When was the United States Army established?
List of Continental Army units (1776)
The Continental Army was established by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, which is also recognized as the founding date of its successor, the United States Army. On that day, the Continental Congress assumed responsibility for militia regiments that had been raised by the colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. These units and others authorized by Congress served in the Siege of Boston and the invasion of Quebec launched in September 1775. With these operations ongoing, Congress voted to authorize a second establishment of the army for 1776.
Flag of the United States Army
Prior to 1956 the Army was the only armed service without a flag to represent the entire service. In 1955, prompted by the need for a flag to represent the U.S. Army in joint service ceremonies, Secretary of the Army Wilber M. Brucker requested the creation of an army flag.
History of the United States Army
A combined conscript and volunteer force, the National Army, was formed by the United States War Department in 1917 to fight in World War I. During World War II, the Army of the United States was formed as a successor to the National Army. The end of World War II set the stage for the ideological confrontation known as the Cold War. With the outbreak of the Korean War, concerns over the defense of Western Europe led to the establishment of NATO. During the Cold War, American troops and their allies fought communist forces in Korea and Vietnam (see containment). The 1980s was mostly a decade of reorganization. The Army converted to an all-volunteer force with greater emphasis on training and technology. By 1989, the Cold War was nearing its conclusion. The Army leadership reacted by starting to plan for a reduction in strength. After Desert Storm, the Army did not see major combat operations for the remainder of the 1990s. After the September 11 attacks, and as part of the War on Terror, U.S. and other NATO forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001, replacing the Taliban government. The Army took part in the U.S. and allied 2003 invasion of Iraq.
United States Army Reserve
On 23 April 1908 Congress created the Medical Reserve Corps, the official predecessor of the Army Reserve. After World War I, under the National Defense Act of 1920, Congress reorganized the U.S. land forces by authorizing a Regular Army, a National Guard, and an Organized Reserve (Officers Reserve Corps and Enlisted Reserve Corps) of unrestricted size, which later became the Army Reserve. This organization provided a peacetime pool of trained Reserve officers and enlisted men for use in war. The Organized Reserve included the Officers Reserve Corps, Enlisted Reserve Corps, and Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC).
Army Medical Department (United States)
Both the AMEDD and the Army Medical Corps trace their origins back to July 27, 1775, when the Continental Congress established the "Army Hospital", which was at that time overseen by the "Director General and Chief Physician". Congress provided an Army medical organization only in times of war or emergency until 1818, at which point it created a permanent "Medical Department". The Army Nurse Corps originated in 1901, the Dental Corps began in 1911, the Veterinary Corps in 1916; the Medical Service Corps emerged in 1917; and the Army Medical Specialist Corps came into existence in 1947.
United States military bands
During the colonial period, most British army units posted in the area that would become the United States had bands attached. The first recorded instance of a local American military band was in 1653 in the New Hampshire militia. The oldest extant United States military band is the United States Marine Corps Band, formed in 1798 and known by the moniker "The President's Own". The U.S. armed forces field eleven ensembles and more than 100 smaller, active-duty and reserve bands.
History of the United States Army
Because of the mobilization difficulties experienced with the Maneuver Division, on 15 February 1913 a standing organization of a "regular army organized in divisions and cavalry brigades ready for immediate use as an expeditionary force or for other purposes..." and "an army of national citizen soldiers organized in peace in complete divisions and prepared to reenforce the Regular Army in time of war" was organized by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and known as the "Stimson Plan." The continental United States was divided into four geographic departments (Eastern, Central, Western, and Southern) and a regular army division assigned to each, and 12 geographic districts, each with a national guard infantry division assigned. 32 of the 48 state governors committed their national guards to support of the plan. There were also three artillery commands: the Northern Atlantic Coast Artillery District, the Southern Atlantic Coast Artillery District, and the Pacific Coast Artillery District.
Military history of the United States
The beginning of the United States military lies in civilian frontier settlers, armed for hunting and basic survival in the wilderness. These were organized into local militias for small military operations, mostly against Native American tribes but also to resist possible raids by the small military forces of neighboring European colonies. They relied on the British regular Army and Navy for any serious military operation.
History of the United States Marine Corps
The history of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) begins with the founding of the Continental Marines on 10 November 1775 to conduct ship-to-ship fighting, provide shipboard security and discipline enforcement, and assist in landing forces. Its mission evolved with changing military doctrine and foreign policy of the United States. Owing to the availability of Marine forces at sea, the United States Marine Corps has served in nearly every conflict in United States history. It attained prominence when its theories and practice of amphibious warfare proved prescient, and ultimately formed a cornerstone of the Pacific Theater of World War II. By the early 20th century, the Marine Corps would become one of the dominant theorists and practitioners of amphibious warfare. Its ability to rapidly respond on short notice to expeditionary crises has made and continues to make it an important tool for U.S. foreign policy.
U.S. Army Intelligence Agency
United States Army Intelligence Agency was intelligence military unit with the U.S. Department of the Army created in 1967. In 1977, it was replaced by the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.
Structure of the United States Army
The Chemical Warfare Service was established on 28 June 1918, combining activities that until then had been dispersed among five separate agencies of government. It was made a permanent branch of the Regular Army by the National Defense Act of 1920. In 1945, it was re-designated the Chemical Corps.
History of the US Army National Guard
Though a militia was mustered in Spanish Florida in the 1500s, the modern Army National Guard traces its origins to 13 December 1636, the day the Massachusetts Bay Colony's General Court passed an act calling for the creation of three regiments by organizing existing separate militia companies in the towns around Boston. The creation of the militia regiments was caused by the perceived need to defend the Bay Colony against American Indians, as well as colonists and military members from other European countries who were operating in North America, including: the French in what is now Canada; the Spanish in what is now Florida, The Carolinas, and Georgia; and the Dutch in what was then New Netherland, which comprised what is now parts of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Army and Navy Union of the United States of America
The basis of the organization came in 1841. The organization transmuted further from other war fighting groups like The General Society of the War of 1812, The Grand Army of the Republic and The Order of Indian Wars. All these had the same general philosophy, so had a common ground. By 1886, it was realized that these organizations would naturally become extinct due to deaths of the veterans if something wasn’t done to give them new life. The idea came about to restructure all these individual organizations into one permanent organization. These fighting group organizations founded the Army and Navy Union of the United States of America that was open to all who had served honorably or are serving in the United States Armed Forces.
United States Military Academy
The Continental Army first occupied West Point, New York, on 27 January 1778, and it is the oldest continuously operating Army post in the United States. Between 1778 and 1780, the Polish engineer and military hero Tadeusz Kościuszko oversaw the construction of the garrison defenses. The Great Hudson River Chain and high ground above the narrow "S" curve in the river enabled the Continental Army to prevent British Royal Navy ships from sailing upriver and thus dividing the Colonies. While the fortifications at West Point were known as Fort Arnold during the war, as commander, Benedict Arnold committed his act of treason, attempting to sell the fort to the British. After Arnold betrayed the patriot cause, the Army changed the name of the fortifications at West Point, New York, to Fort Clinton. With the peace after the American Revolutionary War, various ordnance and military stores were left deposited at West Point.
Provisional Army of the United States
The Provisional Army of the United States was created as a second, standing army to exist simultaneously with the United States Army, due to political concerns about increasing the size of the latter force. Raised following the outbreak of war between the United States and France, unlike the United States Army the term of enlistment of personnel to the Provisional Army was only for the duration of the "existing differences between the United States and the French Republic". Further, despite being a federal force, the soldiers of the Provisional Army were not permitted to serve outside the states in which they were recruited, in that respect making it similar to the state militias.
Divisions of the United States Army
The concept of the permanent United States Army division was formulated and put to the test following the turn of the 20th century. In 1916, the permanent division would finally be authorized by Congress, resulting in a dramatic change in the Army's force structure. For the first time, the division was the base element of the United States Army and remained as such until the Global War on Terrorism, when the Army switched its emphasis to brigade and regimental combat teams.
Grand Army of the Republic
The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, and growing to include hundreds of posts (local community units) across the nation (predominately in the North, but also a few in the South and West), it was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson (1850–1956) of Duluth, Minnesota. Linking men through their experience of the war, the G.A.R. became among the first organized advocacy groups in American politics, supporting voting rights for black veterans, promoting patriotic education, helping to make Memorial Day a national holiday, lobbying the United States Congress to establish regular veterans' pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates. Its peak membership, at more than 490,000, was in 1890, a high point of various Civil War commemorative and monument dedication ceremonies. It was succeeded by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), composed of male descendants of Union Army and Union Navy veterans.
Army of Occupation Medal
The Army of Occupation Medal is a military award of the United States military which was established by the United States War Department on 5 April 1946. The medal was created in the aftermath of the Second World War to recognize those who had performed occupation service in either Germany, Italy, Austria, or Japan. The original Army of Occupation Medal was intended only for members of the United States Army, but was expanded in 1948 to encompass the United States Air Force shortly after that service's creation. The Navy and Marine equivalent of the Army of Occupation Medal is the Navy Occupation Service Medal.
United States Army Air Service
The United States Army Air Service (also known as the ""Air Service"", ""U.S. Air Service"" and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ""Air Service, United States Army"") was the aerial warfare service of the United States between 1918 and 1926 and a forerunner of the United States Air Force. It was established as an independent but temporary branch of the U.S. War Department during World War I by two executive orders of President Woodrow Wilson: on May 24, 1918, replacing the Aviation Section, Signal Corps as the nation's air force; and March 19, 1919, establishing a military Director of Air Service to control all aviation activities. Its life was extended for another year in July 1919, during which time Congress passed the legislation necessary to make it a permanent establishment. The National Defense Act of 1920 assigned the Air Service the status of "combatant arm of the line" of the United States Army with a major general in command.
History of the United States Army
After the war the Continental Army was quickly disbanded as part of the American distrust of standing armies, and irregular state militias became the new nation's sole ground army, with the exception of a regiment to guard the Western Frontier and one battery of artillery guarding West Point's arsenal. However, because of continuing conflict with 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 between June and Nov. 1792 at Fort Lafayette, Pennsylvania, under Major Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne. The newly formed Legion moved in Dec. 1792 to an encampment downriver on the Ohio near Fort McIntosh named Legionville for training. In Sept. 1793, the Legion moved by barge down the Ohio to a camp named Hobson's Choice two miles from Fort Washington (Cincinnati) on the western frontier. There it was joined by units from the Kentucky Militia. Their assignment was to advance to the site of St. Clair's earlier defeat, recover the cannons list there, and continue to the Miami capital at Kekionga to establish U.S. sovereignty over northern and western Ohio and beyond.
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of Justice (). It is the oldest American federal law enforcement agency and was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789 during the presidency of George Washington as the Office of the United States Marshal. The USMS as it stands today was established in 1969 to provide guidance and assistance to Marshals throughout the federal judicial districts. USMS is an agency of the United States executive branch reporting to the United States Attorney General, but serves as the enforcement arm of the United States federal courts to ensure the effective operation of the judiciary and integrity of the Constitution.
United States Army North
The United States Fifth Army was one of the principal formations of the U.S. Army in the Mediterranean during World War II, and was the first American field army ever to be activated outside of the United States. It was officially activated on 5 January 1943 at Oujda, French Morocco and made responsible for the defence of Algeria and Morocco. It was also given the responsibility for planning the American part of the invasion of mainland Italy, and therefore was not involved in the Allied invasion of Sicily (codenamed Operation Husky), where it was instead assigned the role of training combat troops destined for Sicily. The United States Fifth Army was initially commanded by Lieutenant General Mark Wayne Clark, who would lead the Fifth Army for nearly two years, and was to experience some of the toughest fighting of World War II, where it was engaged on the Italian Front, which was, in many ways, often more reminiscent of the trench warfare of the Western Front in World War I. Writing to Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers (American deputy to Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, Mediterranean Theater commander) in late March 1944, Clark explained the difficulties of the fighting in Italy so far, which could be said of the whole campaign. They were, he claimed, ""Terrain, weather, carefully prepared defensive positions in the mountains, determined and well-trained enemy troops, grossly inadequate means at our disposal while on the offensive, with approximately equal forces to the defender.""
Army and Navy Union of the United States of America
A bill was introduced on July 17, 1985 in ninety-ninth Congress (1985–1986) to recognize the Army and Navy Union of the United States of America. It was signed by then US President Ronald Reagan to be put into force from November 6, 1986. This patriotic organization was originally formed in Ohio by 30 men as "The Regular Soldiers' Union" on March 31, 1888. The organization's name was amended to "Regular Army and Navy Union of the United States of America" on November 11, 1891 It was then reincorporated under the laws of Ohio on October 15, 1897. It was made official throughout the United States on October 19, 1899. The federally chartered corporation is an organization under U.S. Code Title 36, Subtitle II (Patriotic and National Organizations) of Part B (Organizations) as chapter 229.
United States Army Recruiting Command
Recruiting for the U.S. Army began in 1775 with the raising and training of the Continentals to fight in the American Revolutionary War under Article I of the U.S. Constitution. The Command traces its organisational history to 1822, when Major General Jacob Jennings Brown, commanding general of the Army, initiated the General Recruiting Service. For much of the rest of the 19th century recruitment was left to the regimental recruiting parties, usually recruiting in their regional areas as was the practice in Europe.
United States Army Europe
Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the Mediterranean coast, in the European Theater of World War II. It was bordered to the south by the North African Theater of Operations, US Army (NATOUSA), which later became the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTOUSA).
Regular Army (United States)
The American military system developed from a combination of the professional, national Continental Army, the state militias and volunteer regiments of the American Revolutionary War, and the similar post-Revolutionary War American military units under the Militia Act of 1792. These provided a basis for the United States Army's organization, with only minor changes, until the creation of the modern National Guard in 1903. The Militia Act provided for the use of volunteers who could be used anywhere in time of war, in addition to the State militias who were restricted to local use within their States for short periods of time. Even today's professional United States Army, which is augmented by the Army Reserve and Army National Guard, has a similar system of organization: a permanent, professional core, and additional units which can be mobilized in emergencies or times of war.
United States Army Band
The United States Army Band was established on January 25, 1922 by General of the Armies John J. Pershing, Army Chief of Staff in emulation of European military bands he heard during World War I. In its early years, the band was featured on RCA, CBS, the Mutual Broadcasting Network, and other networks. The band also completed four national tours between 1928 and 1931 and was noted for its professionalism during a trip to Spain for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929.
Fourth United States Army
It was organized as Fourth Army in the Organized Reserves in 1922 at New York City, NY. It was withdrawn from the Organized Reserves on 9 August 1932 and allotted to the Regular Army as an inactive unit. It was activated 1 October 1933 and headquartered at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. In 1946, the Fourth Army moved its headquarters to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. It was redesignated Fourth United States Army on 1 January 1957.
Regular Army (United States)
The United States Army traces its origin to the founding of the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, when the Continental Congress authorized a one-year enlistment of riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia to join the New England militia army besieging Boston. Late in 1776, Congress called for the Continental Army to serve for the duration of the war. The army was to consist of 88 battalions raised and equipped by the states, with officers appointed by the states. Appointment of officers actually continued to be a collaboration between Congress, the Commander in Chief, George Washington, and the states. The number of battalions was to be apportioned to the states according to their populations. While the initial number of battalions approached the authorized strength, by 1 January 1787 the Continental infantry was only able to maintain enough regiments for fifty battalions. During the Revolutionary War, battalions and regiments were essentially the same. By October 19, 1781 when the British army under General Cornwallis surrendered to the American and French forces at Yorktown, the Continental Army had grown to sixty battalions.
United States Army Air Forces
The Army Air Forces was created in June 1941 to provide the air arm a greater autonomy in which to expand more efficiently, to provide a structure for the additional command echelons required by a vastly increased force, and to end an increasingly divisive administrative battle within the Army over control of aviation doctrine and organization that had been ongoing since the creation of an aviation section within the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1914. The AAF succeeded both the Air Corps, which had been the statutory military aviation branch since 1926, and the GHQ Air Force, which had been activated in 1935 to quiet the demands of airmen for an independent Air Force similar to the Royal Air Force which had already been established in the United Kingdom / Great Britain.
Flag of the United States Army
The flag of the United States Army displays a blue replica of the War Office Seal set on a white field. Beneath the seal is a broad scarlet scroll bearing the inscription in white letters, "United States Army". Beneath the scroll, in blue Hindu-Arabic numerals, is "1775", the year in which the Continental Army was created with the appointment of General George Washington as General of the Army. All of this is on a white background.
History of the United States Army
When the American Revolutionary War began in April 1775, the colonial revolutionaries did not have an army. Previously, each colony had relied upon the militia, made up of part-time civilian-soldiers. The initial orders from Congress authorized ten companies of riflemen. The first full regiment of Regular Army infantry, the 3rd Infantry Regiment, was not formed until June 1784. After the war, the Continental Army was quickly disbanded because of the American distrust of standing armies, and irregular state militias became the new nation's sole ground army, with the exception of a regiment to guard the Western Frontier and one battery of artillery guarding West Point's arsenal.
List of Continental Army units (1775)
The Continental Army was established by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775 which is also recognized as the founding date of its successor, the United States Army. On that day, the Continental Congress assumed responsibility for militia regiments that had been raised by the colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Most of these troops were stationed outside Boston, Massachusetts, where they besieged the city occupied by British troops under the command of General Thomas Gage. The forces adopted by the Continental Congress amounted to 39 regiments of infantry, and 1 regiment and 1 separate company of artillery. The period of service for many of these regiments ended on December 31, 1775, although some had a service period that expired earlier. The Continental Congress resolved on June 15, 1775 that the Continental Army should be commanded by a full general. This appointment was offered to George Washington, who accepted it the following day. In company with Philip Schuyler and other officers he began the journey from Philadelphia to Boston.
Seventh United States Army
The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and France and Germany in the European theater between 1942 and 1945.
First United States Army
As part of an army reorganization and final realization of the 1920 amendment to the National Defense Act of 1916, Army Chief of Staff, General Douglas MacArthur directed the establishment of four field armies that each commanded three corps areas that were geographically located. The field armies were established to provide organizational structure for large military organizations that might be mobilized in time of national need.
History of the United States Air Force
"In 1947 President Truman signed the National Security Act which established this new defense organization, and along with it the creation of the US Air Force as an independent service, equal to the US Army and US Navy. The official birthday of the US Air Force is 18 September 1947."
U.S. Army Birthdays
The Armor branch traces its origin to the Cavalry. A regiment of cavalry was authorized to be raised by the Continental Congress Resolve of 12 December 1776. Although mounted units were raised at various times after the Revolution, the first in continuous service was the United States Regiment of Dragoons, organized in 1833. The Tank Service was formed on 5 March 1918. The Armored Force was formed on 10 July 1940. Armor became a permanent branch of the Army in 1950.
First American Regiment
The First American Regiment was renamed the Regiment of Infantry on September 29, 1789 when the United States Army was formally instituted under the Constitution of the United States. In 1790, Harmar – who had been breveted as a brigadier general in 1787 – led 320 regulars and over 1,000 militia on the disastrous Harmar Campaign. The Regiment of Infantry suffered over 70 casualties.
List of lieutenant generals in the United States Army before 1960
The rank of lieutenant general in the United States Army was established in 1798 when President John Adams commissioned George Washington in that grade to command the armies of the United States during the Quasi-War with France. The next year, Congress replaced the office of lieutenant general with that of General of the Armies of the United States but Washington died before accepting the new commission, remaining a lieutenant general until posthumously promoted to General of the Armies in 1976.
Armed Forces Day
the day was created on 31 August 1949, to honor Americans serving in the five U.S. military branches – the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard – following the consolidation of the military services in the U.S. Department of Defense. It was intended to replace the separate Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Days, but the separate days are still observed, especially within the respective services.
Militia
The Militia Act of 1903 divided what had been the militia into what it termed the "organized" militia, created from portions of the former state guards to become state National Guard units, and the "unorganized" militia consisting of all males from ages 17 to 45, with the exception of certain officials and others, which is codified in . Some states, such as Texas, California, and Ohio, created separate state defense forces for assistance in local emergencies. Congress later established a system of "dual enlistment" for the National Guard, so that anyone who enlisted in the National Guard also enlisted in the U.S. Army. When the U.S. Air Force was established as an independent service in 1947, the National Guard was further divided into the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. Under this construct, the 1933 defense act's "dual enlistment" facet was further amended so that enlisted soldiers and commissioned officers in the Army National Guard were also enlisted or commissioned in the Reserve Component of the U.S. Army. Enlisted airmen and commissioned officers in the Air National Guard were also enlisted or commissioned in the Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force.
History of the United States Army
During World War II, the Army of the United States was formed as a successor to the National Army. The Army of the United States operated on the same principles as its predecessor, combining Regular Army, National Guard, and conscript forces into one fighting unit. The Army of the United States also incorporated Reserve forces.
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps traces its roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War, formed by Captain Samuel Nicholas by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress on 10 November 1775, to raise two battalions of Marines. That date is regarded and celebrated as the date of the Marine Corps' birthday. At the end of the American Revolution, both the Continental Navy and Continental Marines were disbanded in April 1783. The institution itself would not be resurrected until 11 July 1798. At that time, in preparation for the Quasi-War with France, Congress created the United States Marine Corps. Marines had been enlisted by the War Department as early as August 1797 for service in the new-build frigates authorized by the Congressional "Act to provide a Naval Armament" of 18 March 1794, which specified the numbers of Marines to recruit for each frigate.
Army Service Forces
The Army Service Forces were one of the three autonomous components of the Army of the United States during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces. They were created on 28 February 1942 by Executive Order Number 9082 "Reorganizing the Army and the War Department" and War Department Circular No. 59, dated 2 March 1942.
Army Medical Department (United States)
The U.S. Army Veterinary Corps was established by an Act of Congress on 3 June 1916. Recognition of the need for veterinary expertise had been evolving since 1776 when General Washington directed that a "regiment of horse with a farrier" be raised. It has evolved to include sanitary food inspectors and animal healthcare specialists.
Medical Corps (United States Army)
Both the Army Medical Department and the Medical Corps trace their origins to 27 July 1775, when the Continental Congress established the first Army Hospital to be headed by a "Director General and Chief Physician". The language of the Congressional resolution spoke of “an Hospital” which in those days meant a hospital system or medical department. Among the accomplishments of Army surgeons during the years of the Revolution was completion (in 1778, at Lititz, Pennsylvania) of the first pharmacopoeia printed in America. In 1789, the Department of the Hospital was disbanded and a system of "Regimental Surgeons" was established in its place.
United States Army North
The United States Army North is a formation of the United States Army Service Component Command of United States Northern Command. As the joint force land component command, it is responsible for homeland defense and defense support of civil authorities. It is garrisoned at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. From early January 1943, when it was first created during World War II, under the command of Lieutenant General Mark Wayne Clark, until 2004, it was previously designated as the United States Fifth Army.
Structure of the United States Army
The United States Army is made up of three components: one active—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, Unit Training Assemblies (UTAs), or simply "drills", while typically conducting 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. 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, individual units are under the command of individual state's governors. However, units of the National Guard can be federalized by presidential order and against the governor's wishes.
Army
After the American Revolutionary War the Continental Army was quickly disbanded as part of the Americans' distrust of standing armies, and irregular state militias became the sole ground army of the United States, with the exception of one battery of artillery guarding West Point's arsenal. Then First American Regiment was established in 1784. However, because of continuing conflict with Native Americans, 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.
Confederate States Army
The Confederate Congress provided for a Confederate army patterned after the United States Army. It was to consist of a large provisional force to exist only in time of war and a small permanent regular army. The provisional, volunteer army was established by an act of the Provisional Confederate Congress passed on February 28, 1861, one week before the act which established the permanent regular army organization, passed on March 6. Although the two forces were to exist concurrently, very little was done to organize the Confederate regular army.Members of all the Confederate States military forces (the army, the navy, and the marine corps) are often referred to as "Confederates", and members of the Confederate army were referred to as "Confederate soldiers". Supplementing the Confederate army were the various state militias of the Confederacy:Control and operation of the Confederate army was administered by the Confederate States War Department, which was established by the Confederate Provisional Congress in an act on February 21, 1861. The Confederate Congress gave control over military operations, and authority for mustering state forces and volunteers to the President of the Confederate States of America on February 28, 1861, and March 6, 1861. On March 8 the Confederate Congress passed a law that authorized Davis to issue proclamations to call up no more than 100,000 men. The War Department asked for 8,000 volunteers on March 9, 20,000 on April 8, and 49,000 on and after April 16. Davis proposed an army of 100,000 men in his message to Congress on April 29.
Divisions of the United States Army
The National Defense Act of 1916 provided that the "Army of the United States" would consist of the Regular Army, the Volunteer Army, the Officers' Reserve Corps, the Enlisted Reserve Corps, the National Guard in the service of the United States, and such other land forces as were or might be authorized by Congress. The president was to determine both the number and type of National Guard units that each state would maintain. Both the Regular Army and the National Guard were to be organized, insofar as practicable, into permanent brigades and divisions.
Service number (United States Army)
At the end of the Second World War, the United States Army was reorganized into the following components:Between 1945 and 1947, the World War II draft force was slowly disbanded with the 30 and 40 million service number series formally discontinued. Personnel who chose to remain on active duty kept their original service numbers, regardless of their new component. The United States Air Force was also founded in September 1947, with enlisted personnel transferring into the new organization with their old Army service numbers while officers were either issued a new number or kept their Army number as well.
Association of the United States Army
The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) is a private, non-profit organization that acts primarily as an advocacy group for the United States Army. Founded in 1950, it has 121 chapters worldwide. Membership is open to everyone, not just Army personnel, nor is membership mandatory for soldiers. The organization publishes "ARMY Magazine" and the "Green Book", and runs the Institute of Land Warfare. The current president is retired Army General Carter Ham.
List of Continental Army units
The Continental Army was the national army of first the Thirteen Colonies, and then the independent United States, during the American Revolutionary War, established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14, 1775, three days before the Battle of Bunker Hill, where it saw its first action under that title.. The Continental Congress took a number of steps in the spring of 1775 to create the army in response to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April and the seizure of Fort Ticonderoga in May. The units composing the Continental Army changed frequently, especially in the first two years of the war. From 1777 to the close of the war, the organization of the Continental Army became progressively more systematic and sophisticated. The Continental Army that served at Yorktown in 1781 bore very little resemblance to the Continental Army that blockaded Boston in 1775.
Army of the United States
The original concept of a non-Regular Army component, existing to augment the standing military, can trace its origins to the United States Volunteers. State volunteer forces were used extensively to augment the Regular Army throughout the 19th and early 20th century. During World War I and dictated by the provisions of the National Defense Act of 1916, states contributed men to the "Volunteer Army" (more commonly known as the National Army). During World War I, a standard practice developed for Regular Army officers to serve in higher positions within the National Army, and thus hold two ranks - a permanent rank and a temporary rank. This concept was related to the idea of the brevet rank, which had generally fallen into disuse by the time of the First World War. The National Army was suspended after World War I.
United States Air Force
The U.S. War Department created the first antecedent of the U.S. Air Force, as a part of the U.S. Army, on 1 August 1907, which through a succession of changes of organization, titles, and missions advanced toward eventual independence 40 years later. In World War II, almost 68,000 U.S. airmen died helping to win the war, with only the infantry suffering more casualties. In practice, the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) was virtually independent of the Army during World War II, and in virtually all ways functioned as an independent service branch, but airmen still pressed for formal independence. The National Security Act of 1947 was signed on 26 July 1947 by President Harry S Truman, which established the Department of the Air Force, but it was not until 18 September 1947, when the first secretary of the Air Force, W. Stuart Symington, was sworn into office that the Air Force was officially formed as an independent service branch.
United States Under Secretary of the Army
The office was created in 1947 as part of the general reorganization of the United States Armed Forces occasioned by the National Security Act of 1947. The office was initially styled "Under Secretary of War" and was created by Department of War General Order 67, dated July 25, 1947. Three weeks later, on August 16, 1947, Department of War Circular 225 redesignated the position as "Under Secretary of the Army".
Army of the United States
In 1946, with postwar demobilization, the Army of the United States was suspended, along with the draft. Officers from that point reverted to Regular Army rank and all enlisted personnel either were discharged from the Army of the United States and returned to civilian life, or accepted the offer to reenlist in the Regular Army. Units raised in the Army of the United States were deactivated; if the Army chose to activate them again permanently, they were allotted to the Regular Army.
Regular Army (United States)
The Regular Army of the United States succeeded the Continental Army as the country's permanent, professional land-based military force. Even in modern times the professional core of the United States Army continues to be called the Regular Army. From the time of the American Revolution until after the Spanish–American War, state militias and volunteer regiments organized by the states (but thereafter controlled by federal authorities and federal generals in time of war) supported the smaller Regular Army of the United States. These volunteer regiments came to be called United States Volunteers (USV) in contrast to the Regular United States Army (USA). During the American Civil War, about 97 percent of the Union Army was United States Volunteers.
First United States Army
First United States Army was redesignated as First Army on 3 October 2006.
 First Army Division East – Fort Knox, Kentucky
United States Armed Forces Institute
The United States Armed Forces Institute (USAFI) was an educational organization that was part of the United States Armed Forces. It was founded in April 1942, as the Army Institute.
United States National Guard
These forces were created by Congress in 1917 as a result of the state National Guards' being deployed and were known as Home Guards. In 1940, with the onset of World War II and as a result of its federalizing the National Guard, Congress amended the National Defense Act of 1916, and authorized the states to maintain "military forces other than National Guard." This law authorized the War Department to train and arm the new military forces that became known as State Guards. In 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War and at the urging of the National Guard, Congress reauthorized the separate state military forces for a time period of two years. These state military forces were authorized military training at federal expense, and "arms, ammunition, clothing, and equipment," as deemed necessary by the Secretary of the Army. In 1956, Congress finally revised the law and authorized "State defense forces" permanently under Title 32, Section 109, of the United States Code.
United States Marine Corps
The history of the Marine Corps began when two battalions of Continental Marines were formed on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as a service branch of infantry troops capable of fighting both at sea and on shore. In the Pacific theater of World War II the Corps took the lead in a massive campaign of amphibious warfare, advancing from island to island. As of 2017, the USMC has around 186,000 active duty members and some 38,500 personnel in reserve. It is the smallest U.S. military service within the DoD.
Corps
The first field corps in the United States Army were legalized during the American Civil War by an Act of Congress on July 17, 1862, but Major General George B. McClellan had designated six corps organizations within his Army of the Potomac that spring. Previously, groupings of divisions were known by other names, such as "wings" and "grand divisions". The term "army corps" was often used at this time. These organizations were much smaller than their modern counterparts: they were usually commanded by a major general, were composed of two to six divisions (although predominantly three) and typically included from 10,000 to 15,000 men. Although designated with numbers that are sometimes the same as those found in the modern U.S. Army, there is no direct lineage between the 43 Union field corps of the Civil War and those with similar names in the modern era, due to Congressional legislation caused by the outcry from Grand Army of the Republic veterans during the Spanish–American War.
United States Army
After the war, the Continental Army was quickly given land certificates and disbanded in a reflection of the republican distrust of standing armies. State militias became the new nation's sole ground army, with the exception of a regiment to guard the Western Frontier and one battery of artillery guarding West Point's arsenal. However, because of continuing conflict with Native Americans, it was soon realized that it was necessary to field a trained standing army. The Regular Army was at first very small and after General St. Clair's defeat at the Battle of the Wabash, the Regular Army was reorganized as the Legion of the United States, which was established in 1791 and renamed the United States Army in 1796.
United States Armed Forces
The United States Coast Guard traces its origin to the founding of the Revenue Cutter Service on 4 August 1790 which merged with the United States Life-Saving Service on 28 January 1915 to establish the Coast Guard. The United States Air Force was established as an independent service on 18 September 1947; it traces its origin to the formation of the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, which was formed 1 August 1907 and was part of the Army Air Forces before becoming an independent service as per the National Security Act of 1947. The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps was formerly considered to be a branch of the United States Armed Forces from 29 July 1945 until its status as such was revoked on 3 July 1952.
History of the United States Army
During the War of 1812, an invasion of Canada failed, and U.S. troops were unable to stop the British from burning the new capital of Washington, D.C.. However, the Regular Army, under Generals Winfield Scott and Jacob Brown, proved they were professional and capable of defeating a major invasion by the regular British Army in the Niagara campaign of 1814. Between 1815 and 1860, the main role of the U.S. Army was fighting Native Americans in the West in the American Indian Wars, and manning coast artillery stations at major ports. The U.S. used regular units and many volunteer units in the Mexican–American War of 1846–48. At the outset of the American Civil War, the regular U.S. Army was small and generally assigned to defend the nation's frontiers from attacks by Indians. Following the Civil War, the U.S. Army fought more wars with Indians, who resisted U.S. expansion into the center of the continent.
List of brigadier generals in the United States Regular Army before February 2, 1901
Historically, the United States Army included two components: the permanently established Regular Army, which constituted the peacetime force; and, during time of war, a much larger non-permanent establishment comprising various volunteer, conscript, and federalized state forces.
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army (C.S.A.) was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting against the United States forces. On February 28, 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress established a provisional volunteer army and gave control over military operations and authority for mustering state forces and volunteers to the newly chosen Confederate president, Jefferson Davis. Davis was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, and colonel of a volunteer regiment during the Mexican–American War. He had also been a United States Senator from Mississippi and U.S. Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. On March 1, 1861, on behalf of the Confederate government, Davis assumed control of the military situation at Charleston, South Carolina, where South Carolina state militia besieged Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, held by a small U.S. Army garrison. By March 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress expanded the provisional forces and established a more permanent Confederate States Army.
United States Army Air Corps
The U.S. Army Air Service had a brief but turbulent history. Created during World War I by executive order of 28th President Woodrow Wilson after American entrance in April 1917 as the increasing use of airplanes and the military uses of aviation were readily apparent as the war continued to its climax, the U.S. Army Air Service gained permanent legislative authority in 1920 as a combatant arm of the line of the United States Army. There followed a six-year struggle between adherents of airpower and the supporters of the traditional military services about the value of an independent Air Force, intensified by struggles for funds caused by skimpy budgets, as much an impetus for independence as any other factor.
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The Corps of Engineers, as it is known today, came into existence on 16 March 1802, when President Thomas Jefferson signed the Military Peace Establishment Act whose aim was to "organize and establish a Corps of Engineers ... that the said Corps ... shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York and shall constitute a military academy." Until 1866, the superintendent of the United States Military Academy was always an officer of engineer.
United States Army
Before 1933, members of the Army National Guard were considered state militia until they were mobilized into U.S. Army, typically on the onset of war. Since the 1933 amendment to the National Defense Act of 1916, all Army National Guard soldiers have held dual status. They serve as National Guardsmen under the authority of the governor of their state or territory and as a reserve members of the U.S. Army under the authority of the President, in the Army National Guard of the United States.
Biodefense
Military biodefense in the United States began with the United States Army Medical Unit (USAMU) at Fort Detrick, Maryland, in 1956. (In contrast to the U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories [1943–1969], also at Fort Detrick, the USAMU's mission was purely to develop defensive measures against bio-agents, as opposed to weapons development.) The USAMU was disestablished in 1969 and succeeded by today's United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).
United States Marine Corps birthday
The official birthday of the United States Marine Corps is on 10 November 1775. That was the day when the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Marines with the following decree:
Tun Tavern, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is regarded as the birthplace of the Corps as the location of the first Marines to enlist under Commandant Samuel Nicholas, though it is disputed if a recruiting drive may have occurred earlier at Nicholas's family tavern, the . When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, the Continental Navy was disestablished, and with it, the Continental Marines. The Corps was re-established on 11 July 1798, when the "act for establishing and organizing a Marine Corps" was signed by President John Adams.
History of the United States Army
The U.S. Army Air Force, which was an outgrowth of the earlier Army Air Corps, had been virtually independent during the war. In 1947, it separated from the Army to become the United States Air Force.
History of the United States Army
After Wayne's death in 1796, command of the legion passed to Wayne's executive officer and commandant of Fort Washington, Brig. Gen. James Wilkinson. The Legion was renamed the United States Army.
List of major generals in the United States Regular Army before 1 July 1920
Historically, the United States Army included two components: the permanently established Regular Army, which constituted the peacetime force; and, during time of war, a much larger non-permanent establishment comprising various volunteer, conscript, and federalized state forces.
U.S. Army Birthdays
Continental Congress authority for a "Chief Engineer for the Army" dates from 16 June 1775. A corps of Engineers for the United States was authorized by the Congress on 11 March 1779. The Corps of Engineers as it is known today came into being on 16 March 1802, when the President was authorized to "organize and establish a Corps of Engineers ... that the said Corps ... shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York and shall constitute a Military Academy." A Corps of Topographical Engineers, authorized on 4 July 1838, was merged with the Corps of Engineers in March 1863.
U.S. Army Birthdays
The Army Medical Department and the Medical Corps trace their origins to 27 July 1775, when the Continental Congress established the Army hospital headed by a "Director General and Chief Physician." Congress provided a medical organization of the Army only in time of war or emergency until 1818, which marked the inception of a permanent and continuous Medical Department. The Army Nurse Corps dates from 1901, the Dental Corps from 1911, the Veterinary Corps from 1916, the Medical Service Corps from 1917, and the Army Medical Specialist Corps from 1947. The Army Organization Act of 1950 renamed the Medical Department as the Army Medical Service. On 4 June 1968, the Army Medical Service was redesignated the Army Medical Department.
Air National Guard
The modern day National Guard in the United States traces its origins to December 13, 1636, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony's General Court passed an act calling for the creation of three regiments, organizing existing separate militia companies in and around Boston. The creation of the militia regiments was caused by the perceived need to defend the Bay Colony against American Indians and from other European countries operating in North America. This organization formed the basis of subsequent colonial and, post-independence, state and territorial militias which later became the Army National Guard.
United States Department of the Air Force
The Department of the Air Force (DAF) is one of the three Military Departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Department of the Air Force was formed on September 18, 1947, per the National Security Act of 1947 and it includes all elements and units of the United States Air Force (USAF).
List of monuments at the United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA) is a federal service academy located at West Point, New York that educates and commissions officers for the United States Army. The Academy was formally founded in 1802 and graduated its first class in October of the same year. It is the oldest of the five American service academies. Due to the academy's age and its unique purpose of producing Army officers, it is home to many monuments and memorials, the oldest dating back to the early 19th century, shortly after the academy's founding. The oldest monument is the Cadet Monument, dedicated in 1818 and located in the West Point Cemetery, while the newest is the Flight Memorial, located just north of Lusk Reservoir and dedicated in 1992.
United States Army Band
The United States Army Band, also known as "Pershing's Own", is the premier musical organization of the United States Army, founded in 1922. Before 2002, the United States Army Band was the only Washington-based military band to have participated in a theater of foreign combat operations. There are currently eight official performing ensembles in the unit: The United States Army Concert Band, The United States Army Ceremonial Band, The Army Chorus, The Army Blues, The Army Band Downrange, the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets, The Army Strings, and The Army Brass Quintet.
List of Continental Army units
On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress assumed responsibility for the regular troops that had been raised by the colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut in response to the Battles of Lexington and Concord. This date is considered to be the founding date of the United States Army. Most of these troops were besieging the British garrison in Boston. The force adopted by the Continental Congress amounted to 39 regiments of infantry, and 1 regiment and 1 separate company of artillery.
U.S. Army Birthdays
The 14 June date is when Congress adopted "the American continental army" after reaching a consensus position in The Committee of the Whole. This procedure and the desire for secrecy account for the sparseness of the official journal entries for the day. The record indicates only that Congress undertook to raise ten companies of riflemen, approved an enlistment form for them, and appointed a committee (including Washington and Schuyler) to draft rules and regulations for the government of the army. The delegates' correspondence, diaries, and subsequent actions make it clear that they really did much more. They also accepted responsibility for the existing New England troops and forces requested for the defense of the various points in New York. The former were believed to total 10,000 men; the latter, both New Yorkers and Connecticut men, another 5,000.
State defense force
From its founding until the early 1900s, the United States maintained only a minimal army and relied on state militias to supply the majority of its troops, with the training and readiness of the latter varying widely. As a result of the Spanish–American War and the performance of the militias and other volunteer units during that conflict, Congress was called upon to reform and regulate the training and qualification of state militias. In 1903, with passage of the Militia Act of 1903, the predecessor to the modern-day National Guard was formed. It required the states to divide their militias into two sections. The law recommended the title "National Guard" for the first section, known as the organized militia, and "Reserve Militia" for all others.
United States Army Ambulance Service
The United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) was a unit of the United States Army during World War I. It was established by General Order No. 75 of the War Department in May 1917. It primarily provided medical services to the French, British and Italian Armies during the first World War. In the second World War, the unit aided the British and the Italians. It incorporated the volunteer sections of the American Field Service, which had been formed before the American entry into World War I.
Structure of the United States Army
The Air Defense Artillery branch descended from the Anti-Aircraft Artillery (part of the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps) into a separate branch on 20 June 1968.Continental Congress authority for a "Chief Engineer for the Army" dates from 16 June 1775. A corps of engineers for the United States was authorized by the Congress on 11 March 1789. The Corps of Engineers as it is known today came into being on 16 March 1802, when the President was authorized to "organize and establish a Corps of Engineers ... that the said Corps ... shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York and shall constitute a Military Academy." A Corps of Topographical Engineers, authorized on 4 July 1838, was merged with the Corps of Engineers in March 1863.
History of the United States Coast Guard
The modern Coast Guard was created in 1915 by the merger of the United States Revenue Cutter Service and the United States Lifesaving Service, but its roots go back to the early days of the Republic. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton lobbied Congress to authorize a small fleet of vessels to enforce tariffs (an important source of revenue for the new nation). On 4 August 1790 (now recognized as the Coast Guard's official birthday), Congress passed the Tariff Act, permitting the construction of ten cutters and the recruitment of 100 revenue officers. From 1790, when the Continental Navy was disbanded, to 1798, when the United States Navy was created, these "revenue cutters" were the country's only naval force.
Military engineering of the United States
The United States first formed a military engineering capability on 16 June 1775, when the Continental Congress established an army with a chief engineer and two assistants. Subsequently, on 16 March 1802, the Corps of Engineers was organized by the President. Today, Military Engineers are grouped separately within each of the armed services.
United States Army Corps of Engineers
Their most visible missions include:The history of United States Army Corps of Engineers can be traced back to 16 June 1775, when the Continental Congress organized an army with a chief engineer and two assistants. Colonel Richard Gridley became General George Washington's first chief engineer. One of his first tasks was to build fortifications near Boston at Bunker Hill. The Continental Congress recognized the need for engineers trained in military fortifications and asked the government of King Louis XVI of France for assistance. Many of the early engineers in the Continental Army were former French officers. Louis Lebègue Duportail, a lieutenant colonel in the French Royal Corps of Engineers, was secretly sent to America in March 1777 to serve in Washington's Continental Army. In July 1777 he was appointed colonel and commander of all engineers in the Continental Army, and in November 17, 1777, he was promoted to brigadier general. When the Continental Congress created a separate Corps of Engineers in May 1779 Duportail was designated as its commander. In late 1781 he directed the construction of the allied U.S.-French siege works at the Battle of Yorktown. From 1794 to 1802 the engineers were combined with the artillery as the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers.
United States National Guard
The Massachusetts militia began the American Revolutionary War at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, The Massachusetts militia units were mobilized either during or shortly after the above battles and used to form, along with units from Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire, the Army of Observation during the Siege of Boston. On July 3, 1775 General George Washington, under the authority of the Continental Congress, assumed command of the Army of Observation and the new organization became the Continental Army from which the United States Army traces its origins.
United States Army Rangers
The United States Army Rangers are designated U.S. Army Ranger units, past or present, or are graduates of the U.S. Army Ranger School. The term "ranger" has been in use unofficially in a military context since the early 17th century. The first military company officially commissioned as rangers were English soldiers fighting in King Philip's War (1676) and from there the term came into common official use in the French and Indian Wars. There have been American military companies officially called "Rangers" since the American Revolution.
United States military chaplains
Chaplains have served in the various branches of the United States armed forces since their formation, including in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Congress authorized the hiring of an Army chaplain in 1791.
Army of the United States
The Army of the United States is one of the four major service components of the United States Army (the others being the Regular Army, the United States Army Reserve and the National Guard of the United States), but it has been inactive since the suspension of the draft in 1973 and the U.S. military's transition to a volunteer force. Personnel serving in the United States Army during a major national emergency or armed conflict (either voluntarily or involuntarily) were enlisted into the Army of the United States, without specifying service in a component.
Fort McPherson
First Army was formed in France on Aug. 10, 1918, with Gen. John J. Pershing commanding. As America's first numbered Army, First Army engaged in two major operations: the reduction of the St. Mihiel Salient, east of Verdun, and the Meuse-Argonne offensive, west of Verdun. After World War I and a short period of occupation in Europe, First Army was deactivated in 1919. It was reactivated at Fort Jay, N.Y., in 1933.
United States Armed Forces
The history of the U.S. Armed Forces dates to 14 June 1775, with the creation of the Continental Army, even before the Declaration of Independence marked the establishment of the United States. The Continental Navy, established on 13 October 1775, and Continental Marines, established on 10 November 1775, were created in close succession by the Second Continental Congress in order to defend the new nation against the British Empire in the American Revolutionary War.
American Revolutionary War
Three current branches of the United States Military trace their institutional roots to the American Revolutionary War; the United States Army comes from the Continental Army, formed by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775. The United States Navy recognizes October 13, 1775 as the date of its official establishment, the passage of the resolution of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia that created the Continental Navy.
The United States Marine Corps links to the Continental Marines of the war, formed by a resolution of the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775. However, in 1783 both the Continental Navy and Continental Marines were disbanded.
List of United States Military Academy alumni
The United States Military Academy (USMA) is an undergraduate college in West Point, New York with the mission of educating and commissioning officers for the United States Army. The Academy was founded in 1802 and is the oldest of the United States' five service academies. It is also referred to as West Point (the name of the military base that the Academy is a part of.) The Academy graduated its first cadet, Joseph Gardner Swift, in October 1802. Sports media refer to the Academy as "Army" and the students as "Cadets"; this usage is officially endorsed. The football team is also known as "The Black Knights of the Hudson" and "The Black Knights". A small number of graduates each year choose the option of cross-commissioning into the United States Air Force, United States Navy, or the United States Marine Corps. Before the founding of the United States Air Force Academy in 1955, the Academy was a major source of officers for the Air Force and its predecessors. Most cadets are admitted through the congressional appointment system. The curriculum emphasizes the sciences and engineering fields.
History of the United States Air Force
On 18 September 1947, the Army Air Forces became the United States Air Force as a separate and equal element of the United States Armed Forces. The fledgling Air Force quickly established its own identity. Army Air Fields were renamed Air Force Bases and personnel were soon being issued new uniforms with new rank insignia. Once the new Air Force was free of army domination, its first job was to discard the old and inadequate ground army organizational structure. This was the "Base Plan" where the combat group commander reported to the base commander, who was often regular army, with no flying experience.