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XM2001 Crusader

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Future Combat Systems ( FCS ) was the United States Army 's principal modernization program from 2003 to early 2009. Formally launched in 2003, FCS was envisioned to create new brigades equipped with new manned and unmanned vehicles linked by an unprecedented fast and flexible battlefield network. The U.S. Army claimed it was their "most ambitious and far-reaching modernization" program since World War II. Between 1995 and 2009, $ 32 billion was expended on programs such as this, "with little to show for it".

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89-506: The XM2001 Crusader was to be the United States Army 's next-generation self-propelled howitzer (SPH), designed to improve the survivability, lethality, mobility, and effectiveness of the artillery as well as the overall force. It was initially scheduled for fielding by 2008. United Defense was the prime contractor; General Dynamics the major subcontractor. In early May 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld canceled

178-614: A status quo antebellum. Two weeks after a treaty was signed (but not ratified), Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans and siege of Fort St. Philip with an army dominated by militia and volunteers, and became a national hero. U.S. troops and sailors captured HMS Cyane , Levant and Penguin in the final engagements of the war. Per the treaty, both sides (the United States and Great Britain) returned to

267-596: A GPS-enabled computer system known as Blue Force Tracking (BFT). The concept of BFT was implemented by the US Army through the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) platform. The FBCB2 system in particular and the BFT system in general have won numerous awards and accolades, including: recognition in 2001 as one of the five best-managed software programs in the entire U.S. Government,

356-651: A few months. The war remains the deadliest conflict in U.S. history, resulting in the deaths of 620,000 men on both sides. Based on 1860 census figures, 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6.4% in the North and 18% in the South . Following the Civil War, the U.S. Army had the mission of containing western tribes of Native Americans on the Indian reservations . They set up many forts, and engaged in

445-534: A functional area. However, officers continue to wear the branch insignia of their former branch in most cases, as functional areas do not generally have discrete insignia. Some branches, such as Special Forces , operate similarly to functional areas in that individuals may not join their ranks until having served in another Army branch. Careers in the Army can extend into cross-functional areas for officers, warrant officers, enlisted, and civilian personnel. Before 1933,

534-1058: A memorandum on 23 June 2009 that canceled the Future Combat Systems program and replaced it with separate programs under the Army Brigade Combat Team Modernization umbrella to meet the Army's plans. The following subsystems were swept into the Brigade Combat Team Modernization Program : FCS was networked via an advanced architecture, called System of Systems Common Operating Environment (SOSCOE) that would enable enhanced joint connectivity and situational awareness (see Network-centric warfare ). SOSCOE targets x86-Linux , VxWorks , and LynxOS . The FCS (BCT) network consists of five layers that when combined would provide seamless delivery of data: The Standards, Transport, Services, Applications, and Sensors and Platforms Layers. The FCS (BCT) network possesses

623-726: A month – known as battle assemblies or unit training assemblies (UTAs) – and conduct two to three weeks of annual training each year. Both the Regular Army and the Army Reserve are organized under Title 10 of the United States Code , while the National Guard is organized under Title 32 . While the Army National Guard is organized, trained, and equipped as a component of the U.S. Army, when it

712-487: A new Army Command (ACOM) in 2018. The Army Futures Command (AFC), is a peer of FORSCOM, TRADOC, and AMC, the other ACOMs. AFC's mission is modernization reform: to design hardware, as well as to work within the acquisition process which defines materiel for AMC. TRADOC's mission is to define the architecture and organization of the Army, and to train and supply soldiers to FORSCOM. AFC's cross-functional teams (CFTs) are Futures Command's vehicle for sustainable reform of

801-480: A predominantly combat support role. The army converted to an all-volunteer force with greater emphasis on training to specific performance standards driven by the reforms of General William E. DePuy , the first commander of United States Army Training and Doctrine Command . Following the Camp David Accords that was signed by Egypt, Israel that was brokered by president Jimmy Carter in 1978, as part of

890-618: A role in the invasions of Grenada in 1983 ( Operation Urgent Fury ) and Panama in 1989 ( Operation Just Cause ). By 1989 Germany was nearing reunification and the Cold War was coming to a close. Army leadership reacted by starting to plan for a reduction in strength. By November 1989 Pentagon briefers were laying out plans to reduce army end strength by 23%, from 750,000 to 580,000. A number of incentives such as early retirement were used. In 1990, Iraq invaded its smaller neighbor, Kuwait , and U.S. land forces quickly deployed to assure

979-738: A strategy of seizing the coastline, blockading the ports, and taking control of the river systems. By 1863, the Confederacy was being strangled. Its eastern armies fought well, but the western armies were defeated one after another until the Union forces captured New Orleans in 1862 along with the Tennessee River. In the Vicksburg Campaign of 1862–1863, General Ulysses Grant seized the Mississippi River and cut off

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1068-600: Is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . It is the largest military branch, and in the fiscal year 2022, the projected end strength for the Regular Army (USA) was 480,893 soldiers; the Army National Guard (ARNG) had 336,129 soldiers and the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) had 188,703 soldiers; the combined-component strength of the U.S. Army was 1,005,725 soldiers. As a branch of the armed forces,

1157-448: Is due to be completed by 2028. The Army's five core competencies are prompt and sustained land combat, combined arms operations (to include combined arms maneuver and wide–area security, armored and mechanized operations and airborne and air assault operations ), special operations forces , to set and sustain the theater for the joint force, and to integrate national, multinational, and joint power on land. The Continental Army

1246-533: Is not in federal service it is under the command of individual state and territorial governors. However, the District of Columbia National Guard reports to the U.S. president, not the district's mayor , even when not federalized. Any or all of the National Guard can be federalized by presidential order and against the governor's wishes. The U.S. Army is led by a civilian secretary of the Army , who has

1335-670: Is that each brigade will be modular, i.e., all brigades of the same type will be exactly the same and thus any brigade can be commanded by any division. As specified before the 2013 end-strength re-definitions, the three major types of brigade combat teams are: In addition, there are combat support and service support modular brigades. Combat support brigades include aviation (CAB) brigades, which will come in heavy and light varieties, fires (artillery) brigades (now transforms to division artillery) and expeditionary military intelligence brigades . Combat service support brigades include sustainment brigades and come in several varieties and serve

1424-562: The 1st Armored Division . In August 2005, the program met 100% of the criteria in its most important milestone, System of Systems Functional Review. On October 5, 2005, Pentagon team recommended "further delaying the Army's Future Combat Systems program" in light of the costs of the Iraq War , Hurricane Katrina , and expected declines in future budgets. The Pentagon announced plans in January 2006 to cut $ 236 million over five years from

1513-537: The Battle of 73 Easting were tank battles of historical significance. After Operation Desert Storm, the army did not see major combat operations for the remainder of the 1990s but did participate in a number of peacekeeping activities. In 1990 the Department of Defense issued guidance for "rebalancing" after a review of the Total Force Policy, but in 2004, USAF Air War College scholars concluded

1602-912: The Continental Army , which was formed on 14 June 1775 to fight against the British for independence during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself a continuation of the Continental Army, and thus considers its institutional inception to be

1691-794: The Fort Irwin National Training Center , and its proven field usage in live combat operations spanning over a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to BFT adoption by many users including the United States Marine Corps , the United States Air Force , the United States Navy ground-based expeditionary forces (e.g., United States Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) and Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) units),

1780-709: The M992 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicle (FAASV). It was intended to be an automated gun artillery system to support the Interim Brigade Combat Teams (IBCT) Counterattack Corps and a basis for other vehicle developments. Key features of the Crusader design included: The Army required that the Crusader was to share a common engine with the M1 Abrams . The principal driver for this change

1869-707: The Netherlands and the United Kingdom , until the 1990s in anticipation of a possible Soviet attack. During the Cold War, U.S. troops and their allies fought communist forces in Korea and Vietnam . The Korean War began in June 1950, when the Soviets walked out of a UN Security Council meeting, removing their possible veto. Under a United Nations umbrella, hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops fought to prevent

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1958-1068: The United Kingdom , and German Soldier System IdZ-ES+. In April and May 2009, Pentagon and army officials announced that the FCS vehicle-development effort would be canceled. The rest of the FCS effort would be swept into a new, pan-army program called the Army Brigade Combat Team Modernization Program . The early joint DARPA–Army Future Combat Systems program to replace the M1 Abrams main battle tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicles envisioned robotic vehicles weighing under six tons each and controlled remotely by manned command and control vehicles. In February 2001 DARPA awarded $ 5.5 million to eight teams to develop unmanned ground combat vehicles (UGCV). Teams led by General Dynamics Land Systems , Carnegie Mellon University , and Omnitech Robotics were awarded nearly $ 1 million each to develop UGCVs prototypes. Five other teams were to develop UGCVs payloads. In May 2003

2047-789: The XM1100 Scorpion was established as a stand-alone program in January 2007. The Class II and Class III UAVs were canceled in May 2007. In June 2007, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticized the "close working relationship" between the Army and the lead system integrators. The GAO recommended the Office of the Secretary of Defense reassert its oversight authority and prepare an alternative should FCS be canceled. The Department of Defense agreed with

2136-562: The guerrilla hit and run tactics of the communist Viet Cong and the People's Army Of Vietnam (NVA) . During the 1960s, the Department of Defense continued to scrutinize the reserve forces and to question the number of divisions and brigades as well as the redundancy of maintaining two reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve . In 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara decided that 15 combat divisions in

2225-502: The $ 25 billion FCS 2007–2011 budget. The entire program was expected to cost $ 340 billion. As of late December 2006, funding was scaled back for critical elements of the overall FCS battlespace, and the most advanced elements were deferred. Decreases in the Army’s funding and the high cost of developing the intelligent munition system caused the DoD to delete the project from the FCS contract, and

2314-608: The 2003 Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's award for most innovative U.S. Government program, the 2003 Federal Computer Week Monticello Award (given in recognition of an information system that has a direct, meaningful impact on human lives), and the Battlespace Information 2005 "Best Program in Support of Coalition Operations". The proof-of-concept success of FBCB2, its extensive testing during Operation Foal Eagle (FE 99, FE 00), its certification at

2403-460: The Army (HQDA): See Structure of the United States Army for a detailed treatment of the history , components , administrative and operational structure and the branches and functional areas of the Army. The U.S. Army is made up of three components: the active component, the Regular Army; and two reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve. Both reserve components are primarily composed of part-time soldiers who train once

2492-472: The Army National Guard members were considered state militia until they were mobilized into the U.S. Army, typically at the onset of war. Since the 1933 amendment to the National Defense Act of 1916 , all Army National Guard soldiers have held dual status. They serve as National Guardsmen under the authority of the governor of their state or territory and as reserve members of the U.S. Army under

2581-411: The Army National Guard were unnecessary and cut the number to eight divisions (one mechanized infantry, two armored, and five infantry), but increased the number of brigades from seven to 18 (one airborne, one armored, two mechanized infantry and 14 infantry). The loss of the divisions did not sit well with the states. Their objections included the inadequate maneuver element mix for those that remained and

2670-624: The British at Trenton and Princeton , but lost a series of battles in the New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776 and the Philadelphia campaign in 1777. With a decisive victory at Yorktown and the help of the French, the Continental Army prevailed against the British. After the war, the Continental Army was quickly given land certificates and disbanded in a reflection of the republican distrust of standing armies. State militias became

2759-461: The Canadian province of Upper Canada, British troops who had dubbed the U.S. Army "Regulars, by God!", were able to capture and burn Washington , which was defended by militia, in 1814. The regular army, however, proved they were professional and capable of defeating the British army during the invasions of Plattsburgh and Baltimore , prompting British agreement on the previously rejected terms of

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2848-801: The Crusader and other defense modernization programs. An official involved called the Crusader "a wonderful system -- for a legacy world." As of 2002, the Army planned to acquire 480 Crusaders at a program cost of $ 11 billion. In February 2002, President George W. Bush allocated $ 475 million for the Crusader program in the White House's 2003 budget proposal, which also proposed increased Pentagon spending by $ 48 billion. In April, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, whose concerns about defense modernization overspending had intensified, met with Pentagon officials including Army Secretary Thomas E. White to discuss defense spending cuts to free funding for more essential modernization programs. The officials discussed cuts to

2937-556: The Crusader including the M982 Excalibur 155-mm guided artillery shell. The House Appropriations Committee responded, after rejecting a measure that would have sustained the program until the fall, asking the Pentagon to delay plans to cancel the Crusader. Later that month President Bush asked Congress to reallocate the Crusader's budget towards other Army developmental weapons including $ 310 million for Future Combat Systems in

3026-514: The Crusader, RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, and F-22 Raptor . Some officials questioned whether the howitzer was redundant given the parallel development of a lighter howitzer for the Future Combat Systems modernization effort. On 9 May, Rumsfeld announced that he would ask Congress to cancel the $ 11 billion program. Days before, Congress members favorable to the Crusader received talking points from Army officials who sought to save

3115-483: The DoD commenced the development and demonstration phase in a $ 14.92 billion contract. As planned, FCS included the network; unattended ground sensors (UGS); unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); unmanned ground vehicles; and the eight manned ground vehicles . The Boeing Company and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) worked together as the lead systems integrators, coordinating more than 550 contractors and subcontractors in 41 states. A spiral model

3204-545: The National Guard, while all states maintain regulations for state militias . State militias are both "organized", meaning that they are armed forces usually part of the state defense forces, or "unorganized" simply meaning that all able-bodied males may be eligible to be called into military service. The U.S. Army is also divided into several branches and functional areas . Branches include officers, warrant officers, and enlisted Soldiers while functional areas consist of officers who are reclassified from their former branch into

3293-585: The ORC and ERC were combined into the United States Army Reserve . The Army of the United States was re-established for the Korean War and Vietnam War and was demobilized upon the suspension of the draft . Currently, the Army is divided into the Regular Army , the Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard . Some states further maintain state defense forces , as a type of reserve to

3382-635: The Regular Army was reorganized as the Legion of the United States , established in 1791 and renamed the United States Army in 1796. In 1798, during the Quasi-War with France, the U.S. Congress established a three-year " Provisional Army " of 10,000 men, consisting of twelve regiments of infantry and six troops of light dragoons . In March 1799, Congress created an "Eventual Army" of 30,000 men, including three regiments of cavalry . Both "armies" existed only on paper, but equipment for 3,000 men and horses

3471-473: The SPH or another RSV. In October 1999, Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki outlined a future that envisioned transforming heavy brigades into lighter brigades outfitted with wheeled Interim Armored Vehicles , later renamed "Stryker." Shinseki said the priority of a lighter, more mobile army could shift resources from heavier armored vehicle acquisitions. The following month Shinseki said the vehicles were too heavy:

3560-663: The Southwest. Grant took command of Union forces in 1864 and after a series of battles with very heavy casualties, he had General Robert E. Lee under siege in Richmond as General William T. Sherman captured Atlanta and marched through Georgia and the Carolinas . The Confederate capital was abandoned in April 1865 and Lee subsequently surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House. All other Confederate armies surrendered within

3649-677: The US$ 11 billion program because he considered it neither mobile nor precise enough. The prototype SPH vehicle is on display at the cannon park at Fort Sill . The Crusader was conceived as the Advanced Field Artillery System (AFAS), part of a family of vehicles built around a common chassis in the Armored Systems Modernization program. In October 1992, the Army canceled Armored Systems Modernization due to changing budgetary priorities caused by

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3738-540: The United States (the "Union" or "the North") formed the Union Army , consisting of a small body of regular army units and a large body of volunteer units raised from every state, north and south, except South Carolina . For the first two years, Confederate forces did well in set battles but lost control of the border states. The Confederates had the advantage of defending a large territory in an area where disease caused twice as many deaths as combat. The Union pursued

3827-405: The United States Army was maintained as a small peacetime force to man permanent forts and perform other non-wartime duties such as engineering and construction works. During times of war, the U.S. Army was augmented by the much larger United States Volunteers which were raised independently by various state governments. States also maintained full-time militias which could also be called into

3916-423: The acquisition process for the future. In order to support the Army's modernization priorities, its FY2020 budget allocated $ 30 billion for the top six modernization priorities over the next five years. The $ 30 billion came from $ 8 billion in cost avoidance and $ 22 billion in terminations. The task of organizing the U.S. Army commenced in 1775. In the first one hundred years of its existence,

4005-491: The agreement, both the United States and Egypt agreed that there would be a joint military training led by both countries that would usually take place every 2 years, that exercise is known as Exercise Bright Star . The 1980s was mostly a decade of reorganization. The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 created unified combatant commands bringing the army together with the other four military services under unified, geographically organized command structures. The army also played

4094-650: The army began acquiring fixed-wing aircraft . In 1910, during the Mexican Revolution , the army was deployed to U.S. towns near the border to ensure the safety of lives and property. In 1916, Pancho Villa , a major rebel leader, attacked Columbus, New Mexico , prompting a U.S. intervention in Mexico until 7 February 1917. They fought the rebels and the Mexican federal troops until 1918. The United States joined World War I as an "Associated Power" in 1917 on

4183-619: The authority of the president, in the Army National Guard of the United States. Since the adoption of the total force policy, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, reserve component soldiers have taken a more active role in U.S. military operations. For example, Reserve and Guard units took part in the Gulf War , peacekeeping in Kosovo , Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq . [REDACTED] Headquarters, United States Department of

4272-662: The building, as part of the September 11 attacks . In response to the 11 September attacks and as part of the Global War on Terror , U.S. and NATO forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, displacing the Taliban government. The U.S. Army also led the combined U.S. and allied invasion of Iraq in 2003; it served as the primary source for ground forces with its ability to sustain short and long-term deployment operations. In

4361-442: The collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1994 AFAS was renamed "Crusader." In 1996, the Crusader's experimental liquid propellant system was replaced by more traditional solid propellant bags. In 1997 the Government Accountability Office advised the Army to consider either upgrading the Paladin or to purchase the German Panzerhaubitze 2000 instead. The Crusader was intended to replace the M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer and

4450-466: The combatant commanders for use as directed by the secretary of defense. By 2013, the army shifted to six geographical commands that align with the six geographical unified combatant commands (CCMD): The army also transformed its base unit from divisions to brigades . Division lineage will be retained, but the divisional headquarters will be able to command any brigade, not just brigades that carry their divisional lineage. The central part of this plan

4539-559: The end of FY2017. From 2016 to 2017, the Army retired hundreds of OH-58 Kiowa Warrior observation helicopters, while retaining its Apache gunships. The 2015 expenditure for Army research, development and acquisition changed from $ 32 billion projected in 2012 for FY15 to $ 21 billion for FY15 expected in 2014. By 2017, a task force was formed to address Army modernization, which triggered shifts of units: CCDC , and ARCIC , from within Army Materiel Command (AMC), and Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), respectively, to

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4628-439: The end to the practice of rotating divisional commands among the states that supported them. Under the proposal, the remaining division commanders were to reside in the state of the division base. However, no reduction in total Army National Guard strength was to take place, which convinced the governors to accept the plan. The states reorganized their forces accordingly between 1 December 1967 and 1 May 1968. The Total Force Policy

4717-457: The following years, the mission changed from conflict between regular militaries to counterinsurgency , resulting in the deaths of more than 4,000 U.S. service members (as of March 2008) and injuries to thousands more. 23,813 insurgents were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. Until 2009, the army's chief modernization plan, its most ambitious since World War II, was the Future Combat Systems program. In 2009, many systems were canceled, and

4806-409: The forces that landed in French North Africa and took Tunisia and then moved on to Sicily and later fought in Italy . In the June 1944 landings in northern France and in the subsequent liberation of Europe and defeat of Nazi Germany , millions of U.S. Army troops played a central role. In 1947, the number of soldiers in the US Army had decreased from eight million in 1945 to 684,000 soldiers and

4895-411: The geographical status quo. Both navies kept the warships they had seized during the conflict. The army's major campaign against the Indians was fought in Florida against Seminoles . It took long wars (1818–1858) to finally defeat the Seminoles and move them to Oklahoma. The usual strategy in Indian wars was to seize control of the Indians' winter food supply, but that was no use in Florida where there

4984-415: The guidance would reverse the Total Force Policy which is an "essential ingredient to the successful application of military force". On 11 September 2001, 53 Army civilians (47 employees and six contractors) and 22 soldiers were among the 125 victims killed in the Pentagon in a terrorist attack when American Airlines Flight 77 commandeered by five Al-Qaeda hijackers slammed into the western side of

5073-443: The howitzer and its resupply vehicle would weigh a combined 110 tons, more than could be carried by any of the Air Force's aircraft, including the C-5 Galaxy if flight rules aren't waived. Shinseki spoke with contractor United Defense about bringing down the combined weight of the two vehicles by 20 tons, which United agreed was possible. In April 2001, a panel convened by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recommended canceling

5162-514: The land-based branch of the U.S. Armed Forces . Section 7062 of Title 10, U.S. Code defines the purpose of the army as: In 2018, the Army Strategy 2018 articulated an eight-point addendum to the Army Vision for 2028. While the Army Mission remains constant, the Army Strategy builds upon the Army's Brigade Modernization by adding focus to corps and division -level echelons. The Army Futures Command oversees reforms geared toward conventional warfare . The Army's current reorganization plan

5251-404: The last of the American Indian Wars . U.S. Army troops also occupied several Southern states during the Reconstruction Era to protect freedmen . The key battles of the Spanish–American War of 1898 were fought by the Navy. Using mostly new volunteers , the U.S. forces defeated Spain in land campaigns in Cuba and played the central role in the Philippine–American War . Starting in 1910,

5340-418: The latter suggestion, to which the Army responded by calling the GAO report "rooted in the past, not the present". In 2008, the program had completed about one-third of its development, which was planned to run through 2030. Technical field tests began in 2008. The first combat brigade equipped with FCS had been expected to deploy around 2015, followed by full production to equip up to 15 brigades by 2030, but

5429-406: The mission of the U.S. Army is "to fight and win our Nation's wars, by providing prompt, sustained land dominance, across the full range of military operations and the spectrum of conflict, in support of combatant commanders ". The branch participates in conflicts worldwide and is the major ground-based offensive and defensive force of the United States of America.‌ The United States Army serves as

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5518-449: The new army. A number of European soldiers came on their own to help, such as Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben , who taught Prussian Army tactics and organizational skills. The Army fought numerous pitched battles, and sometimes used Fabian strategy and hit-and-run tactics in the South in 1780 and 1781; under Major General Nathanael Greene , it hit where the British were weakest to wear down their forces. Washington led victories against

5607-436: The new nation's sole ground army, except a regiment to guard the Western Frontier and one battery of artillery guarding West Point 's arsenal. However, because of continuing conflict with Native Americans , it was soon considered necessary to field a trained standing army. The Regular Army was at first very small and after General St. Clair's defeat at the Battle of the Wabash, where more than 800 soldiers were killed,

5696-413: The origin of that armed force in 1775. The U.S. Army is a uniformed service of the United States and is part of the Department of the Army , which is one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense . The U.S. Army is headed by a civilian senior appointed civil servant, the secretary of the Army (SECARMY), and by a chief military officer , the chief of staff of the Army (CSA) who

5785-422: The program had not met the initial plan of field testing an actual FCS-equipped combat unit by 2008. On April 6, 2009, President Barack Obama 's Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates announced plans to cut FCS spending as part of a shift toward spending more on counter-terrorism and less to prepare for conventional warfare against large states like China and Russia. This included, but was not limited to, canceling

5874-424: The program. The last-minute lobbying prompted anger from Rumsfeld and an internal Army investigation into its congressional liaison office. The investigation culminated with the resignation of the Army official who had distributed the talking points. After being absolved himself of wrongdoing in the matter, Army Secretary White assured that he supported Rumsfeld's decision and said the Army was analyzing alternatives to

5963-412: The proposed 2003 Pentagon budget. United States Army The United States Army ( USA ) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces . It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services , and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution . The Army is the oldest branch of the U.S. military and the most senior in order of precedence. It has its roots in

6052-436: The protection of Saudi Arabia . In January 1991 Operation Desert Storm commenced, a U.S.-led coalition which deployed over 500,000 troops, the bulk of them from U.S. Army formations, to drive out Iraqi forces . The campaign ended in total victory, as Western coalition forces routed the Iraqi Army . Some of the largest tank battles in history were fought during the Gulf war. The Battle of Medina Ridge , Battle of Norfolk and

6141-412: The remaining were swept into the BCT modernization program . By 2017, the Brigade Modernization project was completed and its headquarters, the Brigade Modernization Command, was renamed the Joint Modernization Command, or JMC. In response to Budget sequestration in 2013 , Army plans were to shrink to 1940 levels, although actual Active-Army end-strengths were projected to fall to some 450,000 troops by

6230-404: The series of Manned Ground Vehicles. In May 2009, the proposed DoD budget for fiscal year 2010 had minimal funding for Manned Ground Vehicles research. The Army planned to restart from the beginning on manned ground vehicles. The service was to restructure FCS so more Army units will be supported. Boeing passed a preliminary design review of all 14 subsystems in May 2009. The DoD released

6319-403: The service chiefs from each of the four military services belonging to the Department of Defense who advise the president of the United States , the secretary of defense and the National Security Council on operational military matters, under the guidance of the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . In 1986, the Goldwater–Nichols Act mandated that operational control of

6408-489: The service of the army. By the twentieth century, the U.S. Army had mobilized the U.S. Volunteers on four occasions during each of the major wars of the nineteenth century. During World War I, the " National Army " was organized to fight the conflict, replacing the concept of U.S. Volunteers. It was demobilized at the end of World War I and was replaced by the Regular Army, the Organized Reserve Corps, and

6497-456: The services follows a chain of command from the president to the secretary of defense directly to the unified combatant commanders , who have control of all armed forces units in their geographic or function area of responsibility, thus the secretaries of the military departments (and their respective service chiefs underneath them) only have the responsibility to organize, train and equip their service components. The army provides trained forces to

6586-533: The side of Britain , France , Russia , Italy and the other Allies . U.S. troops were sent to the Western Front and were involved in the last offensives that ended the war. With the armistice in November 1918, the army once again decreased its forces. In 1939, estimates of the Army's strength ranged between 174,000 and 200,000 soldiers, smaller than that of Portugal 's, which ranked it 17th or 19th in

6675-406: The standard support role in an army. The U.S. Army's conventional combat capability currently consists of 11 active divisions and 1 deployable division headquarters (7th Infantry Division) as well as several independent maneuver units. Future Combat Systems One of the programs that came out of the $ 32 billion expenditure was the concept of tracking friendly ("blue") forces on the field via

6764-443: The state militias. In the 1920s and 1930s, the "career" soldiers were known as the " Regular Army " with the "Enlisted Reserve Corps" and "Officer Reserve Corps" augmented to fill vacancies when needed. In 1941, the " Army of the United States " was founded to fight World War II. The Regular Army, Army of the United States, the National Guard, and Officer/Enlisted Reserve Corps (ORC and ERC) existed simultaneously. After World War II,

6853-545: The states of California , Nevada , Utah , Colorado , Arizona , Wyoming and New Mexico . The American Civil War was the costliest war for the U.S. in terms of casualties. After most slave states , located in the southern U.S., formed the Confederate States , the Confederate States Army , led by former U.S. Army officers, mobilized a large fraction of Southern white manpower. Forces of

6942-412: The statutory authority to conduct all the affairs of the army under the authority, direction, and control of the secretary of defense . The chief of staff of the Army , who is the highest-ranked military officer in the army, serves as the principal military adviser and executive agent for the secretary of the Army, i.e., its service chief; and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , a body composed of

7031-594: The takeover of South Korea by North Korea and later to invade the northern nation. After repeated advances and retreats by both sides and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army 's entry into the war, the Korean Armistice Agreement returned the peninsula to the status quo in July 1953. The Vietnam War is often regarded as a low point for the U.S. Army due to the use of drafted personnel ,

7120-590: The total number of active divisions had dropped from 89 to 12. The leaders of the Army saw this demobilization as a success. In the Pacific War , U.S. Army soldiers participated alongside the United States Marine Corps in capturing the Pacific Islands from Japanese control. Following the Axis surrenders in May (Germany) and August (Japan) of 1945, army troops were deployed to Japan and Germany to occupy

7209-1072: The two defeated nations. Two years after World War II, the Army Air Forces separated from the army to become the United States Air Force in September 1947. In 1948, the army was desegregated by order 9981 of President Harry S. Truman . The end of World War II set the stage for the East–West confrontation known as the Cold War . With the outbreak of the Korean War , concerns over the defense of Western Europe rose. Two corps, V and VII , were reactivated under Seventh United States Army in 1950 and U.S. strength in Europe rose from one division to four. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops remained stationed in West Germany, with others in Belgium ,

7298-620: The unpopularity of the war with the U.S. public and frustrating restrictions placed on the military by U.S. political leaders. While U.S. forces had been stationed in South Vietnam since 1959, in intelligence and advising/training roles, they were not deployed in large numbers until 1965, after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident . U.S. forces effectively established and maintained control of the "traditional" battlefield, but they struggled to counter

7387-583: The world in size. General George C. Marshall became Army chief of staff in September 1939 and set about expanding and modernizing the Army in preparation for war. The United States joined World War II in December 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . Some 11 million Americans were to serve in various Army operations. On the European front , U.S. Army troops formed a significant portion of

7476-523: Was adopted by Chief of Staff of the Army General Creighton Abrams in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and involved treating the three components of the army – the Regular Army , the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve as a single force. General Abrams' intertwining of the three components of the army effectively made extended operations impossible without the involvement of both the Army National Guard and Army Reserve in

7565-573: Was created on 14 June 1775 by the Second Continental Congress as a unified army for the colonies to fight Great Britain , with George Washington appointed as its commander. The army was initially led by men who had served in the British Army or colonial militias and who brought much of British military heritage with them. As the Revolutionary War progressed, French aid, resources, and military thinking helped shape

7654-555: Was no winter. The second strategy was to form alliances with other Indian tribes, but that too was useless because the Seminoles had destroyed all the other Indians when they entered Florida in the late eighteenth century. The U.S. Army fought and won the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), which was a defining event for both countries. The U.S. victory resulted in acquisition of territory that eventually became all or parts of

7743-843: Was planned for FCS development and upgrades. As of 2004, FCS was in the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase, which included four two-year spirals. Spiral 1 was to begin fielding in Fiscal Year 2008 and consist of prototypes for use and evaluation. Following successful evaluation, production and fielding of Spiral 2 would have commenced in 2010. The evaluation was conducted by the Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF), previously known as Evaluation Brigade Combat Team (EBCT), stationed in Fort Bliss . As of December 2007, AETF consisted of 1,000 soldiers from

7832-590: Was procured and stored. The War of 1812 , the second and last war between the United States and Great Britain, had mixed results. The U.S. Army did not conquer Canada but it did destroy Native American resistance to expansion in the Old Northwest and stopped two major British invasions in 1814 and 1815. After taking control of Lake Erie in 1813, the U.S. Army seized parts of western Upper Canada, burned York and defeated Tecumseh , which caused his Western Confederacy to collapse. Following U.S. victories in

7921-514: Was to shed weight off the Crusader. Caterpillar Inc. proposed a diesel engine, as did a joint venture of General Dynamics and DaimlerChrysler . In September 2000, the Army selected Honeywell 's LV 100 turbine engine. The Army was to procure as many as 3600 of these, including 2845 for the Abrams and 846 for the Crusader. Using the same chassis, the resupply vehicles (RSVs) would deliver automatic, reciprocal transfer of ammunition, data and fuel to

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