Military of the United States

United States Armed Forces
Military manpower
Military age	17-45 years oldPersons of 17 years of age, with parental permission, can join the U.S. armed services.
Availability	males & females ages 17-49: 134,813,023 (2005 est.).
Citizenship	Regular Army: No Citizenship Requirement. National Guard: Citizens Only.
Reaching military age annually	males & females: 4,180,074 (2005 est.)
Total armed forces	1,421,950 (Ranked 3rd)
Active troops	1,421,950 (Ranked 2nd)
Total troops	2,361,289 (Ranked 8th)
Military expenditures
Dollar figure	$441.6 billion (FY2006 est.)
Percent of GDP	3.7% (FY2006 est.)

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

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 860,000 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.

The armed forces are also members of the uniformed services of the United States.Since they are "constitutionally mandated services", the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps can be subsumed into the Department of Defense during declared emergencies and war time. 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). The United States Department of Defense is the controlling organization for the U.S. military and is headquartered at The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. 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 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.

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. Open 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).

Capabilities

AH-64A Apache helicopter

The United States military is unique in the amount of power it can project globally. Although the United Kingdom and France are capable of projecting power overseas, the United States military is the only military with the capacity to fight a major regional war away from its home territory. The U.S. is also one of the few nations in the world that have sizable nuclear arsenals and maintain active doctrines for plausible nuclear-attack operations.

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 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. The capabilities and power of the United States Armed Forces make the United States military the strongest in the world.

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.{|Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff