At Sea
Together, the 900,000 Sailors, Marines, and civilians in the U.S. Department of the Navy form the world's most formidable naval force capable of maritime defense, major combat operations, and disaster relief. To maintain military readiness, we must train the way we fight.
At sea, the Navy conducts various training, research and development, and testing activities on aircraft, vessels, and sophisticated systems, such as weapons, sensors, and related equipment to ensure that assets are ready when duty calls. These activities are known as military readiness activities and must be as realistic, rigorous, and as comprehensive as possible in order to develop and sharpen the skills that our Sailors and Marines need to prevail in combat and other real-world situations. These skills are specialized, highly perishable, and demand frequent practice.
While training and equipping combat-ready naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, and maintaining freedom of the seas, the Navy works hard to ensure its military readiness activities do not degrade or threaten the environment and marine ecosystems. To do this, the Navy has multiple shipboard compliance and pollution prevention programs.
Click on the links below to find out more about the Navy’s training and testing military readiness activities and shipboard compliance programs including: