Over the course of many centuries, mankind has perfected the methods of violent influence and killing its own kind. History shows us that strong states in most cases were forged through war. And luck in the war, as we know, depends on the art of killing. Of course, today people are gradually moving away from the tendency to resolve issues through military conflicts, because they negatively affect the population of a state and the general economic condition of the world market.
Moreover, after the Second World War, people realized the destructive power of any kind of military conflict. In other words, their implementation is extremely disadvantageous. However, this aspect does not affect the fact that any state should have a strong and combat-ready army. After all, the world community, in its essence, is quite heterogeneous and unstable. Today it cooperates, tomorrow it fights. There is always a threat of the onset of a full-scale military conflict, especially if we take into account the existence of a large number of local conflicts on the territory of different states today. Thus, some countries invest huge amounts of money in their armies in order to ensure their combat effectiveness.
One of such states can be called the United States of America. The US Army, the strength of which will be presented later in the article, today is the most combat-ready military formation on earth, as evidenced by its characteristic features.
United States Army: Definition
The US Army, the strength of which will be discussed later, is part of the United States Armed Forces . It should be noted that the word "army" does not characterize all military formations existing in the country, without exception. The term refers exclusively to ground forces. In addition, this formation is responsible primarily for operations during land operations. The division has a rather long history of formation and its own structure.
United States Army Foundation Date
The US Army, the strength of which we will consider in the article, is a set of historically determined traditions. In addition, this military formation has a long and quite interesting way of its formation. It should be noted that the modern army in the United States comes from the once-existing Continental Army, which was created specifically for the struggle for American independence on June 14, 1775. Throughout history, the military formation presented in the article participated in a large number of continental battles and some military operations on other continents. This has led to the fact that the size of the US Army today is one of the largest in the world, since many military operations have to be carried out to protect state interests far from the borders of America. Thus, it is necessary to ensure the safety of not only foreign parts and representative offices, but also to maintain the proper level of protection within the country.
XVIII century - the beginning of existence
As mentioned earlier, the US Army, the strength of which will be presented later in the article, appeared in 1775, namely June 14. The main objective of the formation of this military unit was the war for independence from British control.
The structure of the US Army at that time was represented as the combined units of all states located in North America. The main commander was George Washington. The military formation proved its combat power and functional ability in the process of hostilities. Indeed, already in 1783, the war for the independence of America ends with the defeat of England, as a result of the crushing victory of the rebels at Saratoga and the conclusion of the Versailles Peace Treaty.
In addition, the world community recognized the United States as a state. The unwillingness of the population to serve in the standing forces during peace led to the fact that the Continental Army had to be disbanded. However, the constant attacks of the Indians led to the creation of a new military nationwide formation. Thus, in 1791 the Legion of the United States was created.
American Legion
In the period from 1791 to 1796, the regular military formation in America was the Legion, formed by General Wayne. In fact, it was the US Army, the number of which at that time was about 4.5 thousand soldiers. The Legion, as a rule, was recruited from volunteers for service, the total term of which was 3 years. The main goal of the military formation was the struggle with the Indians in the north-west of the country. The most famous military clash in which the Legion participated was the Battle of Fallen Timbres.
US Army History in the 19th Century
Military conflicts in America did not subside in the 19th century. They largely determined the creation and modernization of the US Army. The first significant impetus to the evolution of military formation in the country was the Anglo-American conflict of 1812-1815. The first stages of the war were truly devastating for the American troops, since they could not stop the British invasion of Washington. However, already in the battle near New Orleans in 1814, the British troops were stopped and defeated. It should also be noted the fateful war of the United States with Mexico, as a result of which the American side conquered quite large territories.
US military sector in the XX century
Many experts point out that the U.S. Army gained its heyday in the 20th century. After all, it is precisely in this century that the most large-scale war in human history takes place. The first of these was the First World War. In 1917, the United States joins the Entente. Before the start of World War II, the size of the US Army was about 174 thousand people. This was quite enough to take part in the war against Germany, Japan and Italy. In addition, from 1960 to 1973, America fought in Vietnam.
US Ground Forces
The US Army versus the Russian Army is often compared by the type of structural formation of military units. In this matter, the American type of unit structuring is very different from the Russian one. The army of America today consists of the following elements: directly the first-line formations or simply the US army, the national guard and the reserve.
It should be noted that reservists (draftees) gather monthly for special fees. They usually last about three weeks. It should be noted that the national guard and the army are not identical structures in essence. Their functional tasks are completely different, which will be described below.
Normative regulation of the army
The US Army, the regular army or the standing forces have a certain legal regulation of their activities. This means that there are official documents that directly regulate the use of ground forces and the national guard. This aspect is disclosed in Articles 32 and 10 of the Code of Laws of the United States of America.
As for the organization of internal service in these military units, charters and instructions are used for this. At the same time, the personnel of the National Guard, as a rule, apply regulatory documents of the internal order of the US Army. In peacetime, these military units are subordinate to the general executive authorities of the state, and during the war - to command.
An interesting fact is that the United States government has the right to remove any of the existing parts of the National Guard from subordination to regional authorities.
Citizenship Management
Civilian control of the US Army is carried out by the Main Directorate of the Ground Forces, which, in turn, is part of the Department of Defense. It should be noted that the activities of this body have specific features in terms of general principles of administration. In fact, the Main Directorate is a separate ministry, since it has a wide range of functions. Nevertheless, from a legal point of view, a ministry in a ministry is nonsense. Therefore, the control of the ground forces is a hierarchically subordinate structure.
Management at the level of the military apparatus
The US Army, the number of equipment and personnel of which will be presented later in the article, also has a military apparatus that coordinates its activities. This hierarchical formation carries out general control and regulation of the current activities of the ground forces. The military apparatus is headed by the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army, which, in turn, is part of the OKNS (Joint Chiefs of Staff). It should be noted that the Commander-in-Chief is responsible for combat training of personnel and planning for the combat use of the army.
Thus, the existence of two separate lines of regulation of the activities of the US Army allows us to achieve the maximum effectiveness of this formation, as well as the rule of law and democracy in the process of its direct activity. The US Army and the Russian Army, which are compared quite often these days, are similar to each other by the presence of two independent regulatory structures.
Army strength and state structure
One of the most numerous elements of the Armed Forces of America today is the US Army. The number of armed forces of this state is 1,492,209 personnel. At the same time, 539,675 people are involved in the army. Thus, the number of personnel involved in this element of the US Armed Forces indicates its greatest combat effectiveness. As for the staff structure of the army, it consists of 10 divisions. In addition to this, there are some special units , for example, army aviation, reconnaissance, control, etc. An important structural element of the army today is the National Guard. Its number, staff and functional tasks have some features, which will be described below.
National Guard Concept
Everyone knows the fact that the army exists to maintain the external security of the state, and the police restore order inside the country. However, in some cases, situations arise when the forces of law and order simply can not cope with the huge number of tasks that have arisen. For example, during numerous riots, natural disasters, etc. For such tasks, the US Army is usually used, the reserve of which is made up of the national guard forces. It is the reserve troops that are used in these cases.
It should be noted that a fairly small number of people know what these formations are. They exist in all states, but have different names. For example, when comparing the US army against the army of the Russian Federation, then in both countries you can find units with similar functions. Only in the Russian Federation is the National Guard referred to as internal troops. Although from this the essence of these units as a whole does not change.
So, the National Guard is one of the types of armed forces. It is organized directly from a structure such as the US Army, the photo of which is presented in the article, and the Air Force. In fact, this is a reserve of aircraft. It consists of personnel who have military training and do not need additional training.
Normative regulation of the activities of the National Guard
Like any military units in the United States, the National Guard operates only within the framework of the letter of the law. There are a large number of special regulatory acts that form the legal basis for the activities of this structure. These include the following:
- Acts on the police (1792), on the uprisings, on the police (1862).
- Amendments to the police code issued from 1881 to 1892.
- National Security Act dated 1916.
- The National Guard Mobilization Act of 1933.
- United States of America Politics of 1973.
- 2008 National Security Act.
The strength of the formation and features of the service
To date, about 467,587 personnel are serving in the ranks of the National Guard. The subordination of these troops is carried out both at the national and federal levels. In this case, the need for such a regime of submission is simply necessary. After all, the National Guard is very often used to implement specific functions.
It should be noted a rather interesting principle of the operation of such a presented element as the US Army, the photo of which is presented in the article. Service in the National Guard is not permanent. Her staff consists of reservists who attend special classes on weekends several times a year. At the same time, camp camps are held annually, at which the national guards serve along with regular troops. In the case of the announcement of mobilization, a certain number of personnel of the National Guard can be involved in hostilities in the army.
US Army and Russian Army: Comparison
Recently, scientists quite often carry out a comparative description of the armies of the United States and Russia. This is not surprising, since these powers are the largest to date. However, almost all modern scientists are concerned about the question: who is stronger militarily?
If we analyze the size of the US and Russian army, then the American side wins significantly. About 1 million people are involved in the United States Armed Forces, and only 790,000 in the Russian armed forces. Globally, this gap is not too big, but it is crucial for a full-scale war.
As for technical weapons, the United States is significantly behind. The Armed Forces of America today have about 7,000 tanks. The Russian Federation is ready to oppose about 5,000 of these. In addition to this, the Russian Federation has 12,500 tanks in storage today. Therefore, in the event of a full-scale war, the Russian Federation will have great technical power, but in this case it is impossible to compare the quality of equipment on either side.
So, the article talks about what the US Army is like. It was found that a large number of people and equipment are in the arsenal of the American army, however, the true military power of this state can only be analyzed during a full-scale war, which, we hope, will never start.