United States Army
United States ArmyUnited States Army portal
Active / 14 June 1775 - today
Country / United States of America
Type / Army
Size / approx. 1,082,000
Partof / Department of Defense
Department of the Army
Motto / This We'll Defend
Army Strong (recruiting)
Colors / Black & Gold
March / The Army Goes Rolling Along
Engagements / Revolutionary War
Northwest Indian War
Tecumseh's War
Creek War
Peoria War
War of 1812
Seminole Wars
Black Hawk War
Mexican-American War
Utah War
American Civil War
Spanish-American War
Philippine-American War
Banana Wars
Boxer Rebellion
World War I
World War II
Korean War
Vietnam War
Persian Gulf War
Kosovo War
Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Commanders
Chief of Staff / GEN George W. Casey, Jr.
Vice Chief of Staff / GEN Richard A. Cody
Sergeant Major / SMA Kenneth O. Preston
Insignia
Recruiting Logo
The United States Army is a military organization, whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities ... in support of the National Security and Defense Strategies."[1] It is the largest and oldest established branch of the armed forces of the United States and is one of seven uniformed services. Like all armies, it has the primary responsibility for land-based military operations. The modern Army has its roots in the Continental Army which was formed on June 14, 1775, before the establishment of the United States, to meet the demands of the American Revolutionary War. Congress created the United States Army on June 14, 1784 after the end of the war to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The Army considers itself to be descended from the Continental Army, and thus dates its inception from the origins of that force.[2]
Control and operation of the Army is administered by the Department of the Army, one of the three service departments of the Department of Defense. The civilian head is the Secretary of the Army and the highest ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff, unless the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are Army officers. As of October 31, 2008, the Regular Army reported a strength of just under 546,000 soldiers.[3] The Army National Guard (ARNG) reported 350,000 and the United States Army Reserve (USAR) reported 189,000, putting the approximate combined component strength total around 1,085,000 soldiers.[4]
Contents
· 1 Structureo 1.1 Divisions
o 1.2 Army components
· 2 Force Structure and Unit History Branch
· 3 Combat maneuver organizations
· 4 History
o 4.1 Army Birthdays
§ 4.1.1 Basic branches
§ 4.1.2 Special branches
o 4.2 1700s
o 4.3 1800s
o 4.4 1900s
o 4.5 21st century
· 5 Rank structure
· 6 Uniforms
· 7 Equipment
· 8 Training
o 8.1 Values
· 9 Army Commands and Army Service Component Commands
· 10 See also
· 11 References
· 12 External links
Structure
The United States Army is made up of three components: the active component, the Regular Army; and two reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve. Both reserve components are primarily composed of part-time soldiers who train once a month, known as Battle Assembly or Unit Training Assemblies (UTAs), and conduct two to three weeks of annual training each year. Both the Regular Army and the Army Reserve are organized under Title 10 of the United States Code, while the National Guard is organized under Title 32. While the Army National Guard is organized, trained and equipped as a component of the U.S. Army, when it is not in federal service it is under the command of individual state and territorial governors, and the Mayor of the District of Columbia. However the National Guard can be federalized by presidential order and against the governor's wishes.[5]
HHC, U.S. Army shoulder sleeve insignia
The U.S. Army is led by a civilian Secretary of the Army, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, and serves as civilian oversight for the U.S. Army Chief of Staff. The U.S. Army Chief of Staff is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a body composed of the service chiefs from each service who advise the President and Secretary of Defense on military matters under the guidance of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In 1986, the Goldwater-Nichols Act mandated that operational control of the services follows a chain of command from the President to the Secretary of Defense directly to the Unified Combatant Commanders, who have control of all armed forces units in their geographic or function area of responsibility. Thus, the Chief of Staff of each service only has the responsibility to organize, train and equip his or her own service component. The services provide trained forces to the Combatant Commanders for use as they see fit.
Main article: Transformation of the United States Army
Through 2013, the Army is shifting to six geographical commands that will line up with the five geographical Unified Combatant Commands (COCOM):
· United States Army Central headquartered at Fort McPherson, Georgia
· United States Army North headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
· United States Army South headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas
· United States Army Europe headquartered at Stuttgart, Germany
· United States Army Pacific headquartered at Fort Shafter, Hawaii (eventually to be merged with the Eighth Army).
· United States Army Africa headquarted at Vicenza, Italy
Each command will receive a numbered army as operational command, except U.S. Army Pacific, which will have a numbered army for U.S. Army forces in South Korea.
The Army is also changing its base unit from divisions to brigades. When finished, the active army will have increased its combat brigades from 33 to 48, with similar increases in the National Guard and Reserve forces. Division lineage will be retained, but the divisional HQs will be able to command any brigades, not just brigades that carry their divisional lineage. The central part of this plan is that each brigade will be modular, i.e., all brigades of the same type will be exactly the same, and thus any brigade can be commanded by any division. There will be three major types of ground combat brigades:
· Heavy brigades will have about 3,700 troops and be equivalent to a mechanized infantry or tank brigade.
· Infantry brigades will have around 3,300 troops and be equivalent to a light infantry or airborne brigade.
· Stryker brigades will have around 3,900 troops and be based around the Stryker family of vehicles.
In addition, there will be combat support and service support modular brigades. Combat support brigades include Aviation brigades, which will come in heavy and light varieties, Fires (artillery) brigades, and Battlefield Surveillance Brigades. Combat service support brigades include Sustainment brigades and come in several varieties and serve the standard support role in an army.
Divisions
Most U.S. Army units can be operationally divided into the following components from largest to smallest:
· Corps: Formerly consisting of two or more divisions and organic support brigades, they are now termed an "operational unit of employment," that may command a flexible number of modular units. Usually commanded by a Lieutenant General. 20,000-45,000 soldiers.
· Division: Formerly consisted of three maneuver brigades, an artillery brigade, a division support command, an aviation brigade, an engineer brigade (in heavy divisions only) and other support assets. Until the Brigade Combat Team program was developed, the division was the smallest self-sufficient level of organization in the U.S. Army. Current divisions are "tactical units of employment," and may command a flexible number of modular units, but generally will include four brigade combat teams and a combat aviation brigade. Usually commanded by a Major General. 10,000-15,000 soldiers.
· Brigade (or group): Composed of two or more battalions, and usually commanded by a Colonel with the USAR being the exception, its brigades are commanded by Brigadier Generals, supported by a staff in a Headquarters and Headquarters Company. Since the Brigade Unit of Action program was initiated, maneuver brigades have transformed into brigade combat teams, generally consisting of two maneuver battalions, a cavalry squadron, a fires battalion, a special troops battalion (with engineers, signals, and military intelligence), and a support battalion. Stryker Brigade Combat Teams have a somewhat larger structure. 3,000-5,000 soldiers.
· Regiment: The Army, for the most part is no longer organized by Regiments. Rather, Battalions and Squadrons maintain Regimental Affiliations in that they are called (for example), 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry (Regiment is implied) and is written 1-8 Inf. In this case, there is no Regimental Commander and the Battalion is organized as part of a Brigade for combat. The exceptions are those units, such as Armored Cavalry Regiments which remain organized, and fight, as a Regiment and have a Regimental Commander. The written designation is easy to distinguish and commonly misused. A "/" separates levels of command. 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is written 1/3 ACR whereas the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery (again, Regiment is implied) is written 1-6 FA.
· Battalion (or Cavalry Squadron): Normally composed of two to five (occasionally as many as eight) companies, troops or batteries and led by a Battalion/Squadron Commander, usually a Lieutenant Colonel supported by a staff in a Headquarters and Headquarters Company/Battery. 300-1000 soldiers.
· Company (or artillery battery/cavalry troop): Designated A thru C (plus HQ or support companies/batteries/troops) when in a 3 company/battery battalion or A thru D when organized in a 4 company/battery battalion. Regimental Troops are designated A thru T, depending on the number of Troops. The Troops are then divided into their like Squadrons. Each company/battery/troop is composed of three to four platoons and led by a Company/Battery/Troop Commander, usually a Captain supported by a First Sergeant. 62-190 soldiers.
· Platoon: Composed of two or more squads and led by a Platoon Leader, usually a Second Lieutenant supported by a platoon sergeant (Sergeant First Class). About 32 soldiers.
· Section: Usually directed by a Staff Sergeant who supplies guidance for junior NCO Squad leaders. Often used in conjunction with platoons at the company level.
· Squad: Composed of two teams and is typically led by a Staff Sergeant. 9-10 soldiers.
· Team: The smallest unit. A fireteam consists of a team leader (usually a Sergeant, but may be as low as a PFC in rare cases), a rifleman, a grenadier, and an automatic rifleman. A sniper team consists of a sniper who takes the shot and a spotter who assists in targeting. 2-4 soldiers.
Army components
U.S. Generals, World War II, Europe:
back row (left to right): Stearley, Vandenberg, Smith, Weyland, Nugent;
front row: Simpson, Patton, Spaatz, Eisenhower, Bradley, Hodges, Gerow.
During The First World War, the "National Army" was organized to fight the conflict.[6] It was demobilized at the end of World War I, and was replaced by the Regular Army, the Organized Reserve Corps, and the State Militias. In the 1920s and 1930s, the "career" soldiers were known as the "Regular Army" with the "Enlisted Reserve Corps" and "Officer Reserve Corps" augmented to fill vacancies when needed.[7]
In 1941, the "Army of the United States" was founded to fight the Second World War. The Regular Army, Army of the United States, the National Guard, and Officer/Enlisted Reserve Corps (ORC and ERC) existed simultaneously. After World War II, the ORC and ERC were combined into the United States Army Reserve. The Army of the United States was re-established for the Korean War and Vietnam War and was demobilized upon the suspension of the Draft.[7]
Currently, the Army is divided into the Regular Army, the Army Reserve, and the United States National Guard.[6] Prior to 1903 members of the National Guard were considered state soldiers unless federalized by the President. Since the Militia Act of 1903 all National Guard soldiers have held dual status: as National Guardsmen under the authority of the governor of their state and as a reserve of the U.S. Army under the authority of the President. Since the adoption of the total force policy, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, reserve component soldiers have taken a more active role in U.S. military operations. Reserve and Guard units took part in the Gulf War, peacekeeping in Kosovo, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Various State Defense Forces also exist, sometimes known as State Militias, which are sponsored by individual state governments and serve as an auxiliary to the National Guard. Except in times of extreme national emergency, such as a mainland invasion of the United States, State Militias are operated independently from the U.S. Army and are seen as state government agencies rather than a component of the military.
Although the present-day Army exists as an all volunteer force, augmented by Reserve and National Guard forces, measures exist for emergency expansion in the event of a catastrophic occurrence, such as a large scale attack against the U.S. or the outbreak of a major global war.