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Military of the United States

 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The military of the United States, officially known as the United States Armed Forces, consist of the:
 * United States Army
 * United States Marine Corps
 * United States Navy
 * United States Air Force
 * United States Coast Guard

All the services are under the command of the President of the United States. All of the services except the Coast Guard are part of the Department of Defense, which is controlled by the Secretary of Defense. In peacetime the Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security, while in wartime responsibility is transferred to the Defense Department. 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.

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).Additionally, both the Coast Guard and the Air Force have volunteer civilian auxiliaries: the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary (Coast Guard) and the Civil Air Patrol (Air Force). There is currently no conscription. Women are not allowed to serve in combat positions, but they are allowed to serve in a non-combat MOS. Due to the realities of war many 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.

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
The United States military is ranked second largest in the world, and has troops deployed around the globe. As in most militaries, members of the U.S. Armed Forces hold a rank, either officer or enlisted, and can be promoted.

Personnel in each service
As of 2004

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 minumum 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. Applicants can enlist at the age of 17, with parent/gaurdian permission, 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), lead 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 generally, the highest initial entry paygrade 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 – Enlisted personnel that have skills that separate 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 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.

Expenditures


The military expenditure of the United States Department of Defense for fiscal year 2006 is:

The United States military budget is larger than the military budgets of the next twenty largest spenders combined, and six times larger than China's, which places second. As would be expected from the world's superpowers, the United States and its closest allies are responsible for approximately two-thirds of global military spending (of which, in turn, the U.S. is responsible for the vast majority). Military spending accounts for 19% of the United States' federal budget, and aproximately half of its federal discretionary spending, which comprises all of the U.S. government's money not accounted for by pre-existing obligations.

However, in terms of per capita spending, the U.S. ranks third behind Israel and Singapore. It is also number 26 in terms of military spending per dollar GDP.

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.

As a percentage of its GDP, the United states spends 3.7% on military. This is higher by percent than France's 2.6%, and lower than Saudia Arabia's 10%. This is historically fairly low for the United States.

However it must be remembered that the figure presented for United States Military spending has dramatically increased since the attacks of September 11th, 2001, and ensuing military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Also, the United States' all-volunteer military has dramatically higher personnel costs compared to the militaries of countries which use conscription, many of which have far more troops than the United States. Six countries have more troops than the United States, five of them through conscription.