United States Military 2021, CIA World Factbook

United States Armed Forces: US Army, US Navy (includes Marine Corps), US Air Force, US Space Force; US Coast Guard (administered in peacetime by the Department of Homeland Security, but in wartime reports to the Department of the Navy); National Guard (Army National Guard and Air National Guard) (2021)

note: the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard are reserve components of their services and operate in part under state authority

Military expenditures

3.73% of GDP (2020 est.)

3.51% of GDP (2019)

3.27% of GDP (2018)

3.3% of GDP (2017)

3.51% of GDP (2016)

Military and security service personnel strengths

the US Armed Forces have approximately 1.39 million active duty personnel (482,000 Army; 347,000 Navy; 336,000 Air Force; 181,000 Marine Corps; 41,000 Coast Guard; 16,000 Space Force); 336,000 Army National Guard; 106,000 Air National Guard (April 2021)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the US military's inventory is comprised almost entirely of domestically-produced weapons systems (some assembled with foreign components) along with a smaller mix of imported equipment from a variety of Western countries; since 2010, Germany and the UK are the leading suppliers of military hardware; the US defense industry is capable of designing, developing, maintaining, and producing the full spectrum of weapons systems; the US is the world's leading arms exporter (2020)

Military deployments

approximately 1,000 Afghanistan (NATO); 5,000 Africa (mostly in Djibouti, with approximately 700-1,000 in other countries of East Africa and about 700 in West Africa); 1,000 Australia; 1,150 Belgium; 150 Bulgaria; 250 Diego Garcia; 150 Canada; 750 Cuba; 270 Egypt (MFO); 34,000 Germany; 400 Greece; 150 Greenland; 6,000 Guam; 380 Honduras; 12,000 Italy; 54,000 Japan; 630 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); approximately 10-15,000 assigned with an additional estimated 20-30,000 deployed in the Middle East (Bahrain/Iraq/Israel/Jordan/Kuwait/Oman/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Syria/United Arab Emirates); 400 Netherlands; 700 Norway; 200 Philippines; 4,500 Poland; 250 Portugal; 26,500 Republic of Korea; 1,100 Romania; 200 Singapore; 3,200 Spain; 100 Thailand; 1,700 Turkey; 9,300 United Kingdom (2021)

US military rotational policies affect deployed numbers; for example, the US deploys ground and air units to select countries for 6-12 month rotational assignments on a continuous basis; in South Korea, for example, the US continuously rotates combat brigades (3,000-4,000 personnel) for 9 months at a time; contingencies also affect US troop deployments; for example, in 2019, the US deployed more than 15,000 additional military personnel to the Middle East for an extended period of time; in addition, some overseas US naval bases, such as the headquarters of US Naval Forces Central Command (USNAVCENT) in Manama, Bahrain, are frequented by the crews of US ships on 6-9 month deployments; a US carrier strike group with an air wing and supporting ships typically includes over 6-7,000 personnel

Military service age and obligation

18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; no conscription; maximum enlistment age 34 (Army), 39 (Air Force), 39 (Navy), 28 (Marines), 31 (Coast Guard); 8-year service obligation, including 2-5 years active duty (Army), 2 years active (Navy), 4 years active (Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard); all military occupations and positions open to women (2020)

Military - note

the US is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) in 1949

NOTE: The information regarding United States on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of United States 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about United States 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.