North America > United States > Military

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Air force personnel	370,300		[1st of 49]
Armed forces growth	-37		[108th of 132]
DEFINITION: Growth in the number of armed forces personnel from 1985 (index = 100) to 2000. 100 means no growth, 50 means it halved and 200 means it doubled.
SOURCE: Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy
Armed forces personnel	1,366,000		[3rd of 166]
DEFINITION: Total armed forces (2000)
SOURCE: calculated on the basis of data on armed forces from IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies). 2001. The Military Balance 2001-2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Army personnel	479,400		[6th of 49]
SOURCE: IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies). 2001. The Military Balance 2001-2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Branches US Army, US Navy (includes Marine Corps), US Air Force, US Coast Guard; note - Coast Guard administered in peacetime by the Department of Homeland Security, but in wartime reports to the Department of the Navy
DEFINITION: The names of the ground, naval, air, marine, and other defense or security forces
SOURCE: Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy
Conscription No conscription.
DEFINITION: A description of the status of conscription in the nation in 1997.
SOURCE: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Conventional arms exports	$5,453,000,000.00		[2nd of 40]
DEFINITION: Conventional arms transfers (1990 prices) - Exports (US$ millions) Refers to the voluntary transfer by the supplier (and thus excludes captured weapons and weapons obtained through defectors) of weapons with a military purpose destined for the armed forces, paramilitary forces or intelligence agencies of another country. These include major conventional weapons or systems in six categories: ships, aircraft, missiles, artillery, armoured vehicles and guidance and radar systems (excluded are trucks, services, ammunition, small arms, support items, components and component technology and towed or naval artillery under 100-millimetre calibre).
SOURCE: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997. Data collected from the nations concerned, unless otherwise indicated. Acronyms: Amnesty International (AI); European Council of Conscripts Organizations (ECCO); Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC); International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHFHR); National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors (NISBCO); Service, Peace and Justice in Latin America (SERPAJ); War Resisters International (WRI); World Council of Churches (WCC)
Conventional arms imports	$533,000,000.00		[8th of 85]
DEFINITION: Conventional arms transfers (1990 prices) - Imports (US$ millions) Refers to the voluntary transfer by the supplier (and thus excludes captured weapons and weapons obtained through defectors) of weapons with a military purpose destined for the armed forces, paramilitary forces or intelligence agencies of another country. These include major conventional weapons or systems in six categories: ships, aircraft, missiles, artillery, armoured vehicles and guidance and radar systems (excluded are trucks, services, ammunition, small arms, support items, components and component technology and towed or naval artillery under 100-millimetre calibre).
SOURCE: SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). 2005. SIPRI Arms Transfers. Database. February. Stockholm.
expenditure > % of GDP	4.08 %		[11th of 145]
DEFINITION: Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.)		View time series
SOURCE: SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). 2005. SIPRI Arms Transfers. Database. February. Stockholm.
Forces in Europe > Aircraft	235		[10th of 24]
DEFINITION: Conventional armed forces in Europe. SIPRI Yearbooks 1991-2003. Conventional arms control. Last update: July 2004
SOURCE: World Development Indicators database
Forces in Europe > Battle Tanks	684		[14th of 24]
DEFINITION: Conventional armed forces in Europe. SIPRI Yearbooks 1991-2003. Conventional arms control. Last update: July 2006
SOURCE: Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE): A Review and Update of Key Treaty Elements (US Department of State: Washington, DC, Jan. 2002). Joint Consultative Group (JCG), Group on Treaty Operation and Implementation, JCG document JCG.TOI/22/03, 23 June 2003
Gulf War Coalition Forces	697,000		[1st of 30]
DEFINITION: Number of troops who served on active duty in the Gulf War theater of operations between August 2, 1990, and June 13, 1991.
SOURCE: Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE): A Review and Update of Key Treaty Elements (US Department of State: Washington, DC, Jan. 2002). Joint Consultative Group (JCG), Group on Treaty Operation and Implementation, JCG document JCG.TOI/22/03, 23 June 2003
Iraq coalition forces > Troop strength	133,000		[1st of 10]
DEFINITION: Number of coalition forces in Iraq. Earliest confirmed date of troop strength is Georgia, as of September 10, 2005. Latest confirmed date of troop strength is Denmark, as of March 23, 2006. NOTE: There are no reliable estimates on number of other coalition forces in Iraq, by country. An additional 1,850 troops are from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Ukraine. Fiji is participating as part of the UN mission in Iraq. U.S. troop strength includes active and reserve and are as of March 2006.
SOURCE: "Gulf War Veterans: Measuring Health" by Lyla M. Hernandez, Jane S. Durch, Dan G. Blazer II, and Isabel V. Hoverman, Editors; Committee on Measuring the Health of Gulf War Veterans, Institute of Medicine. Published by The National Academies Press 1999
Military Capabilities > Defense Budget	$518,100,000,000.00		[1st of 10]
SOURCE: US Department of Defense. The Brookings Institution Iraq Index, April 24, 2006.
Navy personnel	380,600		[1st of 49]
SOURCE: Wikipedia: Military Capabilities
personnel	1,546,000		[3rd of 170]
DEFINITION: Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.		View time series
SOURCE: Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy
Tanks	16,000 tanks		[2nd of 22]
DEFINITION: Approximate number of tanks.
SOURCE: World Development Indicators database
US deployment	65%
DEFINITION: The approximate share of US troops deployed to particular locations during peacetime. US figure includes 2% in Hawaii and 1% in Alaska.
SOURCE: Dr T.R. O'Connor, (05/15/04)
Weapon holdings	38,538,000		[1st of 137]
SOURCE: Dr T.R. O'Connor, (05/15/04)
WMD > Nuclear As one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the United States maintains a sizeable arsenal of nuclear weapons, including approximately 10,350 intact warheads, 5300 of which are considered active or operational. Approximately 4,530 strategic warheads are operational, 1,150 of which are deployed on land-based missile systems (Minuteman and Peacekeeper ICBMs), 1,050 on bombers (B-52 and B-2), and 2,016 on submarines (Ohio-class subs). 780 are tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs), and consist of an estimated 200 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles (TLAM/N), and 580 B61 bombs. The remaining warheads are stockpiled. The only remaining U.S. weapons in forward deployment, aside from those on SSBNs, are approximately 480 of the 580 operational B61 bombs, located at eight bases in six European NATO countries. According to the May 2002 Treaty of Moscow (the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, or SORT) between the United States and the Russian Federation, both countries are required to reduce their strategic nuclear arsenals to 1,700-2,200 operationally deployed warheads by 2012. In June 2004, the US Department of Energy announced that "almost half" of these warheads would be retired for dismantlement by 2012. This statement suggests that the total stockpile of 10,350 warheards would be reduced to about 6,000 by this date. Over 5,000 warheads have been removed from deployment by the United States and placed in a "responsive reserve force" (active but not deployed or in overhaul). These "spares," or warheads on inactive status, have not been dismantled, in keeping with past practice under previous U.S. arms control agreements. The Bush administration has rejected U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, but calls for a continued moratorium on nuclear testing. The NPR calls for a reduction in the amount of time needed (now 18 months as mandated by Congress, but this could be reduced to as little as 12 months) to test a nuclear weapon, suggesting that the United States might decide to resume nuclear testing, although Bush administration officials deny that this is currently planned and explain the shortening of test-site readiness time as a logical extension of the U.S. decision to maintain a testing option. The NPR also calls for discussion on possible development of new, low-yield, bunker-busting TNW. A law barring research and development that could lead to the production by the United States of a new low-yield "bunker buster" nuclear weapon (warheads with a yield of 5 kilotons or less) was passed by Congress in 1994. In its FY2004 budget request, however, the Department of Defense requested a repeal of the 1994 law, suggesting that the U.S. government intends to proceed with development of new nuclear weapons. The repeal was approved by the Senate on 20 May 2003. The Bush administration has requested an additional $8.5 million in its 2006 budget in order to continue research of nuclear "bunker busters" under the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) Project. Congress rejected RNEP funding and resources for the Advanced Concepts Initiative, one that would develop mini-nukes or exotic designs, completely for FY2005. Weapons laboratories under the Department of Energy began research on the RNEP Project in 2003, and the study is expected to be complete in 2006. The United States used nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, making it the only country that has ever used nuclear weapons during a conflict. It ratified the NPT in March 1970.
DEFINITION: A description of the nation's situation with regards to the possession and manufacture of nuclear weapons
SOURCE: Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC)

Interesting facts on American Military

• The United States spends more money on its military than the next 12 nations combined.
• In the 1990's, nearly half of all arms exported to developing countries came from the United States of America.

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