The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States of America. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), both federal executive departments, acting as the principal organs by which military policy is carried out. All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States.
In the United States Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force, major is a field-grade military officer rank above the rank of captain and below the rank of lieutenant colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of lieutenant commander in the other uniformed services. Although lieutenant commanders are considered junior officers by their respective services, the rank of major is that of a senior officer in the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Air Force.
The United States Army Intelligence Support Activity (USAISA), frequently shortened to Intelligence Support Activity, or Mission Support Activity, nicknamed The Activity, the Army of Northern Virginia, or Office of Military Support is a United States Army Special Operations unit which serves as the intelligence gathering component of Joint Special Operations Command. The unit is often referred to within JSOC as Task Force Orange. Originally subordinated to the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), it is one of the least known intelligence components of the United States military, tasked with collecting actionable intelligence during or prior to JSOC missions.
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.
The United States Army Criminal Investigation Division (USACID), previously known as the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC) is the primary federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Army. Its primary function is to investigate felony crimes and serious violations of military law & the United States Code within the US Army. The command is a separate military investigative force with investigative autonomy; CID special agents, both military and civilian, report through the CID chain of command to the USACID Director, who reports directly to the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Secretary of the Army.
The term Tier One Special Mission Unit or Special Missions Unit (SMU) is a term sometimes used, particularly in the United States, to describe some highly secretive military Special Operations Forces. Special mission units have been involved in high-profile military operations, such as the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
The Special Operations Command Pacific, known as SOCPAC, is a sub-unified command of the United States Department of Defense for special operations forces in the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) area of responsibility.
Richard Adrian Scholtes is a retired United States Army major general who served as the first commander of Joint Special Operations Command. Scholtes' experience as the commander of Joint Special Operations Task Force 123 during the United States invasion of Grenada made him an important figure in the reorganization of the US special operations community. After his tenure as JSOC commander, Scholtes retired from active service so he could candidly testify in August 1986 before Congress about the perceived need for a separate, four-star, special operations command. Then-Senator William Cohen described Scholtes' testimony as vital in the decision of Congress to create the United States Special Operations Command.
Major General Gary Lynn Harrell is a retired United States Army general. He has participated in numerous combat operations including Operation Just Cause in 1989, the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's first and currently only independent space force. Along with its sister-branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space Force is part of the Department of the Air Force, one of the three civilian-led military departments within the Department of Defense. The Space Force, through the Department of the Air Force, is overseen by the secretary of the Air Force, a civilian political appointee who reports to the secretary of defense, and is appointed by the president with Senate confirmation. The military head of the Space Force is the chief of space operations who is the most senior Space Force officer unless a Space Force officer is serving as either the chairman or vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The chief of space operations exercises supervision over the Space Force's units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Lieutenant General Francis M. Beaudette is a retired United States Army Officer whose final assignment was as Commanding General of the United States Army Special Operations Command headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was commissioned in 1989 as an Intelligence Officer through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.
Space Operations Command (SpOC) is a field command of the United States Space Force. Headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, it is responsible for the organization, training, equipping, command and control, and employment of space forces to support operational plans and missions for U.S. combatant commanders. It was also responsible for the Space Force's launch wings, Space Launch Delta 30 and Space Launch Delta 45, until the activation of Space Systems Command on 13 August 2021.
William G. Holt II is a United States Air Force major general who serves as the vice commander of the Air University since May 24, 2021. He most recently served as the director for operations, training, and force development of the United States Space Command. Previously, he was the director of the joint space operations development for the same combatant command. He also served as the special assistant to the commander of the Air Force Special Operations Command. In February 2021, he was assigned to replace Major General Brad M. Sullivan as vice commander of the Air University.
The structure of the United States Space Force refers to the different types of organizational units in the service: the Space Staff, the field commands, and the space deltas.
Vincent K. Becklund is a United States Air Force major general who serves as the Director of Operations of the United States Special Operations Command. Previously, he was as the deputy commander of the Air Force Special Operations Command and, prior to that, the Special Assistant to the Commander of the same major command.
Dagvin R. M. Anderson is a United States Air Force major general who is the vice director for operations of the Joint Staff. He most recently served as the Commander of the Special Operations Command Africa, relinquishing command to Rear Admiral Milton Sands III on July 1, 2021. Previously, he was the deputy director of operations of the United States Indo-Pacific Command.
Albert M. "Buck" Elton II is a retired United States Air Force major general who last served as the commander of the Special Operations Joint Task Force–Afghanistan and NATO Special Operations Component Command–Afghanistan. Previously, he was the deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism of the Joint Staff. Raised in Lone Pine, California, Elton earned a B.S. degree in management from the United States Air Force Academy in 1989. He later received a Master of Aviation Science degree from Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University in 1996.
John W. Brennan Jr. is a United States Army major general who serves as commander of the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve since September 9, 2021. He previously served as the Commanding General of the 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) from November 2019 to August 2021, and as the Deputy Commander of Joint Special Operations Command.
Sean P. Swindell is a United States Army major general who serves as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans, and Training since July 2020. He previously served as the Special Assistant to the Director of the Army Staff from September 2019 to July 2020.
