Home > United States armed forces
| United States armed forces
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| Military manpower
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| Military age | 18 years of age
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| Availability | males age 15-49: 70,819,436 (2001 est.)
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| Reaching military age annually | males: 2,039,414 (2001 est.)
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| Military expenditures
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| Dollar figure | $399.1 billion (FY2004 est.)
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| Percent of GDP | 3.6% (FY2004 est.)
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The armed forces of the United States of America consist of the
- Note: The United States Coast Guard has both military and law enforcement functions. Title 14, U.S. 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 becomes part of the Department of Defense. Coast Guard units have seen combat in every war of the United States, including the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
The combined United States armed forces consists of 1.4 million active duty personnel along with several hundred thousands each in the Reserves and National Guard.
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.
1 Capabilities
- Our forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military build-up in hopes of surpassing, or equaling, the power of the United States. — President George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. His first four-year term as President began on January 20, 2001 following the controversial U. presidential election, 2000, where for the first time in American, National Security StrategyThe National Security Strategy of the United States of America is a document prepared periodically by the executive branch of the government of the United States which outlines the major security concerns of the United States and how the administration pl, Chapter IX, September 20022002 is a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). 2002 was the first palindromic year since 1991 and the last until 2112. 2002 was also designated: International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains National Science Year in the United Kingdom.
The United States military is unique in the amount of power it can project globally. Although France and the United Kingdom are capable of projecting limited amounts of power
overseas, the United States military is the only military capable of fighting a major regional war at a distance from its homeland.
As such, much of the U.S. military capabilities are tied up in logisticsIn military and business, logistics experts manage how and when to move resources to the places they are needed. In military science, maintaining ones supply lines while disrupting those of the enemy is a crucial, and some would say the most crucial eleme and transportation, which allow rapid buildup of forces as needed. The Air Force maintains a large fleet of C-5 GalaxyC-5 Galaxy Description RoleHeavy strategic airlift transport Crew7 (pilot, copilot, two flight engineers, three loadmasters) Dimensions Length247. 3 m Wingspan222. 89 m Height65. 84 m Wing area6,200 sq ft576 m² Weights Empty337,937 lb153,285 kg Loaded769,, 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 into 48 brigade groups with an emphasis on power projection.
