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The military of the United States, officially known as the United States Armed Forces, is structured into five branches consisting of the: All the branches are under civilian control with the President of the United States serving as Commander-in-Chief. All branches except the Coast Guard are part of the Department of Defense, which is under the authority of the Secretary of Defense, who also is a civilian. In peacetime the Coast Guard is placed as part of the Department of Homeland Security, while in wartime they can be placed under authority of the DOD via the Department of the Navy. Approximately 1.4 million personnel are currently on active duty in the military with an additional 1,259,000 personnel in the seven reserve components (456,000 of which are in the Army and Air National Guard). There is currently no conscription. Women are not allowed to serve in some combat positions, but they are allowed to serve in most non-combat MOS. Due to the realities of war some of these non-combat positions see combat regularly. • Capabilities Much of U.S. military capability is involved in logistics and transportation, which enable 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 active aircraft carriers, combined with a military doctrine of power projection, enables a flexible response to potential threats. The capabilities and strength of the United States Armed Forces make the United States military the most powerful in the world. The United States Army is not as portable as the Marine Corps, but Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker has 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 Army reorganization, however, battalions will still be affiliated with traditional regiments, and brigades will still be affiliated with traditional divisions. Reorganized brigades began 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. The Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 (PL 99-433) reworked the command structure of the United States Military, introducing the most sweeping changes to the United States Department of Defense since it was established in the National Security Act of 1947. The Goldwater-Nichols Reorganization Act was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 1, 1986. The Goldwater-Nichols Act streamlined the military chain of command, which now runs from the President through the Secretary of Defense directly to unified combat commanders, bypassing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who were assigned to an advisory role. Each service is responsible for providing military units to the commanders of the various Unified Commands. National Command organizational chart 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.
Personnel
Personnel in each service As of 2004 Personnel deployed Overseas As of 1999, the United States occupied 702 military bases in 132 different countries.• Some of the largest contingents are: As of mid- 2006, nearly 150,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in the Middle East. Most of these forces are currently engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. Within the United States Including U.S. territories and ships afloat within territorial waters A total of 1,112,684 personnel are on active duty within the United States including: • Enlisted After enlistment new recruits undergo Basic Combat Training, followed by a sort of "technical school" called Advanced Individual Training (AIT) 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 paygrade of E-1, and will be elevated to E-2 usually after the completion of Basic Combat Training and with a minimum of six months Time-In-Service (TIS). 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. With parent/guardian permission, applicants can enlist at the age of 17, , and participate in the Delayed Entry Program (DEP). In this program, the applicant is given the opportunity to participate in locally sponsored military-related activities, which can range from sports to competitions (each recruiting station DEP program will vary), led by recruiters or other military liasons. Participation in this programs is an example of the different opportunities the recruits have to elevate in rank before their departure to Basic Combat Training. There are several different authorized paygrade advancement requirements in each junior enlisted rank category (E-1 to E-4). Enlistees in the Army can attain the initial paygrade of E-4 (Specialist) with a full four year degree, but the highest initial entry paygrade is usually E-3. Officer There are five 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). 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 Warrant Officer One, 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. History Prior and during the founding of the United States, and military forces required were supplied by untrained militia commanded by the states. When the Continental Congress first ordered a Contintental Army to be formed, it was to be made up of militia from the states. That army, under the command of General George Washington, won the Revolutionary War, but afterwards was disbanded. However, it soon became obvious that a standing army and navy were required. The United States Navy began when Congress ordered several frigates in 1794, and a standing army was created, however it was still only minimal and it relied mostly on contributions from state militia in times of war. Between the founding of the nation and the Civil War, American military forces fought and won against Barbary Coast pirates, fought the War of 1812 against the British, and ended in the status quo, and won several southwestern territories from the Mexicans in the Mexican-American War. In 1861, with the beginning of the Civil War, many military forces, including the nation's best generals, became part of the Confederate military, and both armies fought a long, bloody struggle which consumed 600,000 lives and ended in Union (US) victory in 1865. In the period between the Civil War and the 1890s, the military was allowed to languish, although units of the US Army did fight Native Americans as settlers moved into the center of the United States. By the end of the century, though, America was rapidly becoming a new superpower. The military fought the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War, along with several Latin American interventions, and Teddy Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet around the world in a display of American power. In addition, the Militia Act of 1903 established the National Guard. The United States entered World War I in 1917 and played a minor role in the Allied victory. It languished in the interwar period, but as tensions mounted leading up to World War II, the force was put back into shape. US Army troops were a large component of the forces that took North Africa, Italy, and landed in France at D-Day, and US Navy, Marine, and Army troops were heavily involved in Pacific campaign against Japan and its allies. The end of World War II was the start of the Cold War, a large but ultimately non violent struggle between the United States and its NATO Allies and the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. Thousands of US troops deployed to Europe in anticipation of a struggle that never came. However, US troops did participate in proxy wars in Korea and Vietnam. The Korean War, between North Korea and China and South Korea, the US, and other UN troops, ultimately returned to the status quo. The Vietnam War between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and the US, was ultimately a failure, resulting in US pullout and unification of the country under communism. In the 1980s, the US military fought Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada. In addition, the Goldwater-Nichols Act completely reorganized the military. By 1989 it was clear the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse and it looked like the US military would be left with no one to fight. However, when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991, the United States entered the Persian Gulf War. The military forces of the US and other nations easily defeated Iraq's army with minimal losses, proving the combat readiness of the new all-volunteer military. After this brief war and the breakup of the Soviet Union, the US military had relatively little to do throughout the remainder of the 1990s, barring interventions in Yugoslavia and Kosovo. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, US military forces were an integral part of the War on Terror. US and NATO forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and in 2003 the US and several other countries invaded Iraq. While the initial invasion was successful, the occupation quickly bogged down, with daily violence and terrorist attacks. However, some milestones have been reached, such as the capture of Saddam Hussein and democratic elections. Expenditures
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