Ship Battle Forces - Definition

Battle force ships are commissioned United States ship (USS) warships capable of contributing to combat operations, or United States naval ship (USNS) that contribute directly to Navy warfighting or support missions.

An accurate battleforce count is necessary to support the reporting requirements. The battleforce ship count will only include combat capable ships that contribute to warfighting missions, specific combat support missions, or service support missions. Speciffically the battleforce ship count will include:

(1)

Ship types classified as "Active," "Military Sealift Command (MSC)," "Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force (NFAF)", "Naval Reserve Force" or "MSC Special Mission" with the following exceptions:

MSC ships assigned a reduced operating status of 45 days or less may be counted on a case by case basis as recommended by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) with Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) approval.

Naval Reserve Force active (NRFA) ships are mobilization forces, category A assets, and are ships that are part of the battleforce. NRFA ships have a reduced or skeleton crew of active duty personnel assigned to provide training of assigned reservists for limited operations and maintenance.

(2)

All other craft and auxiliaries are not included in the battleforce ship count.

(3)

Ships entering and leaving the battleforce inventory.

Battleforce ships are counted as part of the navy active inventory effective upon acceptance by the Navy accepting authority, Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command (COMNAVSEASYSCOM). Upon acceptance the CNO will will be notified immediately by naval message.

Ships will nolonger counted as part of the battleforce inventory effective upon a ships' official decommissioning, deactivation, or inactivation in the case of nuclear vessels. The CNO will be notified of a ship's decommissioning, deactivation, or inactivation by naval message.