United States Army
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The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States armed forces and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. As of 2004, it consisted of 494,295 soldiers on active duty, 342,918 in the Army National Guard (ARNG) and 204,134 in the United States Army Reserve (USAR)[1].
The modern United States 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 3, 1784 after the end of the American Revolutionary War, to replace the disbanded Continental Army. However, the US Army considers itself to be an evolution of the Continental Army, and thus dates its inception from the origins of the Continental Army[2].
The army is managed by the Department of the Army which is headed by the Secretary of the Army who heads administrative affairs. The highest ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff of the Army.
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[edit] Structure
Officially, a member of the US Army is called a Soldier (In 2003, General Schoomaker, the current Army Chief of Staff, ordered all official Army publications to capitalize the word "soldier"[3]).
The US Army is made up of three components: the active (Regular Army) component; 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, 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 of the US Code. While the Army National Guard is organized, trained and equipped as a component of the US Army, when it is not in federal service it is under the command of individual state's governors. However the National Guard can be federalized by presidential order and against the governor's wishes; see Perpich v. Department of Defense,496 U.S. 334 (1990).
The US Army is led by a civilian Secretary of the Army, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, as well as the US Army Chief of Staff, who is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top ranking military commanders from each service who advise the President on military matters.
Operationally, though, control of the Army in wartime goes from the President of the United States to the Unified Combatant Commanders, who have control of all armed forces units in their geographic area of responsibility. Thus, the previously discussed figures only have the responsibility to train and equip the US Army.
The Army is currently undergoing a period of transformation, which is expected to be finished in 2009. When it is finished, there will be five geographical commands which will line up with the five geographical Unified Combatant Commands.
- United States Army Central home-headquartered at Atlanta, Georgia(state)
- United States Army North headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas
- United States Army South headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas
- United States Army Europe headquartered at Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg, Germany
- United States Army Pacific headquartered at Fort Shafter, Hawaii
Each command will receive a numbered army as operational command, except in the case of US Army Pacific, which will not receive one but will have a numbered army for US Army forces in South Korea.
As part of the same transformation plan, the US Army is currently undergoing a transition from being a division-based force to a brigade-based force. When finished, the active army will have increased its number of combat brigades from 33 to 42, and increases of a similar scale will have taken place 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:
- Armored brigades, which will have about 3,700 troops and be equivalent to a mechanized infantry brigade.
- Infantry brigades, which will have around 3,300 troops and be equivalent to a light infantry or air assault brigade.
- Stryker brigades, which 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, and Fires (artillery) brigades. Service support brigades will come in several varieties and serve the standard support role in an army.
The U.S. Army is divided into the following components, from largest to smallest:
back row (left to right): Stearley, Vandenberg, Smith, Weyland, Nugent;
front row: Simpson, Patton, Spaatz, Eisenhower, Bradley, Hodges, Gerow.
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- Field Army: Usually commanded by a General (GEN; note that abbreviations of military rank within the U.S. Army are given in all capital letters without a period or other punctuation).
- Corps: Formerly consisted of two or more divisions and organic support brigades. Now is an "operational unit of employment," that may command a flexible number of modular units. The commander is most often a Lieutenant General (LTG).
- Division: Usually commanded by a Major General (MG). Formerly consisted of three maneuver brigades, a division artillery, 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 US 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.
- Brigade (or group): Composed of typically three or more battalions, and commanded by a Colonel (COL) or occasionally a Brigadier General (BG). (See Regiment for combat arms units.) 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.
- Battalion (or Squadron): A Battalion usually consists of two to six companies and roughly 300 to 1000 soldiers. Most units are organized into battalions. Cavalry units are formed into squadrons. A battalion-sized unit is commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel (LTC), supported by a Command Sergeant Major/E-9 (CSM). This unit consists of a Battalion Commander (CO, LTC), a Battalion Executive Officer (XO, MAJ), a Command Sergeant Major (CSM) and headquarters, and three to five Companies.
- Company (or artillery battery/cavalry troop): A company usually consists of three to four platoons and roughly 100 to 130 soldiers. Artillery units are formed into batteries. Cavalry units are formed into troops. A company-sized unit is usually led by a Company Commander usually the rank of Captain/O-3 (CPT) supported by a First Sergeant/E-8 (1SG). This unit consists of a Company Commander (CO, CPT), a Company Executive Officer (XO, 1LT), A First Sergeant (1SG) and a headquarters, and two or more Platoons.
- Platoon: Usually led by a lieutenant supported by a Sergeant First Class/E-7 (SFC). This unit consists of a Platoon Leader (2LT/1LT), a Platoon Sergeant (SFC), a Radio-Telephone Operator (Usually a PFC or SPC) and two or more Squad Leaders (any NCO).
- Section: Usually directed by Staff Sergeants/E-6 (SSG) who supply guidance for junior NCO Squad leaders. Often used in conjunction with platoons at the company level.
- Squad: Squad leaders are usually Staff Sergeants/E-6 (SSG)and can be Sergeants/E-5 (SGT). This unit consists of eight to ten soldiers.
- Fire team: In the Infantry it usually consists of four soldiers: a fire team leader, a grenadier, an automatic rifleman, and a rifleman. Fire team leaders are usually Sergeants/E-5 (SGT), but sometimes Corporals/E-4 (CPL).
[edit] Army components
During The First World War, the "National Army" was organized to fight the conflict. 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.
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.
Currently, the Army is divided into the Regular Army, the Army Reserve, and the United States National Guard. 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 US 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 US 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 US or the outbreak of a major global war. The current "call-up" order of the United States Army is as follows:
- Regular Army volunteer force
- Army Reserve total mobilization
- Full scale activation of all National Guard forces
- Recall of all retired personnel fit for military duty
- Re-establishment of the draft and creation of a conscript force within the Regular Army
- Recall of previously discharged officers and enlisted who were separated under honorable conditions
- Activation of the State Defense Forces/State Militias
- Full scale mobilization of the unorganized U.S. militia
The final stage of Army mobilization, known as "activation of the unorganized militia" would effectively place all able bodied males in the service of the U.S. Army. The last time an approximation of this occurred was during the American Civil War when the Confederate States of America activated the "Home Guard" in 1865, drafting all males, regardless of age or health, into the Confederate Army.
[edit] Combat Maneuver Organizations
The US Army currently consists of 10 divisions as well as several independent units. The following order of battle will be realized following the completion of the Army's transformation plan in 2009. Each division will have four ground maneuver brigades (shown here), and will also include at least one aviation brigade as well as a fires brigade and a service support brigade. Additional brigades can be assigned or attached to a division headquarters based on its mission.
1st Armored Division, headquartered at Fort Bliss, Texas
- Four brigades at Fort Bliss.
1st Cavalry Division, headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas
- Four brigades at Fort Hood.
1st Infantry Division, headquartered at Fort Riley, Kansas
- Three brigades at Fort Riley and one brigade at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
2nd Infantry Division, headquartered at Camp Red Cloud, South Korea
- One brigade at Camp Casey, South Korea and three Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCTs) at Fort Lewis, Washington.
3d Infantry Division, headquartered at Fort Stewart, Georgia
- Three brigades at Fort Stewart and one brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia.
4th Infantry Division, headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorado
- Four brigades at Fort Carson.
10th Mountain Division, headquartered at Fort Drum, New York
- Three brigades at Fort Drum and one brigade at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
25th Infantry Division, headquartered at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii
- Two brigades at Schofield Barracks (one infantry and one Stryker), one Stryker brigade at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and one brigade at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
82nd Airborne Division, headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
- Four brigades at Fort Bragg.
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky
- Four brigades at Fort Campbell.
173d Airborne Brigade, headquartered at Vicenza, Italy
2nd Cavalry Regiment (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), headquartered at Vilseck, Germany
3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, headquartered at Fort Irwin, California, serves as the Opposing Force (OPFOR) at the National Training Center (NTC).
[edit] History
[edit] 1700s
The first US Army, the Continental Army, was formed in 1775 by the Continental Congress as a unified army for the states to fight Great Britain, with George Washington appointed as its commander. George Washington, although not a great tactician, made use of the Fabian strategy and used hit-and-run tactics, hitting where the enemy was weakest, to wear the British, and their allies, the Hessian mercenaries, down. With a decisive victory at Yorktown, and the help of France, the Continental Army prevailed against the British, and with the Treaty of Paris, the independence of the United States was acknowledged.
After the war, though, the Continental Army was quickly disbanded as part of the Americans' distrust of standing armies, and amateur state militias became the new nation's sole ground army. However, because of continuing conflict with American Indians, it was soon realized that it was necessary to field a trained standing army. The first of these, the Legion of the United States, was established in 1791.
[edit] 1800s
The War of 1812 (1812-1815), the second and last American war against the British, was mostly a series of defeats for the US Army. An invasion of Canada completely failed, and US troops were unable to stop the British from burning the new capital of Washington, D.C.. Two weeks after a treaty was signed, though, Andrew Jackson defeated the British invasion of New Orleans. However this had little effect, as per the treaty both sides returned to the status quo.
Between 1815 and 1860, a spirit of Manifest Destiny struck the United States, and as settlers moved west the US Army engaged in a long series of skirmishes and battles with American Indians the colonists uprooted. The US Army also fought the short Mexican–American War, which was a victory for the United States and resulted in the new territories of California,Nevada, Utah, Colorado,Arizona,Wyoming and New Mexico.
The Civil War (1861-1865) would result in the most costly war for the United States. After most states in the South seceded to form the Confederate States of America, CSA troops opened fire on the US fort Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, starting the war. For the first two years Confederate forces solidly defeated the US Army, but after the decisive Battle of Gettysburg, Union troops pushed into Confederate territory and won the war in April 1865.
Following the Civil War, the US Army fought a long battle with American Indians, who resisted US expansion into the center of the continent. But by the 1890s the US saw itself as a potential player internationally. US victories in the Spanish-American War (1898) and the more unknown and controversial Philippine-American War (1898-1913), as well as US intervention in Latin America and the Boxer Rebellion, gained America more land and international prestige.
[edit] 1900s
The US joined World War I (1914-1918) in 1917 on the side of Britain and France. Millions of US troops were sent to the front and were instrumental in the push that finally broke through the German lines. With victory on November 11, 1918, the Army once again decreased its forces.
World War II started in 1939 but the United States did not join until 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On the European front, US Army troops made up large portions of the forces that captured North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, and on D-Day and the resulting liberation of Europe and defeat of Germany, the millions of US Army troops played a central role. In the Pacific, millions of Army soldiers participated in the "island hopping" campaign that wrested the Pacific islands from Japanese control. Following Axis Powers surrender in August/September 1945, US troops were deployed to Japan and Germany to occupy the two nations.
However, this set the stage for the west-east confrontation known as the Cold War (late 1940s to late 1980s/early 1990s). Millions of US troops were deployed to West Germany and the rest of Europe in anticipation of Soviet attack, but the invasion never came. Instead, US troops and their allies fought non-Soviet communist forces in Korea and Vietnam, as part of the domino theory.
The Korean War started in 1950. Hundreds of thousands of US troops, under a UN umbrella, were sent to prevent the takeover of South Korea by North Korea, and later, to invade the northern nation. After repeated advances and retreats on the part of both sides, as well as Chinese involvement, a cease-fire returned the peninsula to the status quo in 1953.
The Vietnam War is often regarded as a low point in morale in the Army's record. While US troops had been in the Republic of Vietnam since 1959, they did not come into the country in large numbers until 1965, to fight the communist North Vietnam. The guerrilla war tactics of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army proved difficult to adapt to, and the US military left Vietnam in 1975. Two years later, the country was unified under a communist government.
The 1980s was mostly a decade of reorganization. The US Army converted to an all-volunteer force with more emphasis on training and technology. The Goldwater-Nichols Act was passed in 1986, creating the Unified Combatant Commands. In addition, the Army had a small participation in the successful invasions of Panama (Operation Just Cause) and Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury).
By 1991 Germany was reunited and the Soviet Union was near collapse, and the Cold War was effectively over. Then Iraq invaded its tiny neighbor Kuwait, and the international community deployed hundreds of thousands of troops, mostly US Army formations, to take back the nation. The war was a major victory for the Army, as the US mechanized formations obliterated the Iraqi Army units, taking back the country in only a few days, and proving the effectiveness of the new untried all-volunteer force.
For most of the 1990s, the Army had very little to do. It participated in a UN peacekeeping mission in Somalia in 1993, where the abortive Operation Gothic Serpent action led to the total withdrawal of both US and UN forces, and sent troops to a NATO peacekeeping force in former Yugoslavia in the middle of the decade.
[edit] 21st century
After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and as part of the Global War on Terror, US and NATO forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001, replacing the Taliban government with a democratically elected one. Much more controversially, the US and other nations, principally the US, invaded Iraq in 2003 and defeated the Saddam Hussein dictatorship. In the following years the war has arguably bogged down, with debatably large numbers of suicide bomb attacks, and the country is far from stable. However, some milestones have been reached, such as the capture of Saddam Hussein and the holding of elections which have had varying degrees of effective democracy throughout the regions of Iraq.
[edit] Rank Structure
These are the US Army ranks and their equivalent NATO designations.
Commissioned Officers
| NATO Code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF-D- | Student Officer | |
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| General of the Army1 | General | Lieutenant General | Major General | Brigadier General | Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel | Major | Captain | First Lieutenant | Second Lieutenant | Cadet/Officer Candidate | ||
Warrant Officers
| NATO Rank | WO-5 | WO-4 | WO-3 | WO-2 | WO-1 | |
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| Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CW5) |
Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CW4) |
Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CW3) |
Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) |
Warrant Officer 1 (WO1) |
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Enlisted Personnel
| NATO Code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sergeant Major of the Army | Command Sergeant Major | Sergeant Major | First Sergeant | Master Sergeant | Sergeant First Class | Staff Sergeant | Sergeant | Corporal | Specialist | Private First Class | Private E2 | Private E1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] Uniforms
Currently, the Army is in the process of phasing out the separate woodland and 3-color desert Battle Dress Uniform (BDUs) and replacing them with the single Army Combat Uniform (ACU), which features a digital camouflage pattern similar to the U.S. Marine Corps MARPAT and is designed for use in woodland, desert, and urban environments. The standard garrison service uniform is known as "Army Greens" or "Class As" and has been worn by all officers and enlisted personnel since its introduction in 1956 when it replaced earlier Olive Drab (OD) and khaki (and tan worsted) uniforms worn between the 1890s and 1985. The "Army Blue" uniform, dating back to the mid-19th century, is currently the Army's formal dress uniform, but in 2009 it will replace the Army Green and the Army White uniforms (a uniform similar to the Army Green uniform, but worn in tropical postings) and will become the "new" Army Service Uniform, which will function as both a garrison uniform (when worn with a gray shirt and necktie) and a dress uniform (when worn with a white shirt either a necktie for parades or a bow tie for "after six" or "black tie" events). The beret, adopted Army-wide in 2001, will continue to be worn with the new ACU for garrison duty and with the Army Service Uniform for non-ceremonial functions.
[edit] Equipment
Individual and Crew-Served Weapon Systems and Equipment:
- M9 Bayonet
- M9 Pistol
- M11 Pistol
- M4/M4A1 Carbine
- M16A2/M16A4 Rifle
- M1014 Combat Shotgun
- Mossberg 590 Shotgun
- M14 Rifle
- M24 SWS
- M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon)
- M240B Machine Gun
- M2 Machine Gun
- M67 Fragmentation Hand Grenade
- M203/M203A1 Grenade Launcher
- MK 19-3 40mm Grenade Machine Gun
- M224 60mm Mortar
- M252 81mm Mortar
- M120/M121 120mm Mortar
[edit] Vehicles
The US Army was the first in the world to achieve 100% automotive mobility, and spends a sizable chunk of its military budget to maintain a diverse inventory of vehicles. The US Army maintains the highest vehicle-to-soldier ratio in the world.
The US Army operates many of the best known military vehicles. The most common vehicle is the HMMWV (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle), the replacement for the M151 MUTT (Military Utility Tactical Truck). The M1A2 Abrams is the mainstay MBT (Main Battle Tank), while the M2 Bradley is the standard IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle). Other vehicles include the Stryker, the M3 Bradley CFV (Cavalry Fighting Vehicle), and the M113 APCs (Armored Personnel Carriers).
[edit] Artillery
The US Army's principal artillery weapons are the M270A1 MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) and the M190A6 Paladin SPH (Self-Propelled Howitzer). In addition, it operates many standard towed howitzer cannons, such as the 105 mm M119 and the 155 mm M198 and M777 howitzers.
[edit] Aircraft
While the US Army operates few fixed-wing aircraft, it operates several types of helicopters. These include the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout/light attack helicopter, and the CH-47 Chinook, the UH-60 Black Hawk transport helicopter, and the OH-6 Observation/Attack helicopter.
[edit] Training
Training in the United States Army is generally divided into two categories - individual and collective.
Individual training for enlisted soldiers usually consists of nine weeks of Basic Combat Training followed by Advanced Individual Training in their primary Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) at any of the numerous MOS training facilities around the world. The length of time spent in AIT depends on the MOS of the soldier. Depending on the needs of the Army BCT is conducted at a number of locations, but two of the longest running are the Armor School at Fort Knox, Kentucky and the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. For officers this training includes pre-commissioning training either at USMA, ROTC, or OCS. After commissioning, officers undergo six weeks of training at the Basic Officer Leadership Course at Ft. Benning followed by their branch specific training at the Officer Basic Course which varies in time and location based on their future jobs.
Collective training takes place both at the unit's assigned station, but the most intensive collective training takes place at the Combat Training Centers (CTC); two of the most famous are the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California and the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
[edit] Major Commands
[edit] See also
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- Comparative Military Ranks
- List of U.S. Army installations
- United States Armed Forces
- Military Organizations
- Special Operations Forces
- State Defense Forces
- United States Army Rangers
[edit] References
- Equipment: US Army fact file
- Order of Battle and Modular Forces Information: US Army modular forces page
- Command Structure: US Army organization page
- Number of Soldiers: Fiscal Year 2004 US Army report (PDF document)
- History: Military History of the United States and articles it links too
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Official website
- GoArmy.com Official recruiting site
- America's Army Official Army Game Project site
- Army Formations
- Archive of photos taken by soldiers and military contractors serving in active duty
- US Army ranks and rank insignia
- US Army Mottos
- US Army Insignia website
- US Army Institute of Heraldry insignia list
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