Global InformationUnited States Armed Forces information
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| United States Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
      Emblems of the U.S. Armed Forces' service branches | |
| Founded | 14 June 1775[a] |
| Service branches |
|
| Headquarters | The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia |
| Website | defense.gov |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief |  President Joe Biden |
| Secretary of Defense |  Lloyd Austin |
| Secretary of Homeland Security |  Alejandro Mayorkas |
| Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff |  GEN Charles Q. Brown Jr., USAF
|
| Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff |  ADM Christopher W. Grady, USN |
| Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman |  SEAC Troy E. Black, USMC |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 17 with parental consent, 18 for voluntary service.[b] |
| Conscription | Only males register at age 18 (conscription inactive since 1973) |
| Available for military service | 15 million (2021)[7], age 18–25 |
| Active personnel | 1,328,000[8] (ranked 3rd) |
| Reserve personnel | 799,500[9] |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | $816.7 billion (2023)[10] (ranked 1st) |
| Percent of GDP | 3.47% (2022)[11] |
| Industry | |
| Domestic suppliers | List |
| Foreign suppliers |  United Kingdom Germany Netherlands France Israel Italy Sweden Australia Jordan Spain Norway Switzerland Singapore South Africa Czech Republic Canada South Korea Brazil Bulgaria |
| Annual imports | US$652.6 million (2014-2022)[12] |
| Annual exports | US$28.50 billion (2014-2022)[12] |
| Related articles | |
| History | Military history of the United States Warfare directory of the United States Conflicts involving the United States Battles involving the United States |
| Ranks |
|
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States.[13] The armed forces consist of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard.[14][15] All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States.[16]
Each of the different military services is assigned a role and domain. The Army conducts land operations, while the Navy and Marine Corps conduct maritime operations, with the Marine Corps specializing in amphibious and maritime littoral operations in support of the Navy. The Air Force conducts air operations, and the Space Force conducts space operations. The Coast Guard is unique in that it specializes in maritime operations and is also a law enforcement agency.[17][18]
From their inception during the American Revolutionary War, the U.S. Armed Forces have played a decisive role in the country's history. They helped forge a sense of national unity and identity through victories in the early-19th-century First and Second Barbary Wars. They played a critical role in the territorial evolution of the U.S., including the American Civil War. The National Security Act of 1947 created the modern U.S. military framework, establishing the National Military Establishment (later the Department of Defense or DoD) headed by the secretary of defense and creating both the U.S. Air Force and National Security Council; in 1949, an amendment to the act merged the cabinet-level departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force into the DoD.[citation needed]
The president of the U.S. is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with the DoD and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), both federal executive departments, acting as the principal organs by which military policy is carried out.
The U.S. Armed Forces are one of the world's largest military forces in terms of personnel. They draw their personnel from a large pool of professional volunteers. The U.S. has used military conscription, but not since 1973. The Selective Service System retains the power to conscript males, requiring the registration of all male citizens and residents living in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 25.
The U.S. Armed Forces are considered the world's most powerful military, especially since the end of the Cold War.[19] The military expenditure of the U.S. was US$877 billion in 2022, the highest in the world, accounting for 39% of the world's defense expenditures.[20] The U.S. Armed Forces has significant capabilities in both defense and power projection due to its large budget, resulting in advanced and powerful technologies which enables a widespread deployment of the force around the world, including around 800 military bases outside the U.S.[21] The U.S. Air Force is the world's largest air force, followed by the U.S. Army Aviation Branch. The U.S. Naval Air Forces is the fourth-largest air arm in the world and is the largest naval aviation service, while U.S. Marine Corps Aviation is the world's seventh-largest air arm. The U.S. Navy is the world's largest navy by tonnage.[22] The U.S. Coast Guard is the world's 12th-largest maritime force.[23] The U.S. Space Force is the world's only active independent space force.[24]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Common Questions About Eligibility and Requirements". Goarmy.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "General Requirements". Marines.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "Join the Active Duty Air Force". Airforce.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "Join as Enlisted". Spaceforce.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "Coast Guard removes barriers to boost recruiting". MyCG. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "About Selective Service".
- ^ "FY2023 NDAA: Active Component EndStrength". 23 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ "Appropriations Committee Releases Fiscal Year 2022 Defense Funding Bill". 29 June 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- ^ "Biden Signs National Defense Authorization Act into Law".
- ^ "Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2012–2022)" (PDF). NATO Public Diplomacy Division. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ^ a b "TIV of arms imports/exports from United States, 2014-2022". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 26 January 2024.
- ^ As stated on the official U.S. Navy website Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, "armed forces" is capitalized when preceded by "United States" or "U.S."
- ^
- ^ Garamone, Jim (20 December 2019). "Trump Signs Law Establishing U.S. Space Force". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
- ^ The other two services being the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps.
- ^ "Our Forces". U.S. Department of Defense.
- ^ "DIRECTIVE Functions of the Department of Defense and Its Major Components" (PDF). Department of Defense. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ O’Sullivan, Michael; Subramanian, Krithika (17 October 2015). The End of Globalization or a more Multipolar World? (Report). Credit Suisse AG. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- ^ "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2022" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- ^ "Department of Defense | Base Structure Report | FY 2015 Baseline" (PDF). 5 September 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ^ "'15 Fascinating Facts You Never Learned About America' – Reader's digest". rd.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- ^ "Coast Guard Organization and Administration, Chapter One". Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ "The US may soon have the world's first Space Force". Futurism.