The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consist of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States, along with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps.
In the United States Navy, officers have various ranks. Equivalency between services is by pay grade. United States Navy commissioned officer ranks have two distinct sets of rank insignia: On dress uniform a series of stripes similar to Commonwealth naval ranks are worn; on service khaki, working uniforms, and special uniform situations, the rank insignia are identical to the equivalent rank in the US Marine Corps.
A United States military occupation code, or a military occupational specialty code, is a nine-character code used in the United States Army and United States Marine Corps to identify a specific job. In the United States Air Force, a system of Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSC) is used. In the United States Navy, a system of naval ratings and designators are used along with the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) system. A system of ratings is also used in the United States Coast Guard.
Civil Affairs (CA) is a term used by both the United Nations and by military institutions, but for different purposes in each case.
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Selected Reserve (SELRES), the Training and Administration of the Reserve (TAR), the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), or the Retired Reserve.
The Indonesian Navy is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Indonesia, to protect Indonesia's maritime strategic interests, to protect the islands surrounding Indonesia, and to defend against seaborne threats.
Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) is an airborne fire support and liaison unit of the United States Marine Corps. The mission of ANGLICO is "To provide Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Commanders a liaison capability to plan, coordinate, and conduct terminal control of fires in support of joint, allied, and coalition forces. Per this mission statement, ANGLICOs are not designed to support U.S. Marine Corps maneuver elements. Instead, the doctrinal purpose of ANGLICO is to provide fire support and coordination in support of units adjacent to the MAGTF.
In the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force, lieutenant colonel is a field-grade officer rank, just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.
The United States Marine Corps is organized within the Department of the Navy, which is led by the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV). The most senior Marine commissioned officer is the Commandant of the Marine Corps, responsible for organizing, recruiting, training, and equipping the Marine Corps so that it is ready for operation under the command of the unified combatant commanders. The Marine Corps is organized into four principal subdivisions: Headquarters Marine Corps, the Operating Forces, the Supporting Establishment, and the Marine Forces Reserve.
1st Civil Affairs Group is a civil affairs (CA) unit of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Pendleton, California. It is one of three civil affairs units in the Marine Corps, all of which are reserve units. 1st CAG tends to support I Marine Expeditionary Force activities.
Public affairs is a term for the formal offices of the branches of the United States Department of Defense whose purpose is to deal with the media and community issues. The term is also used for numerous media relations offices that are created by the U.S. military for more specific limited purposes. Public affairs offices are staffed by a combination of officers, enlisted personnel, civilian officials and contract professionals.
The structure of the United States Navy consists of four main bodies: the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the operating forces, and the Shore Establishment.
4th Civil Affairs Group is a civil affairs unit of the United States Marine Corps. It is based in Hialeah, Florida. For information on 4th CAG prior to 2012, see 2nd Civil Affairs Group, which was formed out of the original 4th CAG in Washington D.C. It is one of only four civil affairs groups in the Marine Corps, all of which are reserve units. 4th CAG was the first civil affairs group in the Marine Corps and mostly supports II MEF.
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.
The Marine Forces Reserve, also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Reserve is an expeditionary, warfighting organization and primarily designed to augment and reinforce the active duty units of the Marine Corps in their expeditionary role. It is the largest command, by assigned personnel, in the U.S. Marine Corps.
2nd Civil Affairs Group is a civil affairs (CA) unit of the United States Marine Corps. It is based at Naval Support Facility Anacostia, Washington, D.C., and is part of the Force Headquarters Group of the Marine Forces Reserve. 2nd CAG mostly supports II MEF. The unit was deactivated in June 2019 and turned into Marine Corps Advisor Company (MCAC) Alpha and Marine Corps Advisor Company Bravo.
6th Civil Affairs Group was a United States Marine Corps Civil Affairs unit: organized, trained and equipped on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina from April to September 2005; conducted civil-military operations and civil affairs activities in al-Anbar from September 2005 to March 2006; and redeployed and deactivated in the United States from March to April 2006.
Paul W. Brier is a retired United States Marine Corps major general. A combat veteran of the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars, he retired on 31 December 2016, completing 36 years of military service. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. A 2012 CAPSTONE Fellow at the National Defense University, he is a graduate of the Defense Resources Management Institute, Naval Postgraduate School; Air War College; Joint Forces Staff College; and Marine Corps Command and Staff College.
