makes the Commandant of Marine Corps a theoritical subordinate of the Chief of Naval Operations and actually before the presence of the Commandant of Marine Corps was always not offical on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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Actually, the Commandant of the Marine Corps is one of four Chiefs, U.S. Code, Title 10, Subtitle A, Part I, Chapter 5. Further, the Commandant of the Marine Corps is not subordinant to the CNO, but to the Secretary of the Navy, a civilian. Thus the USMC is part of the Department of the Navy. Not, a part of the United States Navy. It is a separate chain of command all the way to SECNAV.