Military of the United States

(Redirected from United States armed forces)
This article needs to be updated.
Parts of this article have been identified as no longer being up to date. Please update the article to reflect recent events, and remove this template when finished.
United States armed forces
Military manpower
Military age17 years of age
Availabilitymales & females ages 17-49: 134,813,023 (2005 est.).
CitizenshipRegular Army: No Citizenship Requirement. National Guard: Citizens Only.
Fit for military servicemales & females ages 17-49: 109,305,756 (2005 est.)
Reaching military age annuallymales & females: 4,180,074 (2005 est.)
Active troops1,427,000 (Ranked 2nd)
Military expenditures
Dollar figure $440 billion (FY2006 est.)
Percent of GDP3.7% (FY2005 est.)

</table>

The armed forces (or armed services) of the United States of America consist of the

Approximately 1.8 million personnel are currently on active duty in the military with an additional 860,000 personnel in the seven reserve components (456,000 of which are in the Army and Air National Guard). There is currently no conscription. The armed forces are also members of the United States Uniformed Services. The United States Military is considered the most powerful military in the world because their power projection capabilities are maintained significantly higher than any singular nation (e.g. France, United Kingdom, People's Republic of China, Russia, India) or organization (e.g. the European Union). The United States Department of Defense is the controlling organization for the U.S. military and is headquartered at The Pentagon. The Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military is the President of the United States. With a strength of 2.26 million personnel (including reserves), the United States armed forces are the 2nd largest in the world.

The United States military is a hierarchical military organization, with a system of military ranks to denote levels of authority within the organization. The military service is divided into a professional officer corps along with a greater number of enlisted personnel who perform day-to-day military operations. The United States officer corps is not restricted by social class or nobility. United States military officers are appointed from a variety of sources, including the service academies, ROTC, and direct appointment from both civilian status and the enlisted ranks.

The U.S. military also maintains a number of military awards and badges to denote the qualifications and accomplishments of military personnel.

On July 26, 1948 U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 which radically desegregated the military of the United States. Homosexuals, however, are still barred from serving openly (see Don't ask, don't tell.) By law, women may not be put into direct combat; however, asymmetrical warfare has put women into situations which are direct combat operations in all but name. (Approximately 9% of Army positions available; see [2] as an example).


 
Military of the United States
United States Army | United States Navy | United States Air Force | United States Marine Corps | United States Coast Guard

[edit]

Capabilities

Our forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military build-up in hopes of surpassing, or equaling, the power of the United States. — President George W. Bush, National Security Strategy, Chapter IX, September 2002.

The United States military is unique in the amount of power it can project globally. Although France and the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, Spain, Italy, India, PRC and European Union, are capable of projecting power overseas, the United States military has invested in considerably higher military capacity to fight a major regional war at a distance from its homeland. The U.S. is also one of the few nations in the world that has a sizable nuclear arsenal and maintains active doctrines for plausible nuclear attack operations.

As such, much of the U.S. military capabilities are tied up in logistics and transportation, which allow rapid buildup of forces as needed. The Air Force maintains a large fleet of C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster, and C-130 Hercules transportation aircraft. The Marine Corps maintains Marine Expeditionary Units at sea with the Navy's Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. The Navy's fleet of 12 aircraft carriers, combined with a military doctrine of power projection, enable a flexible response to potential threats.

The United States Army is not as portable as the Marine Corps, but Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker announced a reorganization of the Army's active-duty units into 48 brigade groups with an emphasis on power projection. There will be three classes of brigade group: light, medium, and heavy, with a different mix of armored and infantry units. In reorganizing the Army, however, battalions will still be affiliated with traditional regiments and brigades will still be affiliated with traditional divisions. Reorganized brigades have begun operation in Iraq in the third quarter of 2005.

[edit]

Organization

Under the United States Constitution, the President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. To coordinate military action with diplomatic action, the President has an advisory National Security Council.

Under the President is the United States Secretary of Defense, a Cabinet Secretary responsible for the Department of Defense.

Both the President and Secretary are advised by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In accordance with the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 (which fundamentally changed the organization of the Department) the 4 Service Chiefs together with the Chairman and Vice Chairman form the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Joint Chiefs serve only in an advisory and administrative capacity, with operational control flowing from the President and Secretary of Defense directly to the Commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands (see Goldwater-Nichols Act). Each service is responsible for providing military units to the commanders of the various Unified Commands.

[edit]

National Command organizational chart

                  -------------------President--------------
                  |           |              |             |
                  |           |              |             |
                  |         SECDEF ----------|             |
                  |           |              |             |
                  |           |         Chairman JCOS     NSC
                  |           |              | 
                  |           |              | 
               Regional Combatant            JCOS
               Commander or Commanders      
               (functional command)
                        |
                        |
                        |
              Army, Navy, ....Air Force,
             Marine Corps commanding 
                      officer
[edit]

Joint Chiefs of Staff

The 4 Service Chiefs together with the Chairman and Vice Chairman form the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffGen. Peter Pace (USMC)
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffAdm. Edmund P. Giambastiani (USN)
Chief of Staff of the United States ArmyGen. Peter J. Schoomaker (USA)
Chief of Naval OperationsAdm. Michael G. Mullen (USN)
Commandant of the Marine CorpsGen. Michael W. Hagee (USMC)
Chief of Staff of the United States Air ForceGen. T. Michael Moseley (USAF)
[edit]

Unified Combatant Commands

There are 9 Unified Combatant Commands- 5 geographic and 4 functional.

CommandCommanderHome BaseArea of Responsibility
United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) Admiral Timothy J. Keating (USN) Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado North American homeland defense and coordinating homeland security with civilian forces.
United States Central Command (CENTCOM), General John Abizaid (USA) Macdill Air Force Base, Florida The Horn of Africa through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia.
United States European Command (EUCOM) General James L. Jones (USMC) (also Supreme Allied Commander Europe(SACEUR)) SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), Belgium Europe and African and Middle Eastern nations not covered by CENTCOM.
U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) Admiral William J. Fallon (USN) Honolulu, Hawaii The Asia-Pacific region including Hawaii.
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) General Bantz J. Craddock (USA) Miami, Florida South, Central America and the surrounding waters
The 5 Geographic Commands
</tr>

</table>

U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) General Bryan D. Brown (USA) MacDill Air Force Base, Florida Provides special operations for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) General Lance L. Smith (USAF) (also Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT)) Norfolk, Virginia Supports other commands as a joint force provider.
United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) General James E. Cartwright (USMC) Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska Covers the strategic deterrent force and coordinates the use of space assets.
U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) General Norton A. Schwartz (USAF) Scott Air Force Base, Illinois Covers global mobility of all military assets for all regional commands.
[edit]

Personnel

[edit]

Recruitment

As in most militaries, members of the U.S. armed forces hold ranks and can be promoted, and subscribes to the Officer/Enlisted distinction.

[edit]

Enlisted

After enlistment new recruits undergo Basic Training, followed by Advanced Individual Training in their primary Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) at any of the numerous MOS training facilities around the world. Initially recruits without higher education, or college degrees will hold the pay grade of E-1, and will be elevated to E-2 following Basic Training or soon thereafter. Different services have different incentive programs for enlistees, such as higher initial ranks for college credit and referring friends who go on to enlist as well. Enlistees in the Army can even attain the initial pay grade of E-4 with a full four year degree, but generally the highest initial grade is E-3.

[edit]

Officer

There are four common ways for one to receive a commission as an officer in one of the branches of the U.S. military (although other routes are possible).

  • Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)
  • Officer Candidate School (OCS)
  • Military Academy
  • Direct Commission - Lawyers, doctors, nurses, veterinarians, and chaplains may be directly commissioned into their respective corps. There also are opportunities in the Reserves and National Guard for those who have significant professional civilian experience in a related field, and time in service. They do, however, go through a brief school for military customs, courtesies and traditions.
  • Battlefield Commission - Enlisted personnel that have skills that seperate them from their peers can become officers if an overseeing general\commander sees such a promotion as fit. This type of commissioning is rarely done and is reserved only for the most exceptional enlisted personnel.

Officers receive a commission assigning them to the Officer Corps from the President (with the consent of the Senate).

Through their careers, officers usually will receive further training at one or a number of the many U.S. military staff colleges.

[edit]

Warrant Officer

Additionally, all services except for the U.S. Air Force have a Warrant Officer corps. Above the rank of Chief Warrant Officer Two, these officers are also commissioned officers, but usually serve in a more technical and specialized role within units. More recently though they can also serve in more traditional leadership roles associated with the more recognizable officer corps. With one notable exception, these officers ordinarily have already been in the military often serving in senior NCO positions in the field in which they later serve as a Warrant Officer as a technical expert. The exception to the NCO rule is helicopter pilots in the U.S. Army, although most Army pilots have indeed served some enlisted time, it is also possible to enlist, complete basic training, go directly to the Warrant Officer Candidate school at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and then on to flight school.

[edit]

Uniforms

[edit]

Battledress

Battle Dress Uniform
Army Combat Uniform

[edit]

Utility uniform

Utility uniform

[edit]

Mess Dress

Mess dress

[edit]

Full dress uniform

Dress uniform

[edit]

Personnel in each service

As of the middle of 2004

ServiceTotal Active Duty PersonnelPercentage FemaleEnlistedOfficers
Army500,20315.2%414,32569,307
Marine Corps176,2026.0%157,15019,052
Navy375,52114.5%319,92955,592
Air Force358,61219.6%285,52073,091
Coast Guard40,15110.7%31,2867,835
Total1,450,68914.9%1,196,210254,479
[edit]

Personnel deployed

Main article: Deployments of the U.S. Military

[edit]

Overseas

The United States has military personnel deployed in numerous countries around the world, with numbers ranging from merely a handful to tens of thousands. Some of the largest contingents are:

Germany75,603
South Korea (United States Forces Korea)40,258
Japan (United States Forces Japan)40,045
Italy13,354
United Kingdom11,801

In addition, as of early 2006, nearly 150,000 U.S. troops are deployed in the Middle East. Most of these soldiers are stationed in Iraq, although some are in other countries including Afghanistan.

[edit]

Within the United States

Including territories and ships afloat within territorial waters

A total of 1,168,195 personnel are within the United States including:

Continental U.S. 1,168,195
Hawaii35,810
Alaska17,989
Afloat120,666
[edit]

Budget Comparison

Main article U.S. military budget

The military expenditure of the Department of Defense for 2004 was:

Total$437.111 Billion
Operations and maintenance$174.081 Bil.
Military Personnel$113.576 Bil.
Procurement$76.217 Bil.
Research & Development$60.756 Bil.
Military Construction$6.310 Bil.

The United States military budget is larger than the military budgets of the next twenty biggest spenders combined, and six times larger than China's, which places second (although it is widely believed that China significantly understates its actual military expenditures). Dollar for dollar, the United States and its closest allies are responsible for approximately two-thirds of all military spending on Earth (of which, in turn, the U.S. is responsible for two-thirds). Military spending accounts for more than half of the United States' federal discretionary spending, which comprises all of the U.S. government's money not accounted for by pre-existing obligations [3].

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2003 the United States spent approximately 47% of the world's total military spending of US$956,000,000,000.

See also: China's military budget
[edit]

State Military Forces

[edit]

Notes

  • ↑  The National Guard of the United States is a unit of the Department of Defense that coordinates the 54 National Guard forces for federal purposes. The 54 forces are State and Territorial armies and air forces that are constitutionally controlled by their federal counterparts, but are governmental entities of the States and Territories which created them.
  • The Posse Comitatus Act restricts the armed forces from interfering with civilian affairs, with the exception of the Coast Guard, when it is not subsumed into the Navy, and the National Guard, when it is in the service of the specific State or Territory that created it.
  • Persons 17 years old, with parental permission, can join the U.S. armed services.
[edit]

See also

[edit]

External links



North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
Belgium | Bulgaria | Canada | Czech Republic | Denmark | Estonia | France | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Italy | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | The Netherlands | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Turkey | United Kingdom | United States of America
Candidate Countries: Albania | Croatia | Macedonia
da:USA's forsvar

de:Streitkräfte der Vereinigten Staaten es:Fuerzas Armadas de los Estados Unidos de América fr:Forces armées des États-Unis ko:미국의 군사 he:הכוחות המזוינים של ארצות הברית ja:アメリカ軍 no:Amerikas forente staters forsvar pl:Siły Zbrojne Stanów Zjednoczonych ru:Вооружённые силы США sl:Oborožene sile Združenih držav Amerike fi:Yhdysvaltain asevoimat sv:USA:s militär

zh:美国军事
Retrieved from "http://dictionpedia.com/en/Military_of_the_United_States"