| Surgeon General of the United States Navy | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery | |
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| Bureau of Medicine and Surgery United States Navy Medical Corps | |
| Type | Head of the medical branch of theU.S. Navy andU.S. Marine Corps |
| Abbreviation | SGN |
| Member of | Office of the Chief of Naval Operations |
| Reports to | Secretary of the Navy Chief of Naval Operations Commandant of the United States Marine Corps |
| Residence | Suite 5113, 7700Arlington Boulevard,Falls Church, Virginia |
| Seat | Defense Health Headquarters,Falls Church, Virginia |
| Appointer | Thepresident withSenateadvice and consent |
| Term length | 4 years |
| Constituting instrument | 10 U.S.C. § 8077 |
| Formation | 1869 |
| First holder | William Maxwell Wood |
| Deputy | Deputy Surgeon General of the Navy/Deputy Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (Navy matters) Chief, Medical Corps/Medical Officer of the Marine Corps (Marine matters) |
| Website | Official website |
Thesurgeon general of the Navy (SGN) is the most seniorcommissioned officer of theMedical Corps of theUnited States Navy and is the principal advisor to theUnited States secretary of the navy,chief of naval operations and director of thedefense health agency on all health and medical matters pertaining to theUnited States Navy andUnited States Marine Corps. As head of theBureau of Medicine and Surgery, the surgeon general also manages Navy and Marine healthcare policy, administering the services' healthcare and biomedical research facilities as well as the various staff corps of BUMED, including the Medical Corps and an enlisted corps. The surgeon general is also a member of theOffice of the Chief of Naval Operations.
From 1965 to 2019, the surgeon general was appointed as avice admiral, until theNational Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 struck the surgeon general's statutory rank.[1] Currently the surgeon general of the Navy is the onlyuniformed service surgeon general to not be athree-star general or flag officer. There have been several attempts by theHouse of Representatives over the years to address the rank inequality but all have failed. The House version of the2023,[2][3]2024,[4] and2025[5]NDAA each included a clause restoring the surgeon general's three-star rank, but the clause is removed when theSenate reconcilies their version of the NDAA with the House's. The closest acknowledgement from the Senate of the rank disparity came via the 2024 NDAA, when they attached ahouse report (H. Rept. 118-301) to it, acknowledging that the Navy does have the authority to allow the surgeon general to be designated a three-star rank, if an officer is nominated for appointment and confirmed.
On 31 August 1842, theUnited States Congress passed a Navyappropriation bill that was a blueprint for efficiency. The legislation provided for five Navy bureausUnited States Navy bureau system to replace the outdatedBoard of Navy Commissioners—Yards and Docks; Construction, Equipment, and Repair; Provisions and Clothing; Ordnance and Hydrography; and Medicine and Surgery. Heading each of the bureaus was a "Chief" to be appointed by the President of the United States.[6]
The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) became the central administrative headquarters for the Navy Medical Department, and those names became interchangeable. Thegeneral order of 26 November 1842, which defined the duties of the new bureaus, charged BUMED with:[6]
Overseeing all of these duties, and directing the medical department, was the Chief of BUMED,William P. C. Barton. Barton served at this post until 1844. He was followed byThomas Harris, William Whelan,Phineas Horwitz, andWilliam Maxwell Wood. Since the days of Barton's directorship the most senior ranking physician in the Navy Medical Department has held the title of Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.[6]
On 3 March 1871, Congress passed legislation granting medical and other staff officers of the Navy "relative rank" with grades "equal to but not identical with the grades of the line." This Naval Appropriations Act went further than any previous Congressional action in transforming and enhancing the Navy Medical Department. The Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery now had the additional title "Surgeon General," with the relative rank ofCommodore. At the helm of this "revitalized" organization stood the first Surgeon General,William Maxwell Wood (1809–1880), a man entering his 42nd year of a naval service as unusual and varied as could be. Wood had served aboardUSS Poinsett, one of the first steam vessels of the Navy, and designated flagship during the "expedition for the suppression of Indian hostilities on the coast of Florida" (a.k.a. theSeminole Wars). Wood served shore duty atSackets Harbor, New York,Baltimore, Maryland, had duty as Fleet Surgeon of the Pacific Fleet, and served under CommodoreJohn D. Sloat in California during theMexican–American War. However fitting he may have been as the first Navy Surgeon General, he served less than two years.[citation needed]
| Image | Name | Dates of Tenure |
|---|---|---|
.jpg) | William P. C. Barton | 1842–1844 |
.jpg) | Thomas Harris | 1844–1853 |
.jpg) | William Whelan | 1853–1865 |
 | Phineas J. Horwitz | 1865–1869 |
 | William Maxwell Wood | 1869–1871 |
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