The combined United States armed forces consists of 1.4 million active duty personnel along with several hundred thousand each in the United States Army Reserve and United States National Guard.
There is currently no conscription. The armed forces are also members of the United States Uniformed Services. The United States Armed Forces is the most powerful military in the world and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other singular nation (e.g. People's Republic of China, Russia) 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.
United States Armed Forces | Military Manpower | | Military age | 18 years of age | | Availability | males & females ages 15-49: 73,597,731 (2004 est.) | | Reaching military age annually | males/females: 2,124,164 (2004 est.) | | Active troops | 1,427,000 (Ranked 2nd) | | Military Expenditures | | Dollar figure | $400 billion (FY2005 est.) | | Percent of GDP | 3.7% (FY2005 est.) | | |
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. Unlike certain other countries, the United States officer corps is not restricted by society class, education, 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 racially desegregated the military of the United States. Homosexuals, however, are still barred from serving openly. By law, women may not be put into direct combat, however, assymmetrical warfare has put women into situations, which are direct combat operations in name only.
Organizational LayoutUnder 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 organisation of the Department) the 4 Service Chiefs together with the Chairman and Vice Chairman form the Joint Chiefs of Staff. However operational control flows from the President and Secretary of Defense to the Commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands. Each service is responsible for providing military units to the commanders of the various Unified Commands.
Personnel
Personnel in each serviceAs 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 |
Deployed ForcesAs of April, 2004
OverseasThe 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:
| Germany | 75,603 | | South Korea | 40,258 | | Japan | 40,045 | | Italy | 13,354 | | United Kingdom | 11,801 | | Iraq | 148,000(2005.05) |
Within the United StatesIncluding territories and ships afloat within territorial waters
A total of 1,168,195 personnel are within the United States including some deployments in:
| Continental U.S. | 1,168,195 | | Hawaii | 35,810 | | Alaska | 17,989 | | Afloat | 120,666 |
US Military CapabilitiesOur forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military build-up in hopes of surpassing, or equalling, 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. The United Kingdom is also capable of engaging in sustained short-term expeditionary warfare. France, Germany, China, Russia and Australia are capable of projecting limited amounts of power overseas. The United States military is currently the only military capable of fighting a sustained, long-term 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 strategic and tactical nuclear attack operations. The United Kingdom, Russia, France, Pakistan, India and North Korea also maintain nuclear weapons although only for strategic use.
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 from the current 37 brigade groups into 48 brigades with an emphasis on power projection.
Joint Chiefs of StaffThe 4 Service Chiefs together with the Chairman and Vice Chairman form the Joint Chiefs of Staff. | Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Gen.Richard B. Myers(USAF) | | Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Gen.Peter Pace(USMC) | | Chief of Staff of the United States Army | Gen.Pete Schoomaker | | Chief of Naval Operations | Adm.Vern Clark | | Commandant of the Marine Corps | Gen.Michael W. Hagee | | Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force | Gen.John P. Jumper |
Unified Combatant CommandsThere are 9 Unified Combatant Commands- 5 geographic and 4 functional.
| Command | Commander | Home Base | Area 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 (US Army) | Macdill Air Force Base, Florida | The Horn of Africa through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia. | | U.S. European Command (EUCOM) | General James L. Jones (USMC) (also Supreme Allied Commander Europe(SACEUR)) | Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany | 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 James T. Hill (US Army) | Miami, Florida | South, Central America and the surrounding waters |
The 5 Geographic Commands
US Defense Budget
The military expenditure of the Department of Defence 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. The United States and its close 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), dollar for dollar. Military spending accounts for more than half of the United States' federal discretionary spending, which is all of the U.S. government's money not spoken for by pre-existing obligations.
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Military Info 
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