List of the lengths of United States Participation in wars - wikipedia List of the lengths of United States Participation in wars Contents 1 Lengths of U.S. combat forces ' participation in wars 2 Notes 3 See also 4 References 5 Bibliography 6 External links Lengths of U.S. Combat forces ' Participation in wars War in the context of this list broadly construed to be armed conflict between organized U.S. military forces and organized forces of ( a ) belligerent ( s ). War Dates Duration Duration ( graphical representation ) 1. War in Afghanistan 2001 / 10 -- present 16 years ( 15 years, 11 months ) 2. Moro Rebellion 1899 -- 1913 14 years 3. Northwest Indian War 1785 -- 1795 10 years 4. Iraq War 2003 / 03 -- 2011 / 12 8.8 years ( 8 years, 9 months ) 5. American Revolutionary War 1775 / 04 -- 1783 / 09 8.4 years ( 8 years, 5 months ) 6. Vietnam War 1965 / 03 -- 1973 / 04 8.1 years ( 8 years, 1 month ) 7. Second Seminole War 1835 / 12 -- 1842 / 08 6.7 years ( 6 years, 7 months ) 8. First Barbary War 1801 / 05 -- 1805 / 06 4.1 years ( 4 years, 1 month ) 9. American Civil War 1861 / 04 -- 1865 / 04 4 years 10. World War II 1941 / 12 -- 1945 / 08 3.7 years ( 3 years, 8 months ) 11. War on ISIL 2014 / 06 -- present 3.3 years ( 3 years, 3 months ) 12. Korean War 1950 / 06 -- 1953 / 07 3.1 years ( 3 years, 1 month ) 13. War of 1812 1812 / 06 -- 1814 / 12 2.5 years ( 2 years, 6 months ) 14. Red Cloud 's War 1866 / 07 -- 1868 / 04 1.8 years ( 1 year, 9 months ) 15. Mexican - American War 1846 / 04 -- 1848 / 02 1.8 years ( 1 year, 9 months ) 16. World War I 1917 / 04 -- 1918 / 11 1.6 years ( 1 year, 7 months ) 17. Great Sioux War of 1876 1876 / 02 -- 1877 / 05 1.2 years ( 1 year, 3 months ) 18. Persian Gulf War 1990 / 08 -- 1991 / 02 0.5 years ( 7 months ) 19. Whiskey Rebellion 1794 / 05 -- 1794 / 10 0.4 years ( 5 months ) 20. Spanish -- American War 1898 / 04 -- 1898 / 08 0.3 years ( 114 days ) 21. Kosovo War 1999 / 03 -- 1999 / 06 0.2 years ( 79 days ) 22. Invasion of Panama 1989 / 12 -- 1990 / 01 0.1 years ( 42 days ) ( Ongoing wars indicated in bold and with orange bars. ) Sources are found in the main articles of each war, as well as the Associated Press. Notes Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution gives the United States Congress the power to declare War. Historically wars have been either declared as `` Formal '' wars or authorized as `` Authorized military engagements ''. In 1973 Congress further clarified their role in authorized armed conflict with the passing of the War Powers Resolution. The dates used by the Associated Press for official U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War are August 1964 ( the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution ) to January 1973 ( the Paris Peace Accords ), although U.S. military activities and intervention in Vietnam spanned from 1955 to 1975. While the first US Combat Troops arrived in South Vietnam in 1965, by the end of 1964 over 23,000 American military personal were already present. For the Philippine -- American War, not included by the Associated Press in their tally above, official start and end dates used by some sources are June 2, 1899 -- July 4, 1902, ( three years and one month, ) although resistance groups continued fighting until June 15, 1913. The start date used by the Associated Press for U.S. engagement in the Persian Gulf War is January 17, 1991 ( the start of its extensive aerial bombing campaign under the offensive known as Operation Desert Storm. ) U.S. President Barack Obama pledged in 2009 and 2010 that the U.S. war in Iraq would end by the end of 2011 when all remaining U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Iraq. Then, in the Spring of 2011, Secretary of Defense Gates, went to Iraq, pleading with the government of Iraq, to let U.S. Forces remain past the 2011 deadline. The start date of March 24, 1999 is the date used by PBS Frontline as the beginning of the Kosovo air war. The ending date of June 20, 1999 is the date NATO 's bombing campaign formally ended. Although the war itself ended in 1999, some US forces took part in peacekeeping and associated duties thereafter. See also United States military deployments Foreign policy of the United States United States Department of Defense Declaration of war by the United States Military history of the United States Overseas interventions of the United States United States Armed Forces United States casualties of war References Jump up ^ Knefel, John ( 7 January 2015 ). `` Drone Rules in Afghanistan Go Unchanged, And Other Reasons the War Is n't Really Over ''. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 May 2015. Jump up ^ Sennott, Charles M. ( 5 May 2015 ). `` The First Battle of the 21st Century ''. The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 May 2015. Even after 14 years of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. military has not fully succeeded in restoring security to the country or defeating the Taliban. Now, at the request of the new Afghan government, the United States has delayed the completion of its troop withdrawal from the country until 2016 at the earliest. Jump up ^ US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,452 Wednesday, according to Associated Press count Jump up ^ US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,452 Jump up ^ Dan Simpson Why ca n't we stop our wars ? Jump up ^ Robert Gates ' Pentagon Legacy : Unfinished Wars, Unfinished Budget Reform Jump up ^ Obama May Face Tough Decision as Iraqi Leader Signals U.S. Troops Could Stay Jump up ^ Pentagon rethinks Iraq pull - out plans Jump up ^ Iraq Withdrawal Date For U.S. Troops May Be Pushed Back Beyond 2011 Jump up ^ DoD 1998 Jump up ^ Lawrence 2009, p. 20 Jump up ^ ( ( refn group = lower - alpha Direct U.S. involvement ended in 1973 with the Paris Peace Accords. Jump up ^ http://www.swords-to-plowshares.org/2012/08/03/our-longest-u-s-war-medical-treatments-for-gulf-war-illness-remain-elusive/ Jump up ^ ( 33 ) The term `` Persian Gulf War '' means the period beginning on August 2, 1990, and ending on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential proclamation or by law. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/101 ^ Jump up to : PBS Frontline, A Kosovo Chronology Jump up ^ `` U.S. Participation in Major Wars ''. Fox News. Associated Press. 25 November 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2017. Jump up ^ Declaration of war by the United States Jump up ^ War Powers Resolution Jump up ^ Herring, George C. : America 's Longest War, p. 18. Jump up ^ Zinn, A People 's History of the United States, p. 471. Jump up ^ Kolko, Gabriel Anatomy of War, pages 457, 461 ff., ISBN 1 - 898876 - 67 - 3 Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Delmendo 2004, p. 47. Jump up ^ Constantino 1975 Jump up ^ Agoncillo 1990, p. 247 Jump up ^ Iraq war is ending, with last troops out in 2011 : Obama Jump up ^ 1991 : ' Mother of all Battles ' begins Jump up ^ Obama : Iraq war to end in 2011 Jump up ^ Obama tells veterans that end of Iraq war is about to begin Jump up ^ Obama : ' The war is ending, ' fulfilling campaign pledge Jump up ^ Obama Declares an End to Combat Mission in Iraq Jump up ^ US in Final Phase of Iraq War Jump up ^ Obama envoy secretly offered troops in Iraq after 2011 Jump up ^ Kosovo Campaign Medal Bibliography U.S. Department of Defense ( DoD ) ( 6 November 1998 ). `` Name of Technical Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon to be added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial ''. DoD. Lawrence, A.T. ( 2009 ). Crucible Vietnam : Memoir of an Infantry Lieutenant. Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland. ISBN 978 - 0 - 786 - 44517 - 2. External links Associated Press tally of lengths of U.S. participation in major wars Armed conflicts involving the United States Armed Forces listed chronologically Domestic Shays ' Rebellion Whiskey Rebellion Fries 's Rebellion Mormon War Dorr Rebellion Bleeding Kansas Utah War Civil War Indian Wars Brooks -- Baxter War Range War Lincoln County War Johnson County War Coal Creek War Homestead Strike Battle of Blair Mountain Bonus Army Battle of Athens Foreign Revolutionary War Quasi-War First Barbary War War of 1812 Second Barbary War First Sumatran expedition Second Sumatran expedition Ivory Coast Expedition Mexican -- American War First Fiji Expedition Second Opium War Second Fiji Expedition Formosa Expedition Korean Expedition Spanish -- American War Philippine -- American War Boxer Rebellion Banana Wars Border War World War I Russian Civil War World War II Korean War Vietnam War Invasion of the Dominican Republic Invasion of Grenada Lebanese Civil War Invasion of Panama Gulf War Somali Civil War Bosnian War Kosovo War Afghanistan War Iraq War War in North - West Pakistan Libyan Civil War Intervention against ISIL Iraq Syria Cameroon Libya Related articles List of conflicts in the U.S. List of wars involving the U.S. Timeline of U.S. military operations Length of U.S. participation in major wars Overseas expansion Military history Covert regime - change actions Casualties of war Peace movement List of anti-war organizations Conscientious objector United States Armed Forces Book Portal MC AF CG Category MC AF CG PHS NOAA Navbox MC AF CG Leadership Commander - in - chief : President of the United States Secretary of Defense Deputy Secretary of Defense Secretary of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Joint Chiefs of Staff : Chairman Vice Chairman United States Congress : Committees on Armed Services : Senate House Active duty four - star officers Highest ranking officers in history National Security Act of 1947 Goldwater -- Nichols Act Organization Service departments Department of Defense ( Secretary ) : Army ( Secretary ) Navy ( Secretary ) Air Force ( Secretary ) Department of Homeland Security ( Secretary ) : Coast Guard Branches Army ( Chief of Staff ) Marine Corps ( Commandant ) Navy ( Chief of Naval Operations ) Air Force ( Chief of Staff ) Coast Guard ( Commandant ) Reserve components Reserves : A MC N AF CG National Guard : A AF Civilian auxiliaries Military Auxiliary Radio System Merchant Marine Civil Air Patrol Coast Guard Auxiliary Unified Combatant Command Northern Central European Pacific Southern Africa Special Operations Strategic Transportation Structure United States Code Title 10 Title 14 Title 32 Title 50 The Pentagon Installations Units : A MC N AF CG Logistics Media Unit mottoes Operations and history Current deployments Conflicts Wars Timeline History : A MC N AF CG Colonial World War II Civil affairs African Americans Asian Americans Buddhist Americans Jewish Americans Muslim Americans Pakistani Americans Sikh Americans Historiography : A : 1 / 2 MC N AF Art : A AF Personnel Training MEPS ASVAB Recruit training : A MC N AF CG Officer candidate school : A MC N AF Warrant : A MC Service academies : A ( prep ) N ( prep ) AF ( prep ) CG Merchant Marine ROTC A : ECP MC / N AF Medical Other education Uniforms Uniforms : A MC N AF CG Awards & decorations : Inter-service A MC / N AF CG PHS NOAA Foreign International Devices Badges : Identification A MC N AF CG Ranks Enlisted : A MC N AF CG Warrant officers Officer : A MC N AF CG PHS NOAA Other Oath : Enlistment Office Creeds & Codes : Code of Conduct NCO A MC N AF CG Service numbers : A MC N AF CG Military Occupational Specialty / Rating / Air Force Specialty Code Pay Uniform Code of Military Justice Judge Advocate General 's Corps Military Health System / TRICARE Separation Veterans Affairs Conscription Chiefs of Chaplains : A MC N AF CG Equipment MC : vehicles weapons other AF CG Land Individual weapons Crew - 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Question: what was the longest war in the us
Answer: War in Afghanistan