150 Years of the Navy Surgeon General: A Legacy of Service The U.S. Navy recognizes 3 March 1871 as the anniversary of the Navy Medical Corps, but this date does not represent the advent of uniformed physicians in the Navy nor the start of the Navy Medical Department. However, the passage of the Appropriations Act on 3 March 1871 gave Navy physicians a rank relative to their line counterparts, acknowledged their role as staff corps, and established the title of “surgeon general” for the Navy’s t