The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.[15] The Army is the oldest branch of the U.S. military and the most senior in order of precedence.[16] It has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed on 14 June 1775 to fight against the British for independence during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).[17] After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army.[18][19] The United States Army considers itself a continuation of the Continental Army, and thus considers its institutional inception to be the origin of that armed force in 1775.[17]
The U.S. Army is a uniformed service of the United States and is part of the Department of the Army, which is one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The U.S. Army is headed by a civilian senior appointed civil servant, the secretary of the Army (SECARMY), and by a chief military officer, the chief of staff of the Army (CSA) who is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is the largest military branch, and in the fiscal year 2022, the projected end strength for the Regular Army (USA) was 480,893 soldiers; the Army National Guard (ARNG) had 336,129 soldiers and the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) had 188,703 soldiers; the combined-component strength of the U.S. Army was 1,005,725 soldiers.[20] As a branch of the armed forces, the mission of the U.S. Army is "to fight and win our Nation's wars, by providing prompt, sustained land dominance, across the full range of military operations and the spectrum of conflict, in support of combatant commanders".[21] The branch participates in conflicts worldwide and is the major ground-based offensive and defensive force of the United States of America.
^"Department of Defense Directive 1005.8". Permanent.access.gpo.gov. 31 October 1977. Retrieved 7 July 2017. Subject: "Order of Precedence of Members of Armed Forces of the United States When in Formation" (Paragraph 3. PRESCRIBED PROCEDURE)
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).