The United States Naval Institute (USNI), based at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is a private, non-profit, professional military association that seeks to offer independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national defense issues. Established in 1873, it claims 48,000 members, mostly active and retired members of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The organization has no official or funding ties to the Academy or the U.S. Navy, although it is based at the Naval Academy through permission granted by a 1936 Act of Congress.