Navy positioning Department

The Navy positioning department sustains Navy capability sets and expeditionary maritime logistics systems supporting Marine Corps and Navy operations worldwide. The department manages watercraft, tactical mobility assets, warehousing, containers and ship-to-shore sustainment capabilities that enable distributed maritime operations, degraded port operations and expeditionary logistics in austere environments.

The department oversees nearly $1 billion in assets, including 230 pieces of watercraft, 400 prime movers, more than 1,500 containers, and a warehouse spanning 300,000 square feet with 8,400 line items supporting Navy watercraft and civil engineer equipment.

Management functions

Afloat Branch: Maintains afloat readiness and sustainment capabilities supporting maritime positioning operations.

Business Operations Branch: Coordinates budgeting, contracts, resource planning and lifecycle management supporting Navy positioning programs.

Equipment & Sustainment Branch: Provides equipment sustainment, maintenance coordination and warehousing operations supporting maritime logistics capabilities.

Watercraft Branch: Maintains watercraft readiness and expeditionary maritime sustainment capabilities supporting ship-to-shore operations.

Integrated naval support

The Navy positioning department team enables global response readiness by coordinating with maritime and integrated task force operations. A Navy support element—comprising a naval beach group and a Navy cargo handling battalion—employs watercraft, equipment, and supplies to offload and backload positioning ships both in-stream and pier-side.

The naval construction element integrates embarked civil engineer support equipment and containerized assemblies with a Marine Air-Ground Task Force. By synchronizing ground, air, logistics, and cyberspace assets, the Navy department provides flexible response options for crises and contingencies, reinforcing the Marine Corps’ ability to project confidence and readiness worldwide.