Civil Engineer Corps The Civil Engineer Corps ( CEC ) is a staff corps of the United States Navy . CEC officers are professional engineers and architects , acquisitions specialists and Seabee Combat Warfare Officers . They are responsible for executing and managing the planning , design , acquisition , construction , operation , and maintenance of the Navy ' s shore facilities . CEC ranks range from CWO2 to RADM . The Civil Engineer Corps is under the command of the Chief of Civil Engineers and Commander , Naval Facilities Engineering Command , RADM Katherine L . Gregory , CEC , USN . She is the first woman to lead the CEC . Insignia of the Civil Engineer Corps . Civil engineers were employed by the Navy Department as early as 1827 , when Mr . Loammi Baldwin was appointed to superintend the construction of dry docks at Boston and Norfolk . Prior to the passage of the Act of 2 March 1867 civil engineers were appointed by the Secretary , but under authority of that act they were to be commissioned by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate ; they were appropriated for as part of the civil establishment at the several navy yards and stations under the control of the Bureau of Yards and Docks until 1870 , when their pay was regulated by section 3 of the Act of 15 July of that year fixing the annual pay of officers of the Navy on the active list , and appropriations for their pay have been made since 1870 under the head of " Pay of the Navy " . The discretionary authority given to the President by the Statute of 3 March 1871 , to determine and fix the relative rank of civil engineers was not exercised until the 24th of February 1881 , when relative rank was conferred upon them and fixed as follows : One with the relative rank of captain ( CAPT ) , two with that of commander ( CDR ) , three with that of lieutenant - commander ( LCDR ) , and four with that of lieutenant ( LT ) . The Navy Regulations for 1876 failed to list civil engineers among the staff officers of the Navy , and the uniform regulations for that year did not prescribe a uniform or a corps device for that class of officer . In 1881 , after having had relative rank conferred upon them , civil engineers were instructed by Uniform Circular dated 24 August to wear the uniform of officers of the line with whom they had relative rank - omitting the star , which is a distinguishing mark of the line - with the following distinctive marks and devices instead of those worn by other officers : " The sleeve lace to be on light blue velvet . " Shoulder straps - border embroidered gold , body light blue cloth and the letters C . E . ( Old English ) embroidered in silver in the center . " The same letters to be similarly embroidered on frogs of epaulets . " In 1905 , two crossed silver sprigs , each composed of two live oak leaves and an acorn ( sometimes called " Crossed Bananas " ) , was adopted as the insignia of the Civil Engineer Corps in lieu of the Old English letters C . E . , and worn on the epaulets , shoulder straps and collar of the service coat . While the pattern of this corps device remained the same , uniform regulations issued in 1919 specified that it was to be embroidered in gold instead of silver and worn on the sleeve of frock , evening dress , and blue service coats , above the gold lace strips , and on shoulder marks for white service coat and overcoat . By these same regulations the light blue cloth worn under the sleeve strips , and worn on the shoulder marks since 1899 , was abolished as a distinction of the corps , however is still present in the light blue color of the stripes worn by the enlisted sailors in the construction field in the pay grades of E - 3 and below . See also . Military engineering of the United States