If trends defy steady , 79,000 the great unwashed will walk into recruiting station around the country this yr and join the U.S. Army . They will take jobs ranging from infantry to account , and fight conflict everywhere from Afghanistan to cyberspace . Here are 11 things you might not recognise about the Army .
1. A majority of presidents wore the uniform.
Twenty - four presidents served in the Army , to include the various state militia , which supported the Army during the American Revolution and the Civil War . ( Excluding the militias , you fall back Captain Abraham Lincoln and Brigadier General Chester A. Arthur , among others , on your Fantasy Army team ) . Of them , 23 were officer , with Private James Buchanan earning eminence as the only enlist man to ever be elected prexy . Teddy Roosevelt is the only president to have been award the Medal of Honor , albeit posthumously . ( Notably , Roosevelt even volunteered for service in World War I — ten year after having served as president . ) There ’s even some overlap in service : That bozo holding the pin in that painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware ? James Monroe . William McKinley ’s air force officer in the 23rd Ohio Infantry ? Rutherford B. Hayes .
If all of the president came back as zombies and put on a uniform , George Washington would be the highest - outrank member of the armed forces , having been posthumously advertise to General of the Armies of the United States in 1976 . His 2nd - in - command would be General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower . ( Trivia : Ike was born David Dwight Eisenhower . )
2. Why are they called Rangers?
Rangers are the Army ’s elite light-colored foot soldier . In the 18th century , they were form to wage frontier warfare . They were “ grim - faced human being ” who “ went forth to seek out the Indian enemy . ” They engage in reconnaissance , acted as scout , and “ ranged ” between pay off fortification . During the American Revolution , Ranger Francis Marion ( “ the Swamp Fox ” ) pioneer modern guerrilla warfare .
The Ranger slogan is “ commando lead the way ! ” This came from an exchange between General Norman Cota and Major Max Schneider on Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion .
“ What outfit is this ? ” necessitate Cota . “5th Rangers , sir , ” said Schneider . “Well , goddammit , ” say Cota , “ If you ’re ranger , lead the way ! ”
3. George Washington chose the colors of the present Army dress uniform.
In 1778 , the Continental Congress charged General Washington with deciding on a armed service uniform for the Continental Army . In October 1779 , he directed soldier to assume “ profane coat with disagree facings for the various state troops , artillery , artillery craftsman and light-colored dragoons . ” Over then next two hundred twelvemonth , the Army tried various colors — whites , topaz , and greens — but in 2010 , again began come out uniform grant to Washington ’s vividness pattern .
4. Cavalry charges in the 21st century?
In October 2001 , ODA 595 of fifth Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) link up up with CIA operatives and the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan . The best manner to move across the brutal terrain , they get word , was on horseback . As one Special Forces operator wrote to higher headquarters , “ I am advise a man on how good to engage wakeful foot and horse cavalry in the flak against the ( Russian manufactured ) Taliban T-55 Tanks , armoured force aircraft carrier , BTR ’s , mortars , ( D-30 ) artillery , ZSU ( 23 - 2 ) anti - aircraft guns and machine guns ( Dshk and PKM ) . A tactic which I recollect became outdated with the innovation of the political machine gunslinger . I ca n’t recollect the US combat like this since the Gatling accelerator destroy Pancho Villa ’s bang in the Mexican Civil War in the early 1900‘s … We have done this every mean solar day since we hit the ground . ”
By the time the city of Mazar - e Sharif fell , the A - Team ’s horses were deafened from gunfire and explosion , and had no issues with hustler raise rape rifle from their back .
5. The Army is older than the United States.
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were agitate by militias . ( The men were splendidly call to weapons system by Paul Revere , who did not shout “ The British are coming ! ” because most residents of Massachusetts considered themselves British . ) Once it became clear that a serious war was at bridge player , the Second Continental Congress authorized a Continental Army with a unified command bodily structure , to be top by Major General George Washington . The measure turn over on June 14 , 1775 , and is still celebrated as the Army ’s natal day .
settler did not wish the idea of a standing army . Consequently , the Continental Army continue comparatively pocket-size early on on , with short enlistments so as to forbid “ tyranny . ” This led to an experience problem — by the metre soldiers really got the hang of struggle a state of war , their contract was up . Likewise , the Army count heavily on country militia , which were rife with discipline problems . With the confirmation of the Declaration of Independence , it became clear , as John Adams wrote , that the United States needed “ a regular Army , and the most masterly Discipline , because I know , that without these We can not reasonably desire to be a powerful , a well-heeled , or a gratuitous mass . ” Soon thereafter , enlistment were extended to three years and the Continental Army underwent a series of expansions and radical reform .
6. Washington never asked to command the Continental Army, but…
There is no evidence of George Washington ever lobbying to be commander of the Continental Army . Just the opposite — every news report of Washington suggest a reluctance to take the line , and ecumenical feeling of insufficiency to the job . That say : Washington showed up to the Second Continental Congress prominently fag out his military uniform . When it come in time to choose a commanding officer - in - chief for the new Continental Army , he was decided to be the best man for the business .
There are skillful reasons for this . Politically , Washington bring Virginia into the mix . Militarily , he was the most experienced native - deport officer on the continent . He ’d antecedently contend in the French and Indian War . He later attend as commander - in - chief of the Virginia Regiment — the first active tariff military regiment in the settlement . ( Here he saw up shut the maneuver of the British army , would come in handy by and by . )
7. Army astronauts are a thing.
Soldiers who jump from airplanes wear Airborne wings . Those who rope down from helicopters wear Air Assault fender . Those who fly into infinite wear thin Astronaut flank . Colonel Douglas Wheelock wear all three . He lumber 178 daylight in infinite after service as the first active duty soldier to control the International Space Station . ( In 2011 , he deployed to Afghanistan , and has flown thirty - eight aerial armed combat missions . )
There are a series of badge and ornamentation for those soldiers who explore the last frontier . These include the Master Army Astronaut Badge , the Master Space Operations Badge , the NASA Space Flight Medal , the NASA Distinguished Service Medal , and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor .
8. Special Forces are everywhere doing everything.
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According to the Special Forces Command Public Affairs Office , in the last decade U.S. Army Special Forces soldier have deployed to 135 of the 195 recognize countries in the world . Their nine principal undertaking are improper war , foreign internal defense , unmediated action , counter - insurgency , special reconnaissance mission , counter terrorist act , entropy operations , replication proliferation of arm of aggregative destruction , and security military unit assistance .
9. Rhode Island > Army > Montana
As of 2014 , there were approximately 490,000 active responsibility soldiers , 205,000 reserve soldiers , and 354,200 soldier in the National Guard for a amount of 1,049,200 members of the U.S. Army . For comparability , that ’s about the size of the total universe of Swaziland ( give or take 50,000 people ) , so they should think doubly before nark the United States .
10. Their equipment can be measured in Autobots.
The grown chopper in present use by the U.S. Army is the Boeing CH-47 Chinook , which has distance enough for 33 fighting - equipped soldiers or up to 50 troops . The dual - bladed rotary wing aircraft can slingload 26,000 lb . from its main claw ; its two littler hooking can acquit around 17,000 lbs . each .
The heavy ( well , pretty much only ) tank used by the Army is the M1 Abrams tank . If you wanted to corrupt one , you ’d need somewhere around $ 9 million and would have to make the tick out to General Dynamics . You could even use jet fuel to keep it rolling .
The biggest hand truck in the Army is the Heavy Equipment Transporter , or HET . Its tractor is 30 feet long ; its house trailer is up to 48 ft . long . If someone climbed in your HET cab and said , “ Step on it ! ” you could probably get it up to around 40 miles per 60 minutes . The fomite weighs 90,000 British pound , which is just about the combined weight of the Earth equivalent of all five Dinobots .
11. It was the last service to adopt an official song.
It have 181 years for the Army to settle on a song . In the 1940s , it even held a contest in hopes of come up the right music . “ The Army ’s Always There ” by musician Sam H. Stept issue forth close — it was even flirt at Ike ’s startup — but in the final stage some feared that it sounded too much like a popular birdsong yell “ I ’ve scram a endearing Bunch of Coconuts . ” In the close , an sometime ordnance tune call the “ Caisson Song ” was oppose with new lyrics , and the answer was “ The Army Goes Rolling Along . ” On Veterans Day in 1956 , the Army at last made prescribed the Bible and medicine that every soldier sings today .
Updated for 2015 .
