The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States. The United States military is often considered the most powerful and influential military in history.
Its component branches are:
All branches are part of the United States Uniformed Services and are under civilian control with the President serving as Commander-in-chief. All branches except the Coast Guard are part of the Department of Defense, which is under the authority of the Secretary of Defense, who is also a civilian. The Coast Guard falls under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security. During wartime, the Coast Guard may be placed under the Department of Defense through the Department of the Navy.
As of April 2007, about 1,426,700 people are on active duty in the military with an additional 1,458,500 people in the seven reserve components. As it is currently a volunteer military, there is no conscription. Women are not allowed to serve in some combat assignments, but they are allowed to serve in most non-combat specialties. Due to the realities of war some of these non-combat positions see combat regularly.
Much of U.S. military capability is involved in logistics and transportation, which enable rapid buildup of forces as needed. The Air Force maintains a large fleet of C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster, and C-130 Hercules transportation aircraft with a substantial fleet of aerial refueling tankers. The Marine Corps maintains Marine Expeditionary Units at sea with the Navy's Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. The Navy's 11 active aircraft carriers, combined with a military doctrine of power projection, enables a flexible response to potential threats.
