The US Armed Forces consist of several services. These are the US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard. All except the Coast Guard belong to the Department of Defense. The Coast Guard belongs to the Department of Homeland Security.

While all of these forces are uniformed, have weapons, ranks and other such details that are similar, the specific missions and focus of each service is quite different.

The US Army is charged as the primary land combat force. The US Army is around a million soldiers, divided into the Active Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard. While all of these have federal missions, the National Guard also has state missions and responsibilities. Army National Guard units are largely combat units, though with supporting units as well. Army Reserve units are almost always combat support or combat service support.

The US Marine Corps appears very similar to the Army, but has a bit over 200,000 marines. The USMC is charged with projecting combined arms task forces around the world, providing a rapid response force which is small, but high quality and equipped to handle many contingencies. The Marines have integrated task forces with ground and fixed wing aviation assigned, providing extremely responsive air support. There are active and reserve marines.

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The US Navy is charged with operations on the sea, and has about a half a million sailors. The Navy currently has 276 ships and 4,000 aircraft. The US Navy has a rich tradition including pitched battles against the most powerful navies of the day, operations on the far side of the world, pirate suppression and protection of trade. The Navy has active and reserve units and detachments.

The US Air Force is the youngest of our armed forces, and the six hundred thousand members would like to believe it is the most glamorous. It has about 6,000 aircraft, and like the Army, is divided into an active force, an Air Force Reserve and an Air National Guard.

The smallest of our armed forces is the US Coast Guard. With only about fifty thousand servicemen, it is by far the smallest, but prides itself on being one of the busiest. As the only armed force that isn’t under the DoD, the Coasties are one of the lead forces in Homeland Security. The Coast Guard has active and reserve units, and auxiliaries who provide assistance as needed. The Coast Guard performs diverse missions including search and rescue, police operations and inspections of cargo and ships.

It is certainly possible to find members of any service deployed almost anywhere, with members of the US Armed Forces present from Thule Greenland to Pole, Antarctica. Marines pride themselves on being tough enough to handle poor living conditions, while Sailors bring their own living areas with them most of the time. The Army believes that they are the force called on when the job is big and tough, while the Air Force believes they are the force called on when something has to happen at the speed of sound. The Coasties believe, with some justification, that they have the toughest job with the least attention of the bunch.