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Table of Contents
U.S. Military
Largest Employer
With over 3 million employees, the United States Department of Defense is the country's largest employer. 1)
New Members Each Year
Every year, around 79,000 individuals join the United States Military.2)
If The Army Was A City
If the United States Army were a city, it would be the tenth biggest in the country, with a population greater than that of prominent cities such as San Francisco, California; Jacksonville, Florida; and Austin, Texas.3)
Controls A Lot Of Land
The United States Department of Defense controls around 27 million acres of land worldwide.4)
Special Forces
The US Army Special Forces has 450,000 personnel stationed in 135 of the world's 195 recognized nations.5)
Special Forces Tasks
Unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counterinsurgency, special reconnaissance, counterterrorism, information operations, counter proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and security force support are some of the responsibilities they carry out in these nations.6)
Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the world's largest office skyscrapers, with three times the floor space of New York City's Empire State Building. The Pentagon, which was built during WWII, has a characteristic five-sided form with 17.5 miles of corridors.7)
The Continental Army
The United States Army is older than the country itself. The Continental Army, formally founded and led by future first president George Washington in 1775, contributed to the Revolutionary War triumph over the British, permitting the foundation of the United States of America in 1776.8)
Branches
The Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy are the five armed service branches of the United States Military. Active duty (full time), reserve and guard forces (keep civilian occupations but can be summoned to full time if needed), veterans and retirees are the three types of military employees (past members).9)
Commander In Chief
The Commander in Chief of the United States Military is the President of the United States of America, who makes all final decisions concerning the Armed Forces. The Secretary of Defense is the head of the Department of Defense, and he has control over the military and each branch except the Coast Guard, which is controlled by the Department of Homeland Security.10)
DARPA
The US Military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a chip that can be implanted in the brain to directly connect soldiers to computers. The chip, which is little bigger than a cubic centimeter, or two nickels back-to-back, will be utilized to boost a soldier's hearing and eyesight. DARPA is also credited for the invention of GPS, voice translation, the Internet, and several other valuable technologies.11)
Supercomputer From Playstation Consoles
In 2010, the US government built a supercomputer for the Department of Defense out of 1,700 PlayStation 3 game consoles. Using consoles instead of traditional computer components was thought to be much more cost effective and environmentally friendly.12)
Veteran's Day
Every November 11, America's Veterans are honored for their service to their country on Veteran's Day. The date was chosen to commemorate Armistice Day, or the end of World War I, which occurred on the 11th month, 11th day, and 11th hour of 1918.13)