What is the Navy UIC Locator used for?

The Navy UIC locator uses six character alphanumeric codes to identify entities within the Navy. It also facilitates financial transactions and allots manpower. UIC is an acronym for Unit Identification Code.

The first character in the code points to a certain branch of the Department of Defense, the next three characters specify the Parent Unit Designator, and the last two characters designate the Descriptive Designator, which describes the attributes of the unit. For the U.S. Navy, the first character is N. Other U.S. agencies, including the Postal Service, Department of Agriculture, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of State and Department of Transportation, also use UIC codes.