What This Field Means
The documented date the unit was activated or a ship or cutter command was commissioned.
This records the formal date the organization was activated or, for a commissioned ship or cutter command, commissioned. It anchors the beginning of operational organizational life when the event is documented.
How to Read It Correctly
Activation is not always the same as constitution, establishment, first appearance in a source, or the start of the current designation. Maritime commissioning also describes the command event, not the construction of the physical vessel.
Example
An official activation order date or a vessel command’s commissioning date.
Technical Specification
The database column is [USMIL-Unit].[Unit].[ActivationOrCommissionDate]. Optional lifecycle-event date. The event type must be supported by evidence and must not be inferred from the first date the unit appears in a source.
Use the exact documented event date and preserve which event occurred. Do not infer a precise date from a year-only history or from the earliest accessible webpage.
| Property | Definition or current value |
|---|---|
| Database column | ActivationOrCommissionDate |
| Column order | 45 |
| SQL data type | date |
| Kind of information | Calendar date |
| Cardinality | One stored value per Unit row. |
| Required | No; NULL is permitted |
| Database default | No database default |
| Key or relationship | None |
| Database check constraint | ([CurrentStatus]=N'Planned' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Status unknown' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Historical' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Inactive' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Current') |
| Live population | 1390 of 9341 Unit records (14.88%) |
| Distinct nonblank values in the live table | 1048 |
| Live profile measured | September 2, 2026, 20:43 UTC |
Allowed Values and Definitions
No preset menu applies to this field. It stores an identifier, relationship, measurement, date, timestamp, or evidence-derived narrative. Valid content is governed by the SQL type, key relationship, nullability, retained evidence, and the field-specific recording rule above. A list of observed contents would be data, not a list of allowed options.
Missing, Unknown, and Conflicting Information
A database NULL is permitted and means that no value is presently stored. It does not prove that the fact never existed, that the answer is no, or that the concept does not apply. Missing information must remain visibly different from a supported negative or inapplicable conclusion.
Connections to Other Fields
- Constitution Status — What is known about how the unit was constituted, organized, activated, commissioned, or otherwise formally brought into being.
- Authorizing Authority — The department, service, command, law, order, or official body that established or recognized the organization.
- Authorization Document — The official order, directive, roster, law, or other record that supports the unit’s creation or recognition.
- Effective From — The date from which the facts represented by this unit record are known to apply.
- Inactivation or Decommission Date — The documented date the unit was inactivated or a commissioned command ended.