Home > Uniformed services of the United States

These are broken down into five military services (armed forces) and two services which are considered uniformed but are not military.

1 Military services

• United States Army
• United States Navy
• United States Marine Corps
• United States Air Force
• United States Coast Guard

2 Other uniformed services

• NOAA Commissioned Corps - a uniformed branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), formerly the Coast and Geodetic Survey
• Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

Members of these services are paid on the same scale and wear similar insignia of rank.

Members of the NOAA Corps and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps wear uniforms closely resembling those of the U.S. Navy.

The distinction between a commissioned officer of a non-military uniformed service and a civilian is important under the laws of war. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (a predecessor to NOAA) originally began commissioning its officers so that if captured while engaged in battlefield surveying, they could not legally be tried as spiesEspionage is the practice of obtaining secrets spying from rivals or enemies for military, political, or economic advantage. It is usually thought of as part of an organized (ie, governmental or corporate) effort. A spy is an agent employed to obtain such.

US Code:Title 5.Part III.Chapter 21. S 2101 See also United States armed forcesUnited States armed forces Military manpower Military age18 years of age Availabilitymales age 15-49: 70,819,436 (2001 est. Reaching military age annuallymales: 2,039,414 (2001 est. Military expenditures Dollar figure$399. 1 billion (FY2004 est. Percent o.