Overview of the US Military
In 2020, nearly 3.5 million people were employed in the US military, including 1.3 million DoD active-duty personnel, 1 million DoD ready reserve and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) coast guard reserve soldiers, 898 thousand DoD appropriated and non-appropriated funds civilian employees, 193 thousand retired reserve individuals, 40,558 DHS’s coast guard active duty personnel and 6,191 standby reserve personnel.
Active-duty personnel from the DoD and the DHS Coast Guard make up most of the military force (39.4%), followed by ready reserve personnel (29.2%), and DoD civilian employees (25.7%).
Active Duty Member Highlights
The US Army has the highest proportion of active duty, reserve, and guard members (45.6%), followed by members of the Air Force (22.2%), the Navy (18.5%), the Marine Corps (11.7%), and the Coast Guard (2%) in 2020. With 1.3 million DoD active duty members, the US military force of 2020 declined by 5.9% when compared to the military force in 2010. The Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force active duty personnel declined by 14.4%, 10.7%, and 1.0% respectively in 2020 when compared to 2010. The Navy reported an increase of 5.8% in its active duty members in 2020 when compared to 2010.
Men make up 82.8% of the DoD active-duty force, compared to women who make up 17.2%. The proportion of women serving on active duty as officers and enlisted members has grown by 3.2% and 2.8% respectively when compared to 2010. Overall, the ratio of female enlisted members to female officers is 4.2 female enlisted members for every one female officer, while the ratio of male enlisted members to male officers is 4.8.
The US military force is spread globally with the following three regions with the highest active-duty personnel stationed: US and its territories (87.9%), East Asia (6.2%), and Europe (4.8%).
California, Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Washington, Hawaii, South Carolina, and Colorado make up 69.5% percent of the military personnel stationed in the United States.
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