United States Armed Forces

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The United States Armed Forces defend The United States of America and areas far beyond it. They are staffed by Soldiers,Sailors and other Personnel who are responsible for protecting the United States of America and areas beyond it. The Branches of The United States Armed Forces are The United States Army,United States Marine Corps,United States Navy,United States Coast Guard,United States Air Force and United States Space Force.

United States Armed Forces
Military manpower
Military age 17–45 years old[1]
Availability Males & Females ages 17–49:

109,305,756 (2005 est.).[2]

Citizenship Regular Army: No Citizenship Requirement For Enlisted Members / All Officers must be US Citizens. National Guard: Citizens Only.
Reaching military age annually Males & Females: 4,180,074 (2005 est.)
Total armed forces 2,685,713 (Ranked 2nd)
Active troops 1,426,713 (Ranked 2nd)
Total troops 2,685,713 (Ranked 7th)
Military expenditures
Dollar figure $441.6 billion (Ranked 1st.)
Percent of GDP 3.7% (FY2006 est.) (Ranked 26th)
Dollar Figure (per citizen) $935.64($1470)[3] (ranked 3rd)

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

The current President of the United States is Joe Biden. 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.[4]

Ranks[change | change source]

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.

Rank Army Marines Air Force
Army,Marines and Air Force Non Commissioned/Enlisted Personnel Ranks
E-1 Private Private Airman Basic
E-2 Private Private First Class Airman
E-3 Private First Class Lance Corporal Airman First Class
E-4 Corporal
Specialist 4
Corporal Senior Airman
E-5 Sergeant Sergeant Staff Sergeant
E-6 Staff Sergeant Staff Sergeant Technical Sergeant
E-7 Sergeant First Class Gunnery Sergeant Master Sergeant
E-8 Master Sergeant
First Sergeant
Master Sergeant
First Sergeant
Senior Master Sergeant
E-9 Sergeant Major Sergeant Major
Master Gunnery Sergeant
Chief Master Sergeant
E-9* Sergeant Major
Of the Army*
Sergeant Major Of the
Marine Corps*
Chief Master Sergeant
Of the Air Force*

*Each branch of the military has only one of these specific E-9 grade enlisted personnel and are considered the senior enlisted person of their branch. The Sergeant Major of the Army,Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps,and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force are the spokespersons of the enlisted force at the highest levels of their services.

 
Rank Title
Army,Marine Corps,Air Force and Space Force Commissioned Officer Ranks
Navy Officer Ranks
O-1 Second Lieutenant Ensign
O-2 First Lieutenant Lieutenant Junior Grade
O-3 Captain Lieutenant
O-4 Major Lieutenant Commander
O-5 Lieutenant Colonel Commander
O-6 Colonel Captain
O-7 Brigadier General Rear Admiral (Lower Half)
O-8 Major General Rear Admiral
O-9 Lieutenant General Vice Admiral
O-10 General Admiral

References[change | change source]

  1. People of 17 years of age, with permission of parents, can join the U.S. armed services.
  2. CIA World Fact Book https://cia.gov/cia//publications/factbook/geos/us.html Archived 2007-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Money spent by different countries on their militaries
  4. Go Army. "Careers & Jobs". Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2006.

Other websites[change | change source]

Branch links[change | change source]