United States Armed Forces

United States Armed Forces
Emblems of the U.S. Armed Forces service branches
Founded	14 June 1775 (1775-06-14)[a]
Service branches	U.S. Army  U.S. Marine Corps  U.S. Navy  U.S. Air Force U.S. Space Force  U.S. Coast Guard
Headquarters	The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia
Website	defense.gov www.army.mil dhs.gov
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	[[Donald Trump]]
Secretary of Defense	Pete Hegseth
Secretary of Homeland Security	Kristi Noem
Chief of Staff	J. Daniel Caine
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff	Gen Dan Caine, USAF
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff	ADM Christopher W. Grady, USN
Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman	SEAC David L. Isom, USN
Personnel
Military age	17 with parental consent, 18 for voluntary service.[b]
Conscription	Inactive since 1973 (males must register at age 18)
Available for military service	15 million (2021)[7], age 18–25
Active personnel	1,328,000[8] (ranked 3rd)
Reserve personnel	799,500[9]
Expenditure
Budget	$1.02 Trillion (FY 2026)[10]
Percent of GDP	3.4%[10]
Industry
Domestic suppliers	List
Foreign suppliers	United Kingdom  Germany  Netherlands  France  Israel  Italy  Sweden  Australia  Japan  Jordan  Spain  Norway   Switzerland  Singapore  South Africa  Czech Republic  Canada  South Korea  Brazil  Bulgaria
Annual imports	US$652.6 million (2014–2022)[11]
Annual exports	US$28.50 billion (2014–2022)[11]
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	Commissioned officer Army officer Marine Corps officer Navy officer Air Force officer Space Force officer Coast Guard officer Warrant officer Army warrant officer Marine Corps warrant officer Navy warrant officer Air Force warrant officer Coast Guard warrant officer Enlisted Army enlisted Marine Corps enlisted Navy enlisted Air Force enlisted Space Force enlisted Coast Guard enlisted

The United States Armed Forces are the military of the United States. It has six branches: the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard.

The current President of the United States is Donald J Trump. He is the current Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. All branches except the Coast Guard are part of the Department of Defense, which is controlled by the Secretary of Defense. The Coast Guard is located within the Department of Homeland Security. The Marine Corps located within the Department Of The Navy.

About 1.4 million people are currently on active duty in the military with another 1,259,000 people on reserve (with 456,000 people in the Army and Air National Guard). There is currently no conscription. Women can serve in most combat positions, and in all non-combat military jobs. Because of war, some of these non-combat jobs actually see combat regularly.^[12]

There are six main parts, called "branches," of the U.S. military:^{[13][14][15][16]}

In the American Revolutionary War, the U.S. military was formed in 1775. Initially, it was known as the Continental Army and was commanded by George Washington.^[17][18][19]

The U.S. military has since been engaged in numerous large wars,^[20][21] including:

• World War I and World War II: These wars assisted the U.S. in becoming a superpower.
• The Cold War: Many years of tension with the Soviet Union (Russia).
• Modern War: War on Terror and Middle East conflicts fall under this category of modern wars.

The military has two major categories of persons:

• Enlisted Personnel: These are the working people who perform the majority of the operations and work.^[22]
• Officers: These are the heads that strategize missions and control the recruited members.^[23]

By the year 2026, the number of people on Active Duty (full-time workers) is approximately 1.3 million. Hundreds of thousands of National Guard and Reserves members also train part-time and can be deployed to assist in times of emergency.^{[24][25][26][27]}

No other country spends more on military expenditure than the United States. The budget in 2026 can be described as more than 1 trillion.^[28] This money is used for:

• Salaries: The remuneration of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
• Hardware: The purchase of such modern equipment as F-35 Lightning II jet, Abrams tank, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
• Research: Innovation new technology such as cognitive warfare (protecting information), and space defense.

All branches of the United States military have Commissioned Officers and Non Commissioned/Enlisted Personnel. Most Enlisted members with a rank of E-4 and above are called Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), the exception is the Air Force where E-5 is considered the first Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) rank. Their usual duties are to supervise or make sure that common jobs are done properly every day. Most branches of the United States Military include Warrant Officers (Chief Warrant Officers in the Navy.) They are considered experts in their field, they are higher rank than other enlisted troops, but below Commissioned Officer. There are four or five ranks of Warrant Officers in most of the branches: WO-1 through WO-4 or WO-5(CWO-1 to CWO-4 or CWO-5)

Here are some common ranks for the US Army,Air Force and Marines. These branches of the military use different names for the enlisted ranks, but they all use the same for officers. The Navy and the Coast Guard have different ranks; for those see United States Navy. There are no five star general Ranks. The General of the Army, General of the Air Force and Fleet Admiral are only used in wartime situations. The United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force have Commissioned Officer and Non-Commissioned/Enlisted Personnel Ranks with the Navy and Coast Guard also having Officer Ranks. These Titles are seen below.

The number of generals and admirals, is over 800.^[29]

1. ↑ "Common Questions About Eligibility and Requirements". Goarmy.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
2. ↑ "General Requirements". Marines.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
3. ↑ "Requirements to Join". Navy.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
4. ↑ "Join the Active Duty Air Force". Airforce.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
5. ↑ "Join as Enlisted". Spaceforce.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
6. ↑ "Coast Guard removes barriers to boost recruiting". MyCG. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
7. ↑ "About Selective Service".
8. ↑ "FY2023 NDAA: Active Component EndStrength". 23 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
9. ↑ "Appropriations Committee Releases Fiscal Year 2022 Defense Funding Bill". 29 June 2021. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
10. 1 2 "President Trump's FY2026 defence budget: Continuing priorities, new missions". International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). 23 May 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
11. 1 2 "TIV of arms imports/exports from United States, 2014–2022". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 26 January 2024.
12. ↑ Go Army. "Careers & Jobs". Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2006.
13. ↑ "Our Missions".
14. ↑ "Our Forces". Archived from the original on 4 February 2026. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
15. ↑ "About Us".
16. ↑ "Military Size by Country 2026". World Population Review. 25 March 2026. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
17. ↑ "General George Washington" (PDF).
18. ↑ John, Bonin. "Thompson's Rifle Battalion" (PDF).
19. ↑ "American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics" (PDF).
20. ↑ "AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY" (PDF).
21. ↑ "George Washington: Father of His Country". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
22. ↑ "Military Careers". Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
23. ↑ "Military Careers". Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
24. ↑ "Demographics of the U.S. Military | Council on Foreign Relations". www.cfr.org. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
25. ↑ "Posture Statement".
26. ↑ "OUSD(C) - Budget Materials". comptroller.war.gov. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
27. ↑ "Military Members by State 2026". World Population Review. 25 March 2026. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
28. ↑ "USAspending.gov". www.usaspending.gov. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
29. ↑ https://www.kyivpost.com/post/61110. Retrieved 2025-09-30

• Official U.S. DOD site Archived 2009-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
• Global Security on U.S. Military Operations
• Today's Military website
• Largest Military Personnel Locator Archived 2012-08-12 at the Wayback Machine
• US Military ranks and rank insignia
• US Military Mottos