Total military personnel of the U.S. Army, by rank FY 2019-2021
Military personnel
The military departments in the United States are: the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, The U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Coast Guards. The President of the United States is the military’s overall head and forms the military policy with the U.S. Department of Defense. The U.S. military is one of the largest militaries in term of number of personnel. To join the United States Army Americans have to be 17, with the parental permission, 18 for voluntary service. The maximum age is 35 for the Army, 34 for the Navy and 27 for the Air Force.
The largest branch of the United States Armed Forces is the United States Army. The United States Army is responsible for land-based military operations. The active duty U.S. Army personnel number has decreased from 2010 to 2018. In 2010, there were 561,979 active duty U.S. Army members, as compared to 471,990 in 2018.
The number of active duty U.S. Navy personnel has decreased slowly over the past 20 years. In 2018, there were 325,395 active duty Navy members in the United States Navy. The United States Navy personnel are enlisted sailors, commissioned officers and midshipmen. Sailors have to take part in Personnel Qualification Standards, to prove that they have mastered skills.
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States. The active duty U.S. Air Force personnel numbers also decreased between 1995 and 2015, although has started to increase slightly since 2015. In 2018, there were 321,618 active duty U.S. Air Force members, as compared to 396,382 in 1995.