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| United States armed forces |
| Military manpower |
| Military age |
17 years of age |
| Availability |
males & females ages 17-49: 134,813,023 (2005 est.) |
| Fit for military service |
males & females ages 17-49: 109,305,756 (2005 est.) |
| Reaching military age annually |
males & females: 4,180,074 (2005 est.) |
| Active troops |
1,427,000 (Ranked 2nd) |
| Military expenditures |
| Dollar figure |
$400 billion (FY2005 est.) |
| Percent of GDP |
3.7% (FY2005 est.) |
The armed forces (or armed services) of the United States of America consist of the
Approximately 1.4 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 unrivaled by any other singular nation (e.g. People's Republic of China, Russia, India and today Iran) 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).
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 are capable of projecting power overseas, the United States military is the only military capable of fighting 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.
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.
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
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The 4 Service Chiefs together with the Chairman and Vice Chairman form the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Unified Combatant Commands
There are 9 Unified Combatant Commands- 5 geographic and 4 functional.
| The 5 Geographic Commands |
 |
|
Personnel
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.
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.
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.
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.
Uniforms
Battledress
Battle Dress Uniform
Army Combat Uniform
Utility uniform
Utility uniform
Mess Dress
Mess dress
Full dress uniform
Dress uniform
Personnel in each service
As of the middle of 2004
| Service |
Total Active Duty Personnel |
Percentage Female |
Enlisted |
Officers |
| Army |
500,203 |
15.2% |
414,325 |
69,307 |
| Marine Corps |
176,202 |
6.0% |
157,150 |
19,052 |
| Navy |
375,521 |
14.5% |
319,929 |
55,592 |
| Air Force |
358,612 |
19.6% |
285,520 |
73,091 |
| Coast Guard |
40,151 |
10.7% |
31,286 |
7,835 |
| Total |
1,450,689 |
14.9% |
1,196,210 |
254,479 |
Personnel deployed
Main article: Deployments of the U.S. Military
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:
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.
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:
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
Notes
- ^ The United States Coast Guard has both military and law enforcement functions. Title 14, United States Code, Section 1, states "The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times." In peacetime it is part of the Department of Homeland Security, but in wartime falls under the operational command of the United States Navy. Coast Guard units, or ships of its predecessor service, the Revenue Cutter Service, have seen combat in every war of the United States since 1790, including the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
- The Posse Comitatus Act restricts the armed forces from interfering with civilian affairs, with the exception of the Coast Guard.
- Persons 17 years old, with parental permission, can join the U.S. armed services.
See also
External links
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_armed_forces under GFDL
