The primary mission of the Supply Corps is to provide expertise to the Navy and other services...including logistics, acquisition, and financial management...afloat and ashore. The 2,695 Naval Officers...from Warrant Officer to Rear Admiral...who proudly wear the "Oak Leaf" insignia of the Supply Corps are the business managers of the Navy, responsible for the supply and logistic support of the ships of the active Fleet and hundreds of Naval shore installations located worldwide.

     The U.S. Navy's Supply Corps traces its 200 year history from its beginnings in 1795 with the appointment of the nation's first Purveyor of Public Supplies, through a series of organizational and name changes, to today's competent group of Navy businessmen and women.

     The Supply Corps' history is the story of its people, those who served first as Naval agents, and finally as Supply Corps Officers. Over the years, the men and women of the Supply Corps have come to exemplify the characteristics of ingenuity, creativity, perseverance, and dedication in their efforts to provide "Service to the Fleet." Each of their stories has a place in the context of American Naval history and reflect the struggle of the nation to evolve into the world's most modern and efficient sea power.

     Since 1795, when the Supply Corps was assigned the task of supporting six frigates, its duties and responsibilities have kept pace with the expanding scope of the modern Navy's mission. Supplying the Navy with items essential to the operation of modern ships, aircraft and facilities, and providing fuel, food, transportation, clothing, and services to the men and women of the Navy in an effective, expeditious, and economic manner demands the dedication and know-how of an expertly trained and highly skilled Officer Corps. To meet this challenge, the Supply Corps requires its officers to be schooled and experienced in a variety of disciplines, such as inventory control, financial management, contracting, information systems, operations analysis, material and operational logistics, fuels management, and physical distribution. Officers of the Supply Corps are aware of the challenges ahead and will continue to make an essential contribution to the operational efficiency and fighting effectiveness of U.S. Naval and Joint Forces. Their continuing vision is to be combat ready logisticians, supporting Joint and Naval operations around the globe.

Navy Supply Corps School

New Supply Corps junior officers presently attend the Navy Supply Corps School (NSCS) in Athens, Georgia.

NSCS was first opened as the Navy Supply Corps School of Application in 1921, located at the Navy Department in Washington, D.C. After just three years the school was closed, and for the next ten years supply officers learned their profession on the job, at sea, from senior supply officers and through formal, but independent coursework.

A more formal arrangement was achieved when the Naval Finance and Supply School was opened at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in September 1934, for instruction of regular Navy Supply Corps officers. The training of reserve officers did not become available until 1940, when the Supply Corps Naval Reserve Officers School was established in Washington, D.C. After ten months the two schools were merged, creating the Navy Supply Corps School, located at the Harvard University Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

During U.S. involvement in World War II, 13,000 officers graduated from NSCS at Harvard. In 1944, the Naval Supply Operational Training Center was established at the Naval Supply Depot in Bayonne, New Jersey. It was redesignated the Navy Supply Corps School in 1946, but within a few years it outgrew its facilities. Through the efforts of two Georgia politicians, U.S. Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr. and U.S. Representative Carl Vinson, the school was moved to Athens, Georgia in 1954.

The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission of 2005 decreed that NSCS will be re-located to Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island in 2011.

Notable and Distinguished U.S. Navy Supply Corps Officers

RADM Frank J. Allston, SC, USN (Ret.)

     Author, "Ready for Sea"; Former Vice President Illinois Central Railroad

Mr. Roy Anderson

     Former CEO of Lockheed Corporation

Mr. Bruce Atwater

     Former Chairman, General Mills

RADM Bernard S. Browning, SC, USN (Ret.) (Deceased)

     Founder, General Business Services

Dr. Howard J. Burnett

     Former President of Washington and Jefferson College

Mr. Howard J. "Jake" Carey (Deceased)

     Former Chairman and CEO, Carey Salt Company

Mr. Eddie Carlson (Deceased)

     Former CEO of United Airlines

CAPT Joseph H. Cheshure, SC, USN (Ret.)

     Former Business Manager, Treasurer and Dean of Administration at Huntington College; Recruiting Assistance Program Officer

Mr. Benjamin Edwards III

     Former President, Chairman and CEO of A.G. Edwards

Mr. Roger Enrico

    Former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Inc.; Chairman of the Board, Dream Works Animation SKG

RADM Andrew A. Giordano, SC, USN (Ret.)

     Chairman, Jos. A. Bank, Clothiers; Principal of The Giordano Group, Ltd.; Former Chief of Supply Corps

RADM Paul N. Howell, SC, USN (Ret.) (Deceased)

     Former President and CEO of Howell Corporation

Mr. C. Lloyd Johnson Sr. (Deceased)

     Chairman and CEO of C. Lloyd Johnson Co., Inc.

Mr. Jon R. Katzenbach

     Founder of Katzenbach Partners LLC; Author of bestselling books on worker motivation and performance, team effectiveness, and leadership

Mr. L. Bruce Laingen

     Former U.S. Charge d'Affairs in Iran; Former U.S. Ambassador to Malta

Mr. A. G. Lafley

     Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive, The Procter & Gamble Company

The Honorable Melvin R. Laird

     Former Congressman; Former Secretary of Defense

Mr. Leonard A. Lauder

     Chairman of the Board, The Estee Lauder Companies Inc.

CDR Robert S. Leventhal SC, USN (Ret.)

     Former Dean of the University of Washington School of Business; Former President Chairman and CEO of Western Union

Mr. J. W. “Bill” Marriott, Jr.

     CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Marriott Corporation

Mr. Edward J. Mathias

     Managing Director, The Carlyle Group

CAPT Brian McDonnell, SC, USN (Ret.)

     Former President and CEO, Navy Federal Credit Union

Mr. Gilbert C. Osnos

     Managing Director of Corporate Revitalization Partners, LLC, Co-founder and Past Chairman of Turnaround Management Association

Mr. Jerry Petry

     Executive Vice President, Administration, NBC Universal Television Group, West Coast

Mr. Regis Philbin

     Nationally recognized television personality

Mr. Sanford R. Robertson

     Principal - Francisco Partners

CAPT Jackson L. Schultz, SC, USN (Ret.)

     Former Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo Bank; Director SOLA International, Inc.

Mr. Charles E. Sigety

     President and CEO of Sigety Family Businesses

RADM Robert H. Spiro, SC, USN (Ret.)

     Former Under Secretary of the Army, Former President of Jacksonville University

RADM Robert C. Stack, SC, USN (Ret.)

     Former Executive Vice President of Chase Bank of Texas; Former President of the Navy Supply Corps Foundation

RADM Donald G. St. Angelo

     Retired President of St. Joseph Bancshares, Inc.; Retired Senior VP of Dain Rauscher Inc.; Retired 30 year Chairman of Board of Seminars International, Inc.

Mr. Roger Staubach

     NFL Hall of Fame, Quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys; Former President of Staubach Realty

CAPT Ted Stern, SC USN (Ret.)

     Former President of the College of Charleston; Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Spoleto Festival

VADM Edward M. Straw, SC, USN (Ret.)

     Chairman of the Board of Directors, Document Capture Technologies, Inc.; Former President of Global Operations, Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.; Former Commander, Defense Logistics Agency

Mr. Henry Trione

     Former Chairman, Founder and Owner of Geyser Peak Winery; Owner of Sonoma Mortgage Corporation

Mr. Kevin Twomey

     Former President, St. Joe Company

CDR John C. Whitehead, SC, USN (Ret.)

     Former Senior Partner/Co-Chairman Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Chairman, Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Authority

CAPT E. William Withrow, SC, USN (Ret.)

     Former Mayor of Alameda, Calif.

Mr. Paul M. Wythes

     Special Limited Partner and Founder, Sutter Hill Ventures