Which army is the most famous in the world? Most likely American. There are Yankee bases all over the globe, on every continent except Antarctica. In general, in recent years, the American army has acquired such an incredible amount of rumors and speculation that it becomes difficult to isolate something more or less real from there. However, we will try.
Backstory
When, together with the French Expeditionary Force, the American rebels defeated the British, a new state appeared on the world map. It was the USA. The “new Americans” thanked the French in a peculiar way: when they were busy in Europe (the year was 1803, after all), they, under the threat of an armed seizure, bought Louisiana for pennies. After 1812, Napoleon was no longer up to them, so the trick was a success. But when in 1814 they decided to do the same trick with Canada, everything ended badly: the British beat the inept army, reached Washington and burned the White House.
Even then it becameit is clear that the American army of those years did not meet the requirements for the armed forces of the countries of the Old World. In addition, the offended British and French could well try to take revenge. Let's not forget that the Northern states have long been eyeing the we alth of the South. A Civil War was planned, for which it was necessary to prepare accordingly.
Civil and World War I
The Civil War of 1861-1865 began. During this time, about a million people died. The lesson went to good use: American engineers developed new models of small arms and artillery weapons. It seems that by the beginning of the First World War, the United States should have come fully armed. Alas, even their rare foresight (as in World War II), when American troops actually began to arrive on the fronts of the war in 1918, did not save the army from bashing.
Contemporaries testify that the Yankees did not have normal field artillery and there was not even a normal unification of infantry small arms. Former enemies, the French and the British, helped the future "policemen of the world" a lot. In particular, it is the French artillery calibers, 105 and 155 mm, that are still the most common in the American army. However, all this did little to help them.
Judge for yourself. From August to November 1918, dashing warriors managed to lose more than 200 thousand people killed. And this at a time when the Battle of Verdun, which lasted almost the entire 1916 year, claimed 300 thousand lives (in total) from the French and Germans.
With 600 thousand wounded, we can say thatin a couple of months, the American army ceased to exist. The results were horrendous. However, not everything is so bad: the Americans at that time got rich due to the supply of food and raw materials to war-torn Europe, in fact, enslaving many world governments with loans. It should be noted that during the years of the intervention of Vladivostok, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, they themselves (in the company of other powers) took out a lot of we alth and gold.
A huge number of scientists and engineers emigrated to America, as well as many officers of the former tsarist army. Since that time, the American army began to receive the best samples of weapons and equipment, which immediately affected its combat effectiveness.
Total numbers
It is well known that the United States has an unrealistic military budget, which also does not take into account the costs of "partners" in NATO, who annually buy a considerable amount of equipment from the Americans. According to official figures alone, more than $610 million was allocated to the army in 2014.
What is the size of the American army? According to official data, about 1.5 million people served in the ranks of the American troops last year. This is not taking into account 14,000 civilian service personnel. There are 843.75 thousand servicemen in the reserve. If we discuss American private armies, then one can only guess about their numbers.
Few people know, but after Vietnam, the Americans did not cancel the conscription at all: it exists, but remains "zero". In other words, in the caselarge-scale war under arms they can put from 50 to 80 million people. Of course, this is unrealistic, but the Americans will be able to gather 30 million conscripts for sure. In any case, the armament of the American army (more precisely, its volumes) is such that this entire horde can be fully equipped.
We have, by the way, the total number of military personnel is also more than a million, but the mobilization reserve is much smaller. The "fun" 90s had an effect, and emigration should not be discounted.
The legal age for entry into active service is 18. But if the decision of a young person was approved by parents, relatives or other categories of guardians, he can go to serve from the age of 17. The maximum possible admission age varies. In the linear units - 35 years, in the Marine Corps - 26 years. Thus, the American army is a fairly liberal "organization" in terms of the age limit.
Shape and other "little things"
The "calling card" of any army is the uniform of its soldiers. Americans are no exception. In general, the uniform of the American army commands respect in that it is purely practical. There are no ridiculous requirements for the elements of appearance (within reasonable limits, of course), which are so familiar to everyone who served in the SA or in the RF Armed Forces.
Clothes - for all occasions, for all climatic zones. The designers paid attention to the convenience of movement, to the protection of all important parts of the body of the soldiers. The American military uniform is really comfortable: the soldier sweats less in it, it even provides for the presence of soft “backpacks” for water, which oursoldiers can only dream of.
And this is far from a “luxury for the pampered Yankees”, since at an ambient temperature of +40 degrees Celsius in the shade, such a “luxury” can save many lives. In a word, the soldiers of the American army really serve in very comfortable conditions.
The statutory shoes are especially comfortable: berets are designed for exactly one year of operation. They reliably protect the soldier's ankle. Even in the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, there are very few cases of twisted ankles. How can one not recall the heavy and uncomfortable shoes in our troops. In addition, Americans have had normal satchels (with ergonomic unloading) for a very long time. Again, this is not a luxury at all: in such a backpack, a soldier can carry 15-20% more ammunition. And they, as you know, are life itself in military conditions.
Let's not think about our duffel bags, which our soldiers inherited from their grandfathers who liberated the whole of Europe… Fortunately, now the troops are successfully freeing them from this terrible anachronism.
Thus, the uniform of the American army is very convenient and practical. It remains to be hoped that our troops will eventually be provided with normal clothing and equipment.
A little about titles
The Americans are confused here. However, we will still try to consider the main ranks in the American army. Of course, the ordinary remains the same in Africa, but then everything is much more complicated. After him comes a private first class, then a corporal, after him - a sergeant. The class of sergeants includes six ranks at once. Afterone of them is a warrant officer, and so on up to a fourth-class warrant officer.
Then come: second and first lieutenants, captain, major, lieutenant colonel and colonel (all like us). After this, the ranks in the American army again run counter to ours. Brigadier General, Major General / Lieutenant, General. The general of the army crowns all this. It should be noted that among the Americans, sergeant ranks are very “prestigious”, in many cases it is sergeants who perform officer functions “in the field.”
Land units
Their total number is about 600 thousand people. Another 528,500 reserve servicemen are assigned to them. Simply put, the ground forces in the US Army are the largest unit, due to specific goals and objectives. A couple of helicopter brigades are responsible for auxiliary functions, as well as brigades of logistics, artillery, medical and some others.
The National Guard has at least 20,000 troops. But there are at least 330,000 reservists there. It should not be assumed that the National Guard is worse armed: it even has tank brigades, not to mention transport helicopters and other “little things.”
Technical equipment
The American army is considered to be the most technically equipped. M1 Abrams alone, as of last year, there are 2338 tanks. Approximately 3,5 thousand are on conservation. There are approximately one thousand machines on the Stryker platform and the same number onbased on similar platforms. As for the infantry, they have about 4,600 M2 and M3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles at their disposal. Another two thousand are on conservation. And that's not counting the "oldies" M60 and similar "museum exhibits".
Armored personnel carriers in the US troops are truly enormous: about 26 thousand vehicles. Despite all the talk about the need to write them off, the M113 of all modifications are still the most massive. There are about 13 thousand of them in total, and five thousand are in the army. Armored cars are being actively built: in recent years, the troops have about 17,417 MRAP class vehicles, including approximately 5.7 thousand of the latest M-ATV modifications.
If we compare the American and Russian armies in this vein, then the Americans are clearly ahead: for example, as of 2012, the Russian Armed Forces have about nine thousand armored personnel carriers (along with "canned food") of all modifications, including very outdated armored personnel carriers -70. There is still no exact information about the presence of the BTR-90 in the troops of our country (they are, but the number is unknown).
Armament of infantrymen
And how is the infantry? What is the armament of the American army in this regard? Everything is relatively standard here: M16 rifles, M14 carbines. There are some German NK 416s, but they are few. Pistols - the most common is the Beretta, there are Glocks, sometimes the old Colts 1911 slip through.
As for submachine guns, the MP5 NK is very common. There are smoothbore weapons: Mossbergs and Benellis. The easel machine gun, in fact, is only one. This is"Browning M2NV" sample already in 1919! Perhaps, in this regard, the American army is stronger than the Russian one: our soldiers do not have such a choice of small arms for sure.
Artillery, anti-tank weapons
In recent years, the Americans have not paid much attention to artillery, but there are still about six thousand such systems in the troops. These include 969 M109A6 self-propelled guns (and another 500 on conservation), about 1242 guns of 105 and 155 mm caliber (remember what we wrote about at the beginning of the article?), as well as 1205 MLRS. Approximately 2,500 mortars, including self-propelled ones, are in service.
But our army has a legitimate reason to be proud: the total number of domestic self-propelled guns and artillery systems exceeds 14 thousand, and the Russian Armed Forces also have such monsters as the Tulip, which the United States has no analogues.
There are approximately one and a half thousand self-propelled anti-tank systems, including those on the Stryker platform, specifically for fighting tanks. The infantrymen are being issued Javelin portable anti-tank systems, the supply of which has been in talks with the US government over the past year by the current Ukrainian authorities.
US Army Aviation Units
The ground units also have their own aviation. It includes about 60 reconnaissance aircraft, as well as hundreds of one and a half transport workers.
But the backbone of "ground aviation" is made up of helicopters. So, there are at least 740 Apaches, 356 multi-purpose KiowaWarrior (multi-purpose vehicles), as well as universal HH-60s. For the delivery of goods areapproximately three thousand heavy helicopters, including about 500 famous Chinooks.
Navy
About 320,000 sailors serve here. Another 100 thousand are listed as reservists. As for technical means, the US Navy has at least 70 submarines and more than a hundred warships at its disposal.
The backbone of the US submarine fleet are Ohio project boats armed with tactical nuclear missiles. However, at least four such ships in the recent past underwent repairs and modernization, as a result of which they were equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles, 154 pieces on board. Until now, the US Navy retains a certain number of nuclear torpedo bombers, which (if necessary) can also fire special missiles, which are also fired through the hatches of torpedo tubes.
Aircraft carriers
The US Navy currently has 10 active Nimiz-class ships. Currently, work is underway to replace the aviation group with F-16 aircraft. In the attacks on Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq, these ships played a significant role, since in many cases it was their aircraft that completely suppressed the main points of resistance.
In general, naval aviation plays an extremely important role in the fleet. Nearly 100,000 personnel serve in this structure. The planes are very different: there are anti-submarine squadrons, reconnaissance formations and strike detachments.
In total, the US Naval Aviation has more than a thousand aircraft. But most of all carrier-based bombers - almost 830 pieces.
Air Force
About 350,000 people serve in the country's air force. Another 150,000 are reservists. In total, the Air Force has about three thousand aircraft of various types and modifications (excluding mothballed equipment). The long-range aviation has approximately 160 bombers, most of which are the legendary B2.
But fighters, attack aircraft and bombers are considered the basis of the Air Force. Most of them are F16/F35 aircraft. In addition, there are 159 F-22A Raptor units. The American military had high hopes for them, but the aircraft turned out to be extremely expensive, and also turned out to be incapable of performing long-term combat missions in a humid climate.
If we compare the American and Russian armies, then things are a little worse for us, but, fortunately, in recent years, the situation has begun to improve at an almost Soviet pace. So, as of 2015, our long-suffering Air Force began to receive several hundred new aircraft and helicopters a year, while in all previous years - often not a single unit.
It should be noted that the total strength of the RF Air Force is top secret information. Only according to some data it can be assumed that we have about 2, 3 thousand aircraft. Which, however, is also very, very much. Most of all, the modernization of long-range aviation (TU-95 "Bear" and TU-160 "White Swan") has finally begun.
Service
Here it is, the American army (photos of its soldiers are presented in the article). By the way, how to become one of the "bearers of democracy"? In principle, there is nothing particularly difficult in this. The most important condition is that the candidate has citizenship or a view of it (Green Card). Having received it, you can safely go to the nearest recruiting center. Say that you want to serve in the US army, after which a recruiter begins to deal with you.
Requirements are not that many:
- Pass the age limit.
- Answer the questions of the tests ("ours among strangers" they say that they are very simple).
- Perform physical standards: about 30 pull-ups, running, push-ups, squats. In general, a more or less developed person will cope with all this without much difficulty.
- To be clean before the law. In general, even members of street gangs are often accepted into the army, so everything is relative here.
- Don't have big, flashy tattoos on your body. If there is a tattoo on the head or neck, you will have to reduce them.
- In this, the American and Russian armies are unanimous: drug addicts, alcoholics and mentally unbalanced individuals are not allowed to serve.
In general, this is where our story can end. We hope you found this article helpful.
