*******


The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations and is one of seven uniformed services. The U.S. Navy currently has over 335,000 personnel on active duty and 128,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 280 ships in active service and more than 3,700 aircraft.

*******


The United States Marine Corp originally organized as the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775 as naval infantry, the Marine Corps has evolved in its mission with changing military doctrine and American foreign policy. The Marine Corps has served in every American armed conflict including the Revolutionary War. It attained prominence in the 20th century when its theories and practice of amphibious warfare proved prescient and ultimately formed the cornerstone of the Pacific campaign of World War II.By the mid 20th century, the Marine Corps had become the dominant theorist of amphibious warfare.



The United States Marine Corps, with 186,342 active duty and 40,000 reserve Marines as of November 30, 2007, is the smallest of the United States' armed forces in the Department of Defense.


*******


The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the U.S. Previously part of the U.S. Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947.It is the last branch of the United States military to be formed.



The USAF is the largest and one of the most technologically advanced air forces in the world, with about 6013 manned aircraft in service (4,282 USAF; 1,321 Air National Guard; and 410 Air Force Reserve); and as of April 4, 2008, had 328,808 personnel on active duty, 70,303 in the Selected and Individual Ready Reserves, and 106,254 in the Air National Guard. In addition, the Air Force employs 141,573 civilian personnel.

The USAF is conducting a large Reduction-in-Force (RIF). Because of budget constraints, the USAF will reduce the service's current size by 40,000 full time equivalent positions by 2011, with approximately half to be eliminated in FY 2007. Approximately 35,000 active duty positions (ADPs), or one year's cycle of enlistments and retirements, will be eliminated over 5 years.The current size of the active-duty force is roughly 70% of that of the USAF at the end of the first Gulf War in 1991.

*******

The United States Army is the largest, and by some standards oldest, established branch of the armed forces of the United States and is one of seven uniformed services. Like all armies, it has the primary responsibility for land-based military operations



The modern Army had its roots in the Continental Army which was formed on June 14, 1775, before the establishment of the United States, to meet the demands of the American Revolutionary War. Congress created the United States Army on June 14, 1784 after the end of the war to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The Army considers itself to be descended from the Continental Army, and thus dates its inception from the origins of that force.


*******


The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is an armed force of the military of the United States and one of seven uniformed services. It is unique among other armed forces in that it combines aspects of a maritime law enforcement agency (with jurisdiction both domestically and in international waters), naval military support, and a federal body. It is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, with its military operations working under the US Navy during times of war.



The Coast Guard has eleven statutory missions: Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations (AMIO) , Defense Readiness, Drug Interdiction, Ports, Waterways and Coastal Security, Other Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Aids to Navigation, Marine Safety, Living Marine Resources, Marine Environmental Protection, and Ice Operations. As one of the five armed forces and the smallest armed service of the United States, its stated mission is to protect the public, the environment, and the United States economic and security interests in any maritime region in which those interests may be at risk, including international waters and America's coasts, ports, and inland waterways.

*******