The US Military has been protecting Americans for
hundreds of years - and it’s developed a lot of secrets in that time.
Here are fifty surprising facts about the US military.
#50. Older than You Know country’s first business after
being founded would probably be to create a military, right? Well,
in the United States, they didn’t have to - they already had one. About
thirteen months before the United States declared independence; the
Second Continental Congress passed a resolution creating a united
Continental Army. It would be led by George Washington, and the army was
trained in preparation for increasingly likely hostilities with the
British Crown. So at least in this country, the US Army is
older than the United States! And it’s grown a lot since then!
#49. Bigger than you know
the military is run today by the US Department of Defense, and it’s laid
claim to a large swath of land. It controls federal land in the US,
land it leases abroad, and land the US Government has claimed as territory
in past military engagements. Altogether, that comes to around thirty
million acres of land worldwide. Not only is that larger than the
state of Pennsylvania, but if all combined, it would be larger than all
but 99 countries.
And it’s a path to success.
#48. Honored Men You’d think that most people who become US Presidents
probably grew up in the elites - and they might be less likely to serve.
But actually, around two-thirds of the men who became US Presidents
were US military veterans - starting with the very first, George
Washington. The most decorated was probably Theodore Roosevelt, who even
received the Medal of Honor. Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D.
Eisenhower were probably the most renowned Generals in the Civil War and
World War II. But we’re in a dry spell right now - of the last five
Presidents, only one served in the military, and George W. Bush only
served stateside in the Air National Guard.
And it came from humble beginnings.
#47. No, not Gorillas During the first days of the military,
the US Army didn’t have much to work with. They were ill-equipped,
only had a short time to train, and were facing one of the world’s largest empire.
But they had one advantage - they were on their home turf, and they
knew how to use it. General Francis Marion took full advantage of the
swampy terrain and used it for surprise attacks against unsuspecting
British patrols. The US soldiers would emerge from the swamp,
attack, and just as quickly retreat rather than engaging - a tactic that
would become the blueprint for modern guerilla warfare.
But today, it’s spread pretty thin.
#46. All Over the Place there are 195 recognized countries
in the world - and the US military is present in over two-thirds of
them! Of the US military’s three million current employees, 450,000 of
those are soldiers deployed to foreign countries. But the US isn’t
involved in any current wars, since we withdrew from Afghanistan - so what
exactly are we doing there? It’s complicated. While in some countries
the US is engaged in active operations against terror groups, in others
they’ve been invited in as peacekeepers or to maintain a presence as
a deterrent. The US also has permanent military bases on the soil of many
of their allies that coordinate with other militaries.
But what happens when the US is considering leaving? #45.
Cash Cow For many years, budget-conscious politicians and activists in the
US wondered - why does the US still have military bases in places like
Europe? After all, that’s not exactly a military flashpoint anymore. Okay,
that take aged pretty poorly - but people still wondered if bases in
places like Germany were worth the investment. Well, if you asked the
Germans, they were. When word got out that the US was considering
closing bases in some locations, the locals were strongly opposed - the local
economy was heavily based around the presence of United States soldiers,
and they didn’t want to face a budget crunch.
And the US military has a lot of mouths to feed.
#44. Top of the Heap the top employer in the United States?
It’s not Exxon-Mobil, the largest energy company, which has just
under a million employees. It’s not even Walmart, the mega-sized
shopping chain, which has 1.3 million. It’s the United States Department
of Defense, which in addition to all the active-duty and reserve
soldiers, maintain enough civilian personnel to have a whopping total
staff of three million people. And unlike many businesses, it’s going
to be around as long as the US is - so that’s a lot of job security.
And it keeps on growing.
#43. Recruits Welcome each year, the military takes in
around 79,000 new recruits. The US Army alone has more people in it
than major cities like San Francisco - and it’s only one of five branches, with
the smaller Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, and Marines joining it. Today,
all five branches of the military are volunteer only, with recruits getting
details on their pay rate and all the potential benefits they’ll get after
they complete their term. Many people’s first exposure to the military
is at recruitment fairs - where they often make it sound like an awesome
adventure.
But it wasn’t always this way.
#42. Anyone Feel a Draft? For the US military’s first eighty
years, it was also mostly an all-volunteer force, and it was capable
of winning both the American Revolution and the British revenge
strike in the War of 1812. But then came the Civil War, as the US
split in two - and the Confederacy took a lot of the military’s manpower
with it. Soon, both armies were instituting the US’ first military
draft, requiring people to sign up under penalty of law. It didn’t go over
well - many people were angry about how some were able to buy their
way out of the draft, and it led to bloody riots in New York City. But it worked
- and the draft would be brought back for the two World Wars, Korea, and
Vietnam.
But it wasn’t the time young men had to check the mail
nervously.
#41. A Draft…Just In Case The first peacetime draft was
created in 1940, but was it really peacetime? Everyone knew that
World War II would likely make its way over to the United States
eventually - and Pearl Harbor proved them right. But the second
peacetime draft was more controversial. Passed in 1948, it wasn’t as
wide-spread but it deployed countless young men around the world just
in case they were needed when hostilities with the Soviet Union broke out.
There was no formal declaration of war, but many men drafted under
this law wound up in Korea or Vietnam. And there was no allowance
for celebrities - if your number came up, you had to serve.
Even if you were Elvis.
#40. The King in Fatigues When the King was drafted in 1958,
there was no war going on - something his millions of fans were no
doubt happy about. He insisted he didn’t want to be treated any
differently than the average soldiers, despite the mob of fans waiting for
him as he arrived at boot camp. He served as a private, did his duty
quietly, and chose not to apply for a transfer to special services where
he could have given concerts as part of his service. His label was
prepared - they had stockpiled musical material before his induction, and
his fans would barely notice he was in the army now.
But one group wasn’t allowed in the army until recently.
#39. Woman’s Day Women have been aiding the military since its
beginning - but often in limited roles, or with many roadblocks in their
way. A disguised woman, Deborah Sampson, even became a decorated Revolutionary
War veteran, but women weren’t allowed to join the military until
1948. Before that, many served unofficially as spies, nurses,
or support staff - but weren’t eligible for honors despite often being in
as much danger as the armed soldiers. Since then, though, the laws
have changed - and now women are eligible to serve in all combat roles.
There is, however, one exception.
#38, Selective Indeed The draft has been off the table since
the 1970s, and the military does not want it back. However, all males
between eighteen and twenty-five are still required to register for
selective service - which means if a draft is needed, it can be
snapped into action and people can be pulled into the military in only
days. However, it doesn’t include women - despite them being eligible
for all combat roles and serving in the same way as men. Should this
change? Some say it’s only fair - and others are telling the military
to get their hands off their daughters.
But not all the recruits are human, either.
#37. Good Boy! There are twenty-seven hundred recruits in
the US military that don’t follow the regular rules. They don’t
sleep in the barracks, they chase birds in their off-time, and they might
even greet a commanding officer by licking them. And they’re not
going to be ordered to do any push-ups, because they’re military working
dogs! In a similar way to police dogs, these elite canine soldiers
are specialized in detecting narcotics and explosive devices, but they
can also patrol for enemies and chase off threats. And not just any
good boy can do this job - it takes sixteen hours of training every month,
plus tests every three months to become a military working dog.
And then there are some surprising heavy-duty soldiers.
#36. Robo-Troops! US military robots have been around since the
1960s, when the US created the Beetle. This massive robot was
designed to be used for handling nuclear materials. They never
actually saw use, but smaller robots became an essential part of military
life. Today, high-tech robots are used for all sorts of
missions, including carrying victims to safety and disarming explosive.
And flying drones have become effective ways to eliminate targets
without putting troops in harm’s way. And unlike other soldiers, these
robot-troops don’t need rest and food - just an occasional recharge.
But it takes a lot of energy to keep the military going.
#35. Gas, Gas, Gas Every time you head to the gas pump, it’s
hard not to cringe. But if you think filling up a gas tank of a car
is bad, imagine the cost of trying to keep a tank or fighter jet
fueled. During World War II, it took around a gallon of fuel
each day to support a single soldier - but that was with a lot of foot
patrol and collective transports. Today, with the high-powered vehicles shuttling
soldiers and powerful weapons around the battlefield, it takes around 22
gallons of fuel per day just to support one soldier - and those costs are
only going up.
And all that adds up.
#34. Fuel Follies Today, the US Army alone burns through around
a billion gallons of fuel each year - and that’s without a major war
going on. In a combat situation, those numbers go up massively - and fuel
is a limited resource. The Department of Defense is increasingly
worried about both fuel costs and the impact of the environment, so
they’re looking into increasing the use of alternative energy sources. Not
only could this be more efficient, but it would protect the US from
an oil embargo from enemy nations.
But it’s been a long time since the US was truly at war.
#33. What Is It Good For? When was the last time the US went
to war? You might be thinking of Iraq, Afghanistan, or even Vietnam.
But the actual answer is - against Japan and Nazi Germany, when they
formally declared war on the Axis powers. Since then, every military
action the US has been involved in was not accompanied by a formal
declaration of war. Some were classified as police actions, others as
limited military operations. While most were authorized by Congress, in
none of them did Congress vote on a formal declaration of war.
But that could change based on something half a world
away.
#32. The NATO Factor Ever since the post-war founding of the
North American Treaty Organization, many countries of Europe and
North America has been aligned. The most significant part of the treaty is
Article 5, which is a mutual defense pact. If one country in the
treaty is attacked by a hostile power, it means all the other countries
will consider it an attack against them as well. That means
that if a small nation like Belgium is attacked, it would have nuclear
powers like the United States, Great Britain, and France coming to
its defense. No wonder many countries in Eastern Europe want to
join the alliance.
But what happens if it’s NATO vs. NATO? #31. Family Feud Say
a soccer match between Belgium and the Netherlands gets out of control,
and the next thing you know soldiers from both sides are aiming guns
at each other. There actually are no official bylaws on how to govern an
attack by one NATO member against another - because the treaty is
supposed to prevent exactly that. However, most legal experts believe
that NATO would be obligated to assist the country that was attacked.
Of course, it’s common for parties to disagree on who started a war
even if one fired first, so there’s a good chance that NATO
might wind up splitting down the middle on who to support,
with the US having to choose a side.
And they would have to be careful to avoid sending in
soldiers they might not want to.
#30. The Youngest Soldier You usually has to be eighteen to
join the US military - but that didn’t stop countless teenagers from
signing up with false documents during the world wars. But no
one topped John Lincoln Clem for jumping the gun. The nine-year-old boy
wanted to join the Union army during the Civil War, and after being
rejected once, managed to make it in. He was so small that his
superiors in the 22nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry even sawed down his
musket so he could carry it. He was a Sergeant by age twelve, and
went on to serve in the military for most of his life - retiring as a
Major General.
But in terms of dedication, no one tops this guy.
#29. The Oldest Soldier to find the oldest active-duty member
of the US military ever, you has got to head over to the Coast
Guard. When Anthony Christy was laid to rest in 1862, the
105-year-old man had a unique distinction - he was still on active duty!
How was this possible? He served as a lighthouse keeper, a job that
generally didn’t involve heavy exertion. As long as his eyes were sharp
enough to do his job, the Coast Guard had no reason to retire him -
and so he kept the lighthouse running almost forty years past retirement
age.
And with lot of people in the military it means that
they need a pretty big headquarters.
#28. Welcome to Hither Department of Defense runs the US
Military, and used to run all the branches. And they’re all run out
of one building - the Pentagon. It’s easy to underestimate since it’s
relatively flat, but the Pentagon is one of the largest office buildings
in the world, with three times the office space of massive skyscrapers
like the Empire State Building. Holding the brains of the US military
and many of its highest-ranking officials, it’s also heavily fortified.
When the Pentagon was targeted by one of the planes on September
11th, 2001, it sustained heavy damage - but the damage was much less
widespread than it could have been in another Washington building.
So wait, what’s the one exception? #27. Coastal Changes why
doesn’t the Coast Guard operate out of the Department of Defense? It was, until
post-9
11 laws handed it over to the newly-created Department
of Homeland Security. Due to the Coast Guard’s larger domestic responsibilities,
it was uncoupled from the other branches’ foreign duties. However, a
clause was put into the bill so that if the Coast Guard is needed in an
active war, the US Navy can take control of all its assets.
And no matter how high someone in the military ranks,
they always answer to one person.
#26. The Commander the Commander in Chief is the highest-ranking position
in the military, and they have final say over almost all areas of military
policy - up to and including deploying nuclear weapons. And
they can outrank the highest Generals without ever serving a day in the
military. All they have to do is win an election - because the
President of the United States doubles as the Commander in Chief, and
they’re the only ones who can begin a military engagement - or end
it. Which might get tense when a President who never served is
giving the orders?
But there’s one other rank that is impossible to reach.
#25. That Fifth Sarthe rank of five-star General was created
in 1944 to represent soldiers given special promotions above the
typical four-star rank. Over the years, only ten officers were ever
granted five-star status - four in the Navy, five in the Army, and
one in the Air Force. However, there won’t be any others - when General
Omar Bradley, the last surviving five-star officer, passed away, the
military decided to retire the ranks.
But there’s one person above them all in rank.
#24. The General of the Armies the year was 1976, and the
bicentennial was the perfect time to honor those who made America
possible. There was one man who did more than any other - George
Washington. He had been dead for 177 years, but the decision was
made to promote him to the title of General of the Armies - a position
only held once before, by World War I legend John J. Pershing. As part
of the promotion, Washington was granted permanent seniority over all US
Generals and Admirals - ensuring that the father of the United States
is its highest-ranking official forever.
And for decorated veterans, there’s usually one end of
the road.
#23. The Final Honor Arlington National Cemetery holds the
remains of close to half a million US veterans from multiple wars,
and Generals who pass away are frequently given a place of honor
there. Only two US Presidents have been buried at Arlington -
John F. Kennedy, who served with distinction in World War II and was
seriously injured in combat, and William Howard Taft. Taft never actually
served in the military, but by being a Secretary of War and Commander in
Chief, he was able to get his plot of land.
But not everyone buried at Arlington has a traditional
tombstone.
#22. The Unknown War is messy, and it’s not always possible
to get everyone home for a proper burial. Especially today, with
high-yield bombs, it’s possible for remains to be burned too badly to be
identified. That’s where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier comes in
- a memorial to soldiers who have been buried at Arlington but never
identified. There are tombs for World War I, World War II, and the Korean
War. One was created for Vietnam, but it’s currently empty -
after DNA evidence allowed the government to identify Lieutenant Joseph Brassie and
give him a proper burial in 1998.
And those tombs are attended to by a unique unit.
#21. The First Unit They calls them the Old Guard for a
reason - they’ve been on active duty since 1784. But the 3rd US
Infantry Regiment isn’t just any unit of soldiers. They’re a ceremonial
unit, serving as escorts to the US Commander in Chief. But they also
have one other key duty - the regular changing of the guard ceremony
at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. But while they’re primarily a
ceremonial unit, they have been deployed in combat - and four members
of the unit have been awarded the Medal of Honor, most recently in Vietnam.
And the military’s ranks have always been diverse.
#20. A Unit of Immigrants When the US military saw many of
its forces join the Confederates in the Civil War; they were bailed
out by an unlikely source - immigrants. Along with a large number
of free African-Americans who wanted to fight the slaveholding
south, the Union army was one-third composed of immigrants-
and in a quarter of all regiments, the majority of soldiers were not
born in the United States. That pattern continues, and today around
5% of US forces are either naturalized immigrants or non-citizens.
Now let’s get into some truly strange facts.
#19. Looking Cooling you know those smooth Ray-Ban glasses
you love to wear? They didn’t come from fashion, but from necessity.
When Air Force pilots were struggling to keep their vision straight due to
the rays of the sun in the cockpit, Army Air Corps Lieutenant General John
Macready contacted glasses manufacturer Bausch and Lomb for help to
make glasses with better anti-sun properties. Soon, the first Ray-Bans were
available; pilots were flying without that persistent nausea and
headaches, and were looking good while doing it.
It’s surprising just how many companies work with the
military.
#18. Crack Open a Cold One Who doesn’t love an ice-cold Coca-Cola?
A little taste of home that can be a psychological lifesaver for a
struggling soldier, and the company wanted to make sure that was possible
in World War II. Company President Robert Woodruff decreed that any WWII
soldier around the world should be able to get a bottle of coke for a
nickel. That led to the creation of the technical observer position, which
oversaw the management of these wartime plants. Not only did they help
distribute five billion bottles of coke around the world, but they
had an Army officer’s salary and rank.
This one’s just a little awkward.
#17. A Bad Symbol the 45th Infantry was a proud unit that
served in multiple US wars, and was unique due to being made up of a
majority of Native American. That led them to work indigenous iconography into
their sleeve insignias, and they proudly wore those pins into battle - at
least they did until World War II. Because one of those traditional
Native symbols was the swastika, and after Hitler and the Nazis co-opted
it, it was quickly dropped and replaced with a Thunderbird.
In combat, every little detail matters.
#16. A Smooth Snap Velcro is a convenient tool, an easy way
to fasten clothes and items without having to stop to tie things.
There’s just one problem - that annoying ripping sound that alerts anyone
in the immediate area, aka the bane of any teenager sneaking out of the
house. Of course, in a combat situation, the consequences of
waking up the wrong person might be far direr. That’s why the
military developed a silent version of Velcro that reduced that annoying
sound almost to nothing. Unfortunately for all those sneaky
teenagers, it’s still top-secret.
The military is particular about how they’re portrayed,
as well.
#15. Hollywood MilitaryYou know all those times the military
swoops in to save the day? Be it a modern war movie or a ridiculous
action movie where the Army fights off aliens, they have one thing in
common - if a movie wants to portray the military, they usually work with
the Department of Defense’s entertainment unit. Many producers want to
borrow military equipment or film on military bases for accuracy, and
in those cases the Department of Defense gets script approval. Of course,
they’re not too picky - some of the movies the DOD approved included “Batman
and Robin” and “Last Action Hero”! But one movie may have had a bigger
impact than any other.
#14. The Top Gun When the Tom Cruise military adventure “Top
Gun” was released in 1986; Navy recruiters started hanging out around
movie theaters. The men who saw the movie suddenly thought being a pilot
was the coolest thing in the world, and some even decided they would
like to sign up on the spot. According to official Navy reports, the
position of Naval Aviator saw a 500% jump in applications in the
aftermath - and the brass is no doubt excited for the sequel to finally
come out.
The US Military is always prepared - in more ways than
one.
#13. Useful Tools military members who do air missions are given
a parachute pack survival kit in case they get shot down and need to
survive on their own. It includes some useful tools like wire, knives,
matches, and fire starters - as well as a large non-lubricated
condom. No, the military isn’t making sure that soldiers are
able to practice safe sex while trying to survive in the jungle - condoms
are stretchy, as anyone whose put one over their entire hand knows, so
it can double up as a water canteen that holds up to a liter of rainwater
if needed! The military even has a department of…trash talk? #12. Theme’s fighting’
Words In Afghanistan, the US faced a challenge of a motivated and ruthless
Taliban opposition that knew the terrain far better than them. It
was time to call in the psychological warfare department to develop some
new tactics - and what they came up with was loudspeakers that goaded
enemy fighters into picking flights they couldn’t win by calling them
names. Apparently such inventive nicknames like “Cowardly dogs” and “Lady Men”
were enough, even if the tactic may have been borrowed from the elementary
school playground.
And the military takes care of their own.
#11. Wounded Warriors Many soldiers come back from combat
with serious injuries - some with missing limbs or other
disabilities. And once they complete their rehabilitation, there’s a new
challenge waiting for them - the Warrior Games. This Olympic-like competition
pits representatives from the various branches of the military against
each other for bragging rights - with every competitor being a
combat-wounded veteran. And since the games began in 2010, the Marines
have dominated.
And there are some truly odd positions in the military.
#10. Devil’s Advocate when the military debate new policies, it’s
easy to fall into groupthink. Not only is there a lot of money at
stake, but there’s always a high-ranking member in the room and it’s
easy to defer to him. But if no one is willing to say no, costly
mistakes can happen - which is why some graduates at Fort Leavenworth are
trained in the art of being skeptical. These “Red Teamers” are unafraid
to play devil’s advocate in heated debates, and can save the team
from the bane of consensus.
And some things are older than you think.
#9. Down Under the Submarine is one of the military’s most useful
tools, able to take command of the seas and deliver powerful bad clinical
strikes from underwater. It saw the most use in the World Wars - but
actually goes back far earlier than that. The Turtle, an early
example of a submersible weapon, was deployed during the
Revolutionary War to sink a British ship off New York…and failed
miserably, but was an effective test of the future of weaponry.
But for all the US military’s efforts, they can leave a
big footprint.
#8. Eviction Notice the island of Diego Garcia, a British
possession, had a population of over a thousand people living happily
on the Indian Ocean paradise - until the US military came
calling. They wanted to build a military base there, they needed
total security, and so the entire island’s population needed to go.
The British government agreed, and soon the entire population was being
sent to the island of Mauritius - which took them after a hefty payment.
And the US military’s experiments even hit the homeland.
#7. Spray Testing the 1950s and 1960s, residents of cities
including San Francisco, St. Louis and areas of Minnesota, South
Carolina, and Georgia saw something alarming - motorized blowers
spraying odd, colorful substances all over the city. It looked almost like
a chemical attack - and the zinc cadmium sulfide wasn’t a weapon, but
it was related. The fluorescent substance was sprayed because the military wanted
to see how chemical or biological weapons would spread by the wind - and
there was no better way than actually spraying a close substitute.
But other places got it far worse.
#6. In the Depths In the aftermath of World War II, there
was an enormous amount of spare hardware to dispose of. Much of
it was dangerous and couldn’t be simply scrapped, so the government came
up with another solution - just dump it in the ocean. Much of this
started after the First World War, and continued until 1970. A wide range
of military hardware was dumped such as 64 million pounds of nerve
gas and other chemical weapons, plus hundreds of thousands of bombs,
rockets, and land mines. They’re still down there - but no one really
knows exactly what’s lurking where.
And sometimes, the military just gets it wrong.
#5. Firing at Nothing the Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942
was one of the biggest military operations in the homeland in a long
time. It was World War II, and the military was on high alert for an
attack on US soil. So when reports came in of an enemy aircraft, the
military responded with overwhelming force. They fired 1,400
anti-aircraft weapons and countless rounds at the mystery object until it was
brought down - and found that it was a lost weather balloon. Hey, better
safe than sorry.
But sometimes, the military gets pretty innovative.
#4. Game Time When the military needed a new supercomputer in
2010, they came up with many plans - but few of them were
cost-effective. The solution that did pass muster? They
collected 1,700 PlayStation 3 consoles, removed and combined much of the
hardware, and wound up with an amalgam processing core that had all
the power and memory they needed - at a fraction of the cost and the
carbon footprint.
And some of their ideas sound a little like science
fiction.
#3. Mad ScienceDARPA, or the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency, is where the military’s wildest ideas start to become reality. One
of those ideas? A computer chip that could be implanted directly into
the brains of soldiers. This would allow them to connect remotely to
computers without a device, which could allow vital intelligence to be put into
their minds directly from headquarters.
But not all of DARPA’s ideas are that out there.
#2. Master of InventionDARPA has been responsible for some
of the military’s wildest and longest-lasting inventions, but they’ve
also given the general public a lot. Two of their biggest contributions?
The internet, which was heavily funded by the US government along
with private tech companies, and the GPS systems that help you get
where you’re going in the car. Both are used by the government today
- but most people couldn’t live without them.
But this one last fact about the US military might
shock you.
#1. Boom The US has only used the nuclear bomb twice in combat
- and they’re currently the only country to do so. But they’ve used many
more nuclear bombs than that. To develop their nuclear arsenal, they’ve
conducted over a thousand nuclear tests over the decades - more than half
the number conducted around the world. 800 of those have been
underground nuclear tests, while two hundred have been atmospheric and
created the signature mushroom cloud everyone fears. But for now, that’s
all they are - tests.
Want to know how the US military stacks up against the
competition? Check out “Most Powerful Military in 2022 Ranked”,
or watch this video instead.