United States Army

The **United States Army** (**USA**) is the second largest branch of the United States Armed Forces and performs land-based military operations. It is one of several uniformed services of the United States and is designated as the Army of the United States according to the United States Constitution.

As the oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed (14 June 1775) to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States of America was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself descended from the Continental Army, and dates its institutional inception from the origin of that armed force in 1775.

## **History**

### **Continental** **Origins**

1775 - 1791

The Continental Army was created on 14 June 1775 by the Continental Congress as a unified army for the colonies to fight Great Britain, with George Washington appointed as its commander. The army was initially led by men who had served in the British Army or colonial militias and who brought much of British military heritage with them. As the Revolutionary War progressed, French aid, resources and military thinking influenced the new army. A number of European soldiers came on their own to help, such as Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, who taught Prussian Army tactics and organizational skills.

The army fought numerous pitched battles and in the South in 1780–1781, sometimes used the Fabian strategy and hit-and-run tactics, hitting where the British were weakest to wear down their forces. Washington led victories against the British at Trenton and Princeton, but lost a series of battles in the New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776 and the Philadelphia campaign in 1777. With a decisive victory at Yorktown and the help of the French, the Continental Army prevailed against the British.

After the war, the Continental Army was quickly given land certificates and disbanded in a reflection of the republican distrust of standing armies. State militias became the new nation's sole ground army, with the exception of a regiment to guard the Western Frontier and one battery of artillery guarding West Point's arsenal. However, because of continuing conflict with Native Americans, it was soon realized that it was necessary to field a trained standing army. The Regular Army was at first very small and after General St. Clair's defeat at the Battle of the Wabash, the Regular Army was reorganized as the Legion of the United States, which was established in 1791 and renamed the United States Army in 1796.

#### **Post-Revolution**

The War of 1812, the second and last war between the United States and Great Britain, had mixed results. The U.S. Army did not conquer Canada but it did destroy Native American resistance to expansion in the Old Northwest and it validated its independence by stopping two major British invasions in 1814 and 1815. After taking control of Lake Erie in 1813, the U.S. Army seized parts of western Upper Canada, burned York and defeated Tecumseh, which caused his Western Confederacy to collapse. Following U.S.victories in the Canadian province of Upper Canada, British troops who had dubbed the U.S. Army "Regulars, by God!", were able to capture and burn Washington, which was defended by militia, in 1814. The regular army, however proved they were professional and capable of defeating the British army during the invasions of Plattsburgh and Baltimore, prompting British agreement on the previously rejected terms of a status quo ante bellum. Two weeks after a treaty was signed (but not ratified), Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans and Siege of Fort St. Philip, and became a national hero. U.S. troops and sailors captured HMS Cyane, Levant and Penguin in the final engagements of the war. Per the treaty, both sides (the United States and Great Britain) returned to the geographical status quo. Both navies kept the warships they had seized during the conflict.

The army's major campaign against the Indians was fought in Florida against Seminoles. It took long wars (1818–1858) to finally defeat the Seminoles and move them to Oklahoma. The usual strategy in Indian wars was to seize control of the Indians' winter food supply, but that was no use in Florida where there was no winter. The second strategy was to form alliances with other Indian tribes, but that too was useless because the Seminoles had destroyed all the other Indians when they entered Florida in the late eighteenth century.

The U.S. Army fought and won the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), which was a defining event for both countries. The U.S. victory resulted in acquisition of territory that eventually became all or parts of the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming and New Mexico.

#### **First** **Industrial Conflicts**

The American Civil War was the costliest war for the U.S. in terms of casualties. After most slave states, located in the southern U.S., formed the Confederate States, the Confederate States Army, led by former U.S. Army officers, mobilized a large fraction of Southern white manpower. Forces of the United States (the "Union" or "the North") formed the Union Army, consisting of a small body of regular army units and a large body of volunteer units raised from every state, north and south, except South Carolina.

For the first two years Confederate forces did well in set battles but lost control of the border states. The Confederates had the advantage of defending a large territory in an area where disease caused twice as many deaths as combat. The Union pursued a strategy of seizing the coastline, blockading the ports, and taking control of the river systems. The Confederacy surrendered in 1865, ending the American Civil War. The war remains the deadliest conflict that was fought mainly on American soil, resulting in the deaths of 620,000 soldiers.

Following the Civil War, the U.S. Army had the mission of containing western tribes of Native Americans on the Indian reservations. They set up many forts, and engaged in the last of the American Indian Wars. U.S. Army troops also occupied several Southern states during the Reconstruction Era to protect freedmen.

The key battles of the Spanish–American War of 1898 were fought by the Navy. Using mostly new volunteers, the U.S. Army defeated Spain in land campaigns in Cuba and played the central role in the Philippine–American War.

#### **The Early World Wars**

The United States joined World War I in 1917 on the side of Britain, France, Russia, Italy and other allies. U.S. troops were sent to the Western Front and were involved in the last offensives that ended the war. With the armistice in November 1918, the army once again decreased its forces.

The United States joined World War II in December 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On the European front, U.S. Army troops formed a significant portion of the forces that captured North Africa and Sicily and later fought in Italy. On D-Day 6 June 1944 and in the subsequent liberation of Europe and defeat of Nazi Germany, millions of U.S. Army troops played a central role. In the Pacific War, U.S. Army soldiers participated alongside the United States Marine Corps in capturing the Pacific Islands from Japanese control. Following the Axis surrenders in May (Germany) and August (Japan) of 1945, army troops were deployed to Japan and Germany to occupy the two defeated nations. Two years after World War II, the Army Air Forces separated from the army to become the United States Air Force in September 1947. In 1948, the army was desegregated by order of President Harry S. Truman.

#### **(First)** **Cold War**

The end of World War II set the stage for the East-West confrontation known as the Cold War. With the outbreak of the Korean War, concerns over the defense of Western Europe rose. Two corps, V and VII, were reactivated under Seventh United States Army in 1950 and American strength in Europe rose from one division to four. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops remained stationed in West Germany, with others in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, until the 1990s in anticipation of a possible Soviet attack.

During the Cold War, American troops and their allies fought Communist forces in Korea and Vietnam (see Domino Theory). The Korean War began in 1950, when the Soviets walked out of a U.N. Security Council meeting, removing their possible veto. Under a United Nations umbrella, hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops fought to prevent the takeover of South Korea by North Korea, and later, to invade the northern nation. After repeated advances and retreats by both sides, and the PRC People's Volunteer Army entry into the war, the Korean Armistice Agreement ended the war and returned the peninsula to the status quo in 1953.

A "Total Force Policy" was adopted by Chief of Staff of the Army General Creighton Abrams in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and involved treating the three components of the Army – the Regular Army, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve as a single force.

Training and Doctrine Command was established as a major U.S. Army command on 1 July 1973. The 1980s was mostly a decade of reorganization. The Army converted to an all-volunteer force with greater emphasis on training and technology. The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 created Unified Combatant Commands bringing the Army together with the other three military branches under unified, geographically organized command structures. The Army also played a role in the invasions of Grenada in 1983 (Operation Urgent Fury) and Panama in 1989 (Operation Just Cause).

By 1989 Germany was nearing reunification and the Cold War was coming to a close. The Army leadership reacted by starting to plan for a reduction in strength. By November 1989 Pentagon briefers were laying out plans for 'Operation Quicksilver,' a plan to reduce Army end-strength by 23%, from 750,000 to 580,000. A number of incentives such as early retirement were used.

#### **Post Cold War**

In 1990 Iraq invaded its smaller neighbor, Kuwait, and U.S. land forces, led by the 82nd Airborne Division, quickly deployed to assure the protection of Saudi Arabia. In January 1991 Operation Desert Storm commenced, a U.S.-led coalition which deployed over 500,000 troops, the bulk of them from U.S. Army formations, to drive out Iraqi forces. The campaign ended in a victory for the Army, as Western coalition forces routed the Iraqi Army, organized along Soviet lines, in just one hundred hours.

In the early 21st century, the United States army was extended across the globe with military bases in almost every continent. Most military operations conducted before World War III was usually foreign interventions and combating terrorist organizations. The United States was the main participant in the Little Cold War. The most radical shift in US Policy in this region was with Iran, whose alliance, formed after years of negotiations and the war with the Islamic State enabled the US to withdraw all combat troops in Afghanistan and Iraq (save for Balad Air Base) creating a new balance of power. Israel remained an ally of the United States but was officially neutral.

#### **Flood Era**

NATO and UN forces make incursions into the former Russian Federation to secure nuclear stockpiles from breakaway republics and rogue generals. Some states such as Buryatia and Tuva voluntarily hand over their stockpiles, while Primorye, the Ural Republic, Samara, and the future Russian Republic refuse to surrender their weapons. For the next 15 years, international forces engage in a series of small wars to secure former Russian nuclear weapons. Poland and Turkey divide their respective sphere's of influence in Russia through the Treaty of Odessa. Indirectly leading up to World War III.

World War III was a global war that lasted from 2051 to 2055, though some related conflicts in Asia began before 2051. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Alliance and the Coalition. It was the most widespread war of the century, involving over 5 million people across the planet. Unlike the two previous World Wars, World War III was not a "total war," but rather a precision war. Marked with few civilian casualties, the destruction of only critical infrastructure points, hypersonic precision strikes of enemy military assets, all under the threat of nuclear retaliation for any action that went to far, it only resulted in an estimated 110,000 fatalities. These made World War III the deadliest conflict of the 21st Century, but was relatively bloodless compared to the previous World Wars.

#### **Post-WWIII**

World War III altered the political alignment and social structure of the world. The great powers that were the victors of the war—the United States, Poland, China, the United Kingdom, and India all formed alliance systems that directly cooperated with the United States. The US remained the world's dominant power, while the sphere's of Turkey and Japan were curtailed.

 In 2064, conflict erupts between Canada, Quebec, and the First Nations. The United States intervenes in the Canadian Civil War and deploys forces to prevent the spread of the conflict from hurt American interests. In 2067, the Canadian Civil War ends with a ceasefire. Canada is occupied by the United States. Six years later, the Union Act is passed, formally annexing the British Isles, Canada, the former First Nations, Australia, and New Zealand into the United States.

#### **Mex-American Conflicts**

In 2089, Mexico formally annexes its Central American allies with minimal resistance. Many of the former expatriates refuse to relocate, out of the desire to return to their adoptive country. The United States deploys several Battle Groups to the Panama coast to prevent Mexican takeover of the Canal zone. War breaks out in 2090 after Pro-US Panamanians fire on a Mexican division stationed at DMZ, drawing Mexico to invade Panama to support their claim to the region. Mexico deploys troops to Columbia to counter the US assault from Ecuador. With the exception of Brazil and Ecuador, all of South America has declared for Mexico. The US deploys Space Marines to Argentina and Chile to split Mexico's forces from Ecuador and Panama. The conflict ends in a ceasefire in 2092.

10 years later in 2102, the Second Vietnam War began with the invasion of Vietnam by the United States-led coalition to restore the democratically elected government of Nguyen Tan Luong. The conflict continued until the 2106 Taipei Peace Talks divided the country and declared a ceasefire, though the conflict was technically still ongoing until the Third Mexican-American War ended. Soon after, the United Federation of China collapses in 2117 when separatist groups can no longer be held back as discontent in the Chinese military leads to a coup in Beijing. US military forces in Shanghai are deployed to restore order and put down the coup, propping up a Han Chinese state and occupying the Wu speaking region of the Yangtze delta.

Mex-American proxy wars in East Africa end after both powers deploy troops to secure critical interests. Stability comes, but many countries are broken into American and Mexican client states. Brazil begins meeting in secret with the US to discuss a united front against Mexico. Facing the possibility of a US-Brazil Entente, Mexico and its allies stage a massive invasion of Brazil after engineering a series of riots in the capital. A neutral puppet government is established, while Mexico's allies annex neighboring territory and establish satellite states in southern Brazil. Afterwards, Poland sends diplomats to Mexico City to discuss an alliance against the US.

Six Southwestern States secede from the Union to form the United States of Aztlan. The conflict is centered around the status of America's Hispanic-majority population along the US-Mexican border. After the US recaptures Texas and California, bringing the rebel states back into the Union, Mexico detonates its nuclear arsenal along the DMZ to clear a path to invade the American Southwest, beginning the Third Mexican-American War.  Poland Invades Denmark to secure a rout to the Atlantic, while Bavaria invades Saxony to secure an overland rout. Tactical nuclear weapons are used by Poland and Russia when American forces use orbital weapons against Polish forces in former Germany. Operation Starlight began at the Battle of Washington, which proves to be a turning point in the war as Mexico is defeated with the help of the newly admitted colonial states. Poland finds itself fighting a two front war and Mexico is pushed back to their territory with the help of Colonial reinforcements.

Mexico surrenders after President Jaso is killed by his own Secretary of Defense. The Third Mexican-American War ends. Fallout from the Mexico campaign leaves the Earth in a nuclear winter. Mexico and its sphere come under the Quantum Economic Model, the US agrees to oversee reconstruction efforts. With no clear end in sight for the occupation of South America, and significant population displacement, the US Congress formally annexes all but Brazil in Latin America, and begins a slow transition to statehood. In the meantime, US army forces were mostly used to maintain occupied territories in Latin America and the rest of the world to help assist the newly established Free Associations.

#### **Post-War**

In 2149 O'Neil Ship, *Eternal Spring*, attempts to secede from the Union and bombard the Earth while passing by the planet. US army forces on Earth prepared measures to defend the planet against the bombardment on the ground. However, the different branches of the United States Space Forces and Planetary Guards managed to recapture the station and the rebels were arrested.

Today, the US Army is now one of the largest of the three branches of the military, and most of which are stationed abroad. They primarily charged with patrolling and assisting US allies and protectorates. There is a recorded 5.3 million active soldiers still under deployment today, with increasing reliance on robotic technology to fill in gaps of manpower.

## General of the Army

As the logistics and military leadership requirements of World War II escalated after the June 1944 Normandy Landings, the United States government created a new version of General of the Army. The five-star rank and authority of General of the Army and equivalent naval fleet admiral was created by an Act of Congress on a temporary basis. It was created to give the most senior American commanders parity of rank with their British counterparts holding the ranks of field marshal and admiral of the fleet. This second General of the Army rank is not the same as the post-Civil War era version because of its purpose and five stars.

The insignia for General of the Army, created in 1944, consists of five stars in a pentagonal pattern, with points touching. Officers who held a previous version of the rank wore four stars rather than five, making the General of the Army pre-WW2 a different version. However, 3 Generals who previously held the rank before 1944 were posthumously renewed and bestowed upon. Throughout history, only twelve officers were promoted to 'General of the Army', they are:

* George Marshall (December 16, 1944)
* Douglas MacArthur (December 18, 1944)
* Dwight D. Eisenhower (December 20, 1944)
* Henry H. Arnold (December 21, 1944)
* Omar Bradley (September 22, 1950)
* Sam Hodman (July 16, 2054)
* Ulysses S. Grant (April 12, 2061) (Posthumous)
* William Sherman (April 12, 2061) (Posthumous)
* Philip Sheridan (April 12, 2061) (Posthumous)
* Rosetta M. Faust (October 21, 2137)
* Ike E.J. Einarsdottir (October 23, 2137)
* Kyle J. Hotchkiss (March 17, 2140)

### **General of the Armies**

The General of the Armies of the United States, or more commonly referred to as General of the Armies (abbreviated as GAS), is the highest possible rank in the United States Army. The rank is informally equated to that of a six-star general and is currently the highest possible operational rank of the United States Armed Forces.

The rank has been held only three times in history, most of which are posthumous. The rank of General of the Armies is senior to General of the Army, General of the Air Force, and Fleet Admiral.

* John J. Pershing (September 3, 1919)
* George Washington (July 4, 1976 or March 13, 1978) (Posthumous)
* Douglas MacArthur (April 5, 2064) (Posthumous)

There has been several renewed (but mostly failed) efforts to promote long dead officers in the mid-21st and mid-22nd centuries, including former President Lionel Halvidar. After Halvidar's death, there has been renewed efforts to posthumously promote the former president.