United States Naval Ship

United States Naval Ship or USNS is the prefix designation given to non-commissioned ships that are property of the United States Navy.

Overview

United States Naval Ships are usually auxiliary support vessels owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by Military Sealift Command. They are crewed by civilian mariners rather than U.S. Navy personnel, although some ships include a small military complement to carry out communication and special mission functions, or for force protection. In comparison, U.S. Navy ships commissioned into service have the designation USS and are crewed by U.S. Navy personnel; commissioned and held in property by the United States Government. A few Navy ships have hybrid crews of both uniformed Navy personnel and civil service mariners; these ships are also designated USNS.

See also

References

United States Navy SEALs

The United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as the Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command and United States Special Operations Command. One of the SEALs' primary functions is to conduct small-unit maritime military operations which originate from, and return to a river, ocean, swamp, delta, or coastline. SEALs can negotiate shallow water areas such as the Persian Gulf coastline, where large ships and submarines are limited due to depth. The Navy SEALs are trained to operate in all environments (Sea, Air, and Land) for which they are named. SEALs are also prepared to operate in a variety of climates, such as desert, arctic, and jungle.

All SEALs are male members of the United States Navy. The CIA's highly secretive Special Activities Division (SAD) and more specifically its elite Special Operations Group (SOG) recruits operators from the SEAL Teams. Joint Navy SEALs and CIA operations go back to the MACV-SOG during the Vietnam War. This cooperation still exists today and is seen in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.