The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States of America. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), both federal executive departments, acting as the principal organs by which military policy is carried out. All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States.
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the leader and chief executive officer of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces. The secretary of defense's position of command and authority over the military is second only to that of the president of the United States, who is the commander-in-chief. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a defense minister in many other countries. The secretary of defense is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is by custom a member of the Cabinet and by law a member of the National Security Council.
General Joseph Wood Ralston is currently the United States Special Envoy for countering the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and holds senior positions in various defense related corporations. He was previously a career officer in the United States Air Force, and served as the fourth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1996–2000) as well as Supreme Allied Commander for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Europe (2000–2003).
United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic deterrence, global strike, and operating the Defense Department's Global Information Grid. It also provides a host of capabilities to support the other combatant commands, including integrated missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR). This command exists to give national leadership a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly.
Bennie Luke Davis was a United States Air Force general who served as the commander-in-chief of Strategic Air Command, and as the director of Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff, with its headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The command was the major American nuclear deterrent force with bombers, tankers, reconnaissance aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff coordinated United States nuclear war plans and develops the Single Integrated Operational Plan.
The United States Department of Defense is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces. The DOD is the largest employer in the world, with over 1.4 million active-duty service members as of 2021. More employees include over 826,000 National Guard and reservists from the armed forces, and over 732,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.8 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the DoD's stated mission is to provide "the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security".
The structure of the United States Army is complex, and can be interpreted in several different ways: active/reserve, operational/administrative, and branches/functional areas.
Ramón Colón-López is a United States Air Force pararescueman. In 2007 he was the only Hispanic American among the first six airmen to be awarded the newly created Air Force Combat Action Medal. He served as the Senior Enlisted Leader of United States Africa Command from September 2016 to November 2019, and was selected as the 4th Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman on December 13, 2019.
John William "Jay" Raymond is a United States Space Force general serving as its first chief of space operations. He previously concurrently served as the commander of United States Space Command, a position he held from August 29, 2019, to August 20, 2020. As the Space Force's highest-ranking officer, he currently oversees its organizational stand-up and the transfer of officers and enlisted personnel into the newest service branch.
Nina Marion Armagno is a United States Space Force lieutenant general, serving as the director of staff of the United States Space Force. She is the service's first female general officer and the only officer to have commanded both the 30th Space Wing and the 45th Space Wing. Before transferring to the Space Force, she was a major general in the United States Air Force, where she served for over 32 years.
Herman Stacy Clardy III is a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general and the current commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force. He previously served as the military deputy for the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, and before that as the J8 Deputy Director for Force Management, Application and Support on the Joint Staff. He was the 39th commander of the base in Twentynine Palms.
Paul Joseph Selva is a retired United States Air Force general who served as the tenth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, he was the nation's second-highest-ranking military officer, and the highest-ranking officer in the Air Force. He assumed his last assignment on July 31, 2015, and retired on August 1, 2019. Selva is a command pilot with more than 3,100 hours in the C-5, C-17A, C-141B, C-37, KC-10, KC-135A and T-37.
David N. Miller Jr. is a United States Space Force major general who serves as the director of operations, training, and force development of the United States Space Command. Previously, he was as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber and Nuclear and, prior to that, the senior military assistant to the United States Secretary of the Air Force. In April 2021, Miller was nominated for transfer to the United States Space Force and promotion to major general.
Lance K. Landrum is an active duty United States Air Force lieutenant general who serves as the 23rd Deputy Chair of the NATO Military Committee since October 11, 2021. He most recently served as a special assistant to the commander of the United States European Command and prior to that served as the Director of Operations (J3) for United States European Command from July 2020 to July 2021.
This is a list of all commanders, deputy commanders, senior enlisted leaders, and chiefs of staff of the United States Northern Command.
This is a list of all commanders, deputy commanders, senior enlisted leaders, and chiefs of staff of the United States Space Command.
Jeffrey W. Burkett is a United States Air Force major general who serves as the deputy director of the Joint Force Development and Design Center of the Joint Staff. Previously, he was the vice director of domestic operations of the National Guard Bureau.
Patrick J. Cobb is a United States Air Force major general who has served as the Air National Guard Assistant to the Commander of the Space Operations Command since July 2021. Previously, he was the Special Assistant for Space to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau from April to July 2021. He was nominated for promotion to major general on November 18, 2020.
Gregory T. White is a United States Air Force major general who has served as the Director of Space Operations of the National Guard Bureau since January 2020. Previously, he was the Air National Guard Assistant to the Director of Operations and Communications of the Air Force Space Command from August 2018 to January 2020.
Steven Scott Nordhaus is a United States Air Force major general who has served as the Director of Operations of the National Guard Bureau since November 2019. Previously, he was the Commander of the Air National Guard Readiness Center from February 2017 to November 2019.
