Calling attention to terrorism

Terrorism in today's society: some are concerned, but some are not


Andrew Pouliot

Police in the United Kingdom believe Salman Ramadan Abedi acted alone, and not under the direction of a terrorist organization when he bombed an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester May 22, according to The Guardian.


In the wake of the attack, which killed 23 and injured 118, many people showed concern for security at public events around the world.



"It's kind of hard to stop someone from doing that outside of an arena at an event," Jarra Gojolo, 20, journalism major, said. "Every time I go to an event, that will be at the back of my mind."

The Manchester attack resonated with many around the world because many of the victims were children. Even the Queen of England came out to make a statement about the tragedy.

"The whole nation has been shocked by the death and injury in Manchester last night of so many people, adults and children, who had just been enjoying a concert," Queen Elizabeth II said in a May 23 message to the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, which was published on the Royal Family's website.

The Queen also visited area hospitals to pay her respect to the families of victims, according to a Vanity Fair article.



"When I see metal detectors at stadiums, it reminds me that something has happened before and could happen again," Duane Soubirous, a student aid at the De Anza Journalism Department said. "Those things never happen here, so when I hear about it in the news, it is shocking to me."

Not everyone believes there is a danger here in the United States from terrorists though.

"I don't worry about it any more than I usually do," Neil McClintick, 21, political science major, said. "When I go out, I feel like the area we're in is relatively safe, so I wouldn't expect there to be a correlation here."

"I don't think about it when I go out," Jay Serrano, 23, journalism major, said. "I always look out for something that could be happening but I don't typically think that something like Manchester could happen here."



De Anza has never had a significant crime problem on campus, with only three arrests being made on campus in relation to drugs and one stalking, according to the Foothill-De Anza Police Department.

In April 2001, a bomb threat made by a student prompted local law enforcement to evacuate the whole campus, but no bombs were found, according to an article in La Voz.

Attacks in the West have such a large impact because of the perceived rarity of their occurrences, or because when they do happen they target places frequently visited by people, such as airports, national monuments, concerts, and other public areas.

"Statistically, I don't see it happening here," Serrano said. "I expect a gunman to do something here instead of a bomber, but it's the same effect. It's scary."

 Links:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/212558/seven-trust-government-protect-against-terrorism.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Manchester_Arena_bombing#cite_note-89
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/24/go-sing-with-the-angels-families-and-friends-pay-tribute-to-manchester-victims

Identifying Uniforms of the US Military

Most people tend to group service members together in an all-encompassing title: they're either "soldiers" or they're all in the "army or whatever". The general public is simply ignorant to the jobs, titles, and branches of the armed forces. One of the easiest ways to identify a member of the armed forces as a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine or Coast Guardsman is to look at their uniforms.

The Army

The United States Army currently utilizes three different patterns of camouflage on their Army Combat Uniform (ACU), which was first introduced in February 2005 to replace the Battle Dress Uniform and Desert Combat Uniform, which had been in use since 1981 and 1992 respectively. The ACU comes in the Universal Camouflage Pattern, which is a digital pattern of tan and grey; this first pattern was supposed to blend into most terrains, but has proven wildly unpopular among soldiers and with critics outside the army because it barely blends in to any known terrain.

To mitigate the poorly researched adoption of the UCP, the Army began issuing the ACU in MultiCam, a pattern created by the company Crye Precision, in 2009. MultiCam consists of seven different "earth-tone" colors, in varying shades of green, brown and tan. The MultiCam ACUs were issued to soldiers deploying to Afghanistan starting in 2010, after a trial run with the Army Rangers and other Special Operations units.

Beginning in 2015, the Army began issuing a redesigned ACU in Operational Camouflage Pattern.  OCP is similar to MultiCam but has different color tones; the new ACU is also cut differently, with redesigned collar and sleeve pockets. The OCP-ACU will replace the UCP-ACU in the Army entirely by July 2018, and the MultiCam ACUs by mid-2019.

In terms of service dress uniforms, the Army has adopted its dress blue Army Service Uniform for formal wear, replacing the Class A Service Green Uniform beginning in 2010. The ASU was designed so that soldiers only had to purchase and maintain one type of service dress instead of two, making it cheaper and more economical. Dress blues had been in use with the army to some degree since 1937.

The ASU comes in Class A and Class B (blue coat and trousers for A, long/short sleeve white shirt and blue trousers for B). The ASU is worn in any formal setting or non-combat situation, when ACUs would otherwise be worn.

The Marine Corps

The Marine Corps has the distinction of being the first US branch and second military force overall to adopt a digital pattern camouflage uniform (the Canadian Army first developed a digital pattern uniform in 1997 and began issuing it in 2001).  The Marine Corps began development of the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform (MCCUU) in mid-2001, drawing inspiration from the Canadians.

Marine-Pattern Camouflage (MARPAT) was designed in desert and woodland variations; an urban pattern was cancelled and a winter pattern is only issued in cold weather outerwear for scout snipers and any personnel deployed to cold regions. MARPAT fatigues were first issued in 2002 and replaced the BDU and DCU by the end of 2004. The desert pattern consists of coyote tan, sand brown and dark brown colors; the woodland pattern utilizes the same colors as the BDU, with dark brown, dark green, black and light green. The fatigues are worn with an eight-point cover in garrison, and a floppy jungle hat in the field. The desert uniform was only issued to Marines deploying to the Middle East until 2008, when the Marine Corps made it seasonal (deserts were worn beginning in March, and changed over to woodlands in November).  Deserts were worn with sleeves rolled until October 2011, when then-Commandant General James Amos changed the rules to normalize uniform regulations across the force. Beginning in 2014, desert fatigues were allowed to roll sleeves again; in February 2017, Commandant General Robert Neller authorized desert MARPAT for Marines deploying to the Middle East only, with woodland uniforms replacing desert uniforms in all other stations and settings; these uniforms will be authorized to roll sleeves during the summer months.

Marine Corps Service Uniforms comprise of Dress Blues and Service Greens. Blues come in Blue Alphas, Bravos, Charlies and Deltas (blue coat with hanging medals and sword; blue coat with ribbons and badges; long-sleeve khaki shirt with blue trousers; and short-sleeve khaki shirt and blue trousers) while Greens come in Alphas, Bravos and Charlies (green coat with ribbons and badges, long-sleeve khaki shirt and green trousers; short-sleeve khaki shirt and green trousers).  Dress blues are usually reserved for formal events such as funerals and the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, while Service Greens are more informal, for check-ins and office work.

The Navy

Currently, the Navy has three types of service dress uniforms: Service, Full, and Dinner Dress. These uniforms are usually Service Dress Blues for commissioned officers and the crackerjack for enlisted.

The Service Dress Blues consist of a blue coat with ribbons and badges; Full Dress consists of either a white or blue uniform with hanging medals and sword; and Dinner Dress is the most formal, usually a specially-designed white or blue uniform.

For chief petty officers, warrant officers and commissioned officers, there are also Service Khaki uniforms; Service Whites are available to chiefs and officers as well, but not junior enlisted, who instead wear the Navy Service Uniform, which comprises of a khaki shirt and black trousers. Service Whites were dropped for junior enlisted in 2010, when the NSU was adopted.

Service Khakis were first issued to naval aviators in 1913, followed by submarine crews in 1931. The Service Khaki uniform was authorized for all ship-board sailors in 1941.

Chiefs and officers can wear black or brown Oxford shoes with their khakis, although in the Navy it is generally accepted that brown Oxfords are worn by aviation sailors. Chiefs and officers have the option of wearing either their three highest ribbons or all ribbons on their uniform.

The Navy Working Uniform (NWU) was first introduced in 2010 to replace the BDU and other working uniforms aboard ships. The NWU was first issued in a digital pattern of dark blue, light blue and white, but a woodland and desert pattern were created in 2012. The desert pattern NWU is only authorized for Naval Special Warfare Command units (such as SEALs) while the woodland pattern has come to be the standard issue working uniform for sailors, due to replace the blue NWUs by 2019. A blue fire-resistant smock was issued to ship crews beginning in 2014.

The Air Force

The current Air Force Service Dress Uniform, consisting of a blue sport coat and trousers with a light blue shirt and herringbone tie, was first authorized in 1994 and replaced the unpopular McPeak blues by 1999. Enlisted airmen wear cloth rank sewn onto the sleeves of their shirts or coat, while officers wear their rank insignia on the epaulets of the coat and the collar of their shirts. Mess dress is also authorized for formal occasions.

The Air Force typically wore the same fatigues as the Army, adopting solid-green fatigues in the 1960s and the BDU/DCU in the 1980s. When the Army transitioned to the ACU, the Air Force kept their BDU/DCU fatigues until 2011, when the Airman Battle Uniform was introduced. The ABU has the same colors as the UCP-ACU, with digital grey and tan colors, but the patterns form tiger stripes instead of digital squares. The ABU proved unpopular with airmen deployed in desert climates because it was too thick and not very breathable; the Air Force began to authorize MultiCam fatigues for wear in deployed environments starting in 2012.

The Coast Guard

The Coast Guard typically issues the Operational Duty Uniorm (ODU) to its ship crews.  The uniform was redesigned in 2004, eliminating the lower pockets on the blouse and tucking in the blouse to the trousers; this was done away in 2008 with a new redesign. The ODU is dark blue and is worn with a unit ball cap, black belt and black boots. The ODU is also issued to the NOAA and PHS Officer Corps.

In combat situations, the Coast Guard issued the BDU and DCU until 2012, when MultiCam and the woodland NWU replaced them.

Until 1974, Coast Guard personnel wore the same service dress as the Navy, but with Coast Guard insignia. The transition to the Coast Guard Service Dress Uniform was completed in that year. The uniforms consist of Dress Whites (white coat and shoulder boards), Tropical Blues (light blue short/long sleeve shirt and blue trousers), Service Dress Blues (dark blue coat and trousers/skirt), Winter Dress Blues (dark blue long sleeve shirt and trousers), Camouflage Utility Uniform, and Operational Duty Uniform.

Basic training in the military

Each branch of the US military has its own requirements and training, but where do prospective Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen go to train?

United States Army

US Army Basic Combat Training (BCT) is split into two phases: Basic Combat Training is 10 weeks long and consists of training recruits to be soldiers in the army; the next phase is Advanced Individual Training. AIT is where new soldiers learn their MOS, or military occupational specialty. AIT, depending on the MOS, lasts anywhere from 4 to 52 weeks.

The Army has four sites where BCT is conducted:

-Fort Benning (Columbus, Georgia): BCT, along with Infantry and Armor AIT
-Fort Jackson (Columbia, South Carolina): BCT, largest of the army's training sites
-Fort Leonard Wood (St. Robert, Missouri): BCT, along with Corps of Engineers, Chemical Corps and Military Police AIT
-Fort Sill (Lawton, Oklahoma): BCT, also Artillery AIT

Training

Soldiers are trained by drill sergeants. A drill sergeant is typically an NCO (rank E5-E7) who is on his or her second enlistment. Drill sergeants do 2-year tours in the drill field, and have an option to stay on for another tour once they are done, similar to recruiters. Drill sergeants teach soldiers drill, how to properly address superiors, military culture and history, and army regulations. Drill sergeants are with soldiers for the entirety of their training and are responsible for their safety.

Basic training in the army consists of three phases (Phase I, II, III). Phase I is when soldiers begin to learn basic drill and marching, barracks upkeep, military customs and courtesies, and unarmed combat tactics(such as Combatives, or Ground Fighting Techniques). Phase II is when soldiers begin to fire and become familiarized with weapons, such as the M-16 rifle. Unlike other branches, soldiers will also fire machine guns, grenade launchers and antiarmor weaponry during their basic training.

Throughout BCT, soldiers are subjected to physical conditioning and receive corrective action for even the slightest infraction.

US Marine Corps

US Marine Corps Recruit Training is the longest training of any branch in the US military, running for 13 weeks. Recruit training is where prospective Marines, called 'recruits' learn the basics of Marine Corps life and culture. Once they have completed recruit training, newly branded Marines attend either the School of Infantry (for infantry) or Marine Combat Training (for non-infantry). SOI is 10 weeks long, and MCT is 4 weeks. Non-infantry marines, upon completion of MCT, go on to their respective MOS schools, which range anywhere from one month to over a year. Infantry marines go to their units once they finish SOI.

The Marine Corps has three sites for basic training:

-MCRD San Diego, CA: all males west of the Mississippi River
-MCRD Parris Island, SC: all males east of the Mississippi River, and all female recruits
-MCB Quantico, VA: Officer Candidate School, for all prospective Marine officers

Training

Recruits are almost entirely trained and supervised by Drill Instructors. A Drill Instructor is typically a Marine NCO (E5-E7) on his or her second enlistment, who does a 3-year tour as a drill instructor. Once they complete their first tour, they have the option to return for another tour. Drill instructors have a reputation as being the harshest trainers in the military, and as such, Marine Recruit Training is the most difficult of any branch.

Recruit training is divided into three phases (First Phase, Second Phase, Third Phase). First Phase is where recruits learn about Marine Corps history, regulations, customs and courtesies, and drill. Recruits spend the most time with physical conditioning during this phase. Second Phase consists of swim qualification and rifle range qualification, during which recruits fire their M-16 rifles. Recruits are not exposed or familiarized with other weapons systems until they attend SOI or MCT. During Third Phase, recruits qualify for their tan belt in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP), pass final inspection and drill, and conduct the Crucible, a 3-day field training event where recruits have to work as a team and utilize their training to get through obstacles. Upon completion of the Crucible, recruits are awarded the Eagle, Globe and Anchor emblem, and officially earn the title of United States Marine.

US Navy

Recruit Training in the Navy is 8 weeks long.  Sailors are indoctrinated and trained by company commanders, which are typically navy chief petty officers (E7 or above). Like the other services, sailors are taught basic drill, navy orders and regulations, customs and courtesies, and physical conditioning.

There is only one site for Recruit Training in the Navy:

-RTC Great Lakes, North Chicago, Illinois

The Navy formerly had sites in San Diego and Orlando, but they were shut down in 1999. Great Lakes is often called the "Quarterdeck of the Navy" because it has been in use since 1911, making it one of the oldest basic training sites in the US.

Training

Navy recruit training is divided into weeks (Week One through Week Seven). During this training sailors are only taught to qualify on the Mossberg 500 shotgun and the Beretta M9 pistol; the Navy discontinued M-16 qualification, which is done once a sailor joins the fleet and depending on their job. Sailors also learn swim qualification, watchstanding, customs and courtesies, and physical conditioning. Sailors also learn shipboard firefighting and damage control procedures, basic seamanship, and drill. Upon completion of recruit training, sailors are sent to apprentice schools, or "A-School" to learn their navy job, or rating.

US Air Force

Basic Military Training is conducted at Lackland AFB in Texas. Airmen are trained by Training Instructors, or TIs, who are Air Force NCOs (E5 and above). BMT is 8 weeks long and consists of drill, physical conditioning, and firearms safety (airmen don't qualify on the M-16 rifle until the middle of BMT). BMT, like US Navy RTC, is divided into weeks (Week One through Seven). Unlike other branches, BMT is when airmen sit down with job counselors to select their military job, typically during Week Two. Also unique to the Air Force, BMT teaches airmen about post-deployment life, after they attend the BEAST in Week Five (Basic Expeditionary Airman Skills Training). Upon completion of BMT, airmen are sent to tech school to learn their military jobs.


US Coast Guard

While it is not part of the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard by definition and tradition is a military branch. Its recruit training is conducted at US Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, New Jersey, and is 8 weeks long. Recruits are instructed in basic seamanship, firefighting, drill and customs and courtesies. Unlike other branches, recruits are instructed in the use and qualification of the SIG P229R pistol. Unique to the Coast Guard, the branch upholds high physical standards for enlistment, making them particularly strict on who joins the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard Academy in New Haven, Connecticut is also the only service academy that has competitive admissions, which means they only choose the most qualified men and women to become officers.  Upon completion of recruit training, also unique to the Coast Guard, new Coast Guardsmen are automatically promoted from Seaman Recruit (E1) to Seaman Apprentice (E2). They also attend A-School (depending on the job, ranging from 2-6 months and located in either Petaluma, California or Yorktown, Virginia). Coast Guard company commanders, who train Coast Guardsmen, are usually ranked E5-E8.

Weapons of the US Military

The United States Armed Forces command the largest arsenal in the world, ranging from nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines to guided missile cruisers and destroyers to 60-ton main battle tanks and long range artillery howitzers, down to individual firearms for our men and women in uniform. For the sake of simplicity, we're going to stick to the firearms.

Rifles

The standard rifles in use with all branches of the military are the Colt M16 and M4 rifles, based on a design first adopted in 1961 from Eugene Stoner's AR-15 design.  The weapon fires a 5.56x45mm NATO round from a 30-round magazine; the weapons can also have a 40mm grenade launcher or bayonet attached to them; since the early 2000s, the new M16A4 and M4A1 rifles have integrated rail systems on their stocks that allow for the attachment of laser sights, scopes, forward grips, and tactical lights. While the US was the first nation to adopt the M16, over 15 other nations use the weapon today. Canada has license-produced the rifle since 1988, and the Canadian variant is in use with the Netherlands and Denmark.

The military also utilizes several other rifles for snipers and designated marksmen. The Springfield M14, initially adopted in 1957 as the standard service rifle, was relegated to secondary duties after the Vietnam War. During the 1980s, the M21 variant was created with the attachment of a scope for a designated marksman to use; the M25, which had a Kevlar stock, was adopted in the early 2000s. The M21 and M25 both saw use in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. More modern variants, the Mk14 and the M39 Enhanced Battle Rifle, were adopted by the US Army and Marine Corps respectively.

The Remington 700 bolt-action rifle, which fires a 7.62x51mm round like the M14, was first designed in 1966 and adopted at the same time by the Marine Corps as the M40A1 sniper rifle, fitted with a Unertl 10x magnification scope. The M40A1 was replaced by the M40A3 in 2001, and the M40A5 in 2008. The Army, which was slow to start its own sniper program, did not adopt the Remington 700 as the M24 until 1987. The US Air Force also utilizes the M24 Sniper Weapon System. The Army and Marine Corps began the process to replace the M40/24 rifles in 2012.

The Barrett M82A1 was first adopted in the late 1980s as the first .50-caliber sniper rifle, able to hit targets a mile away. The M107, a more modern version, was adopted in the early 2000s. The Barrett has been adopted by dozens of other nations because it is one of the few weapons available that can hit a target over a mile away. Due to its weight and size, the weapon is only used by snipers for certain missions.

Machine guns

The military uses three machine gun designs: the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, the M240, and the M2. The SAW fires the same ammunition as the M16, with a firing rate of 800 rounds per minute. The M249 was adopted in 1982 by the army, but didn't see widespread use with the military until 1989. The M240 is a 7.62mm medium machine gun first adopted in 1977 as a turret weapon for the army's tanks. It replaced the M60 as the military's infantry machine gun later in the 1990s, and currently serves in three variants: the B, G, and L. The B is the Marine Corps version, the G is the Army's, and the L is a titanium alloy weapon that is lighter than the other variants and began to see service with the Army in select units in 2015.

The M2 is a .50-caliber heavy machine gun, which was first designed at the end of World War One. An experimental variant was created in 1922 but was not very successful; the M2 was designed and issued in 1933, and has been in the US military arsenal since then, the longest serving firearm in US military history. The machine gun has seen action in every US conflict since World War Two, and has been adopted for service by over a hundred other nations. A new variant with a quick-change barrel was adopted in the mid-1980s; other than that, the design has remained the same.  Due to its size and weight, it is usually mounted on vehicles or aircraft; in a ground unit, it takes three men to operate it.

Pistols

The Beretta 92FS, a 9mm pistol designed and manufactured in Italy starting in 1976, beat Glock and SIG-Sauer in a 1981 competition to select a replacement for the Colt 1911, a .45-caliber pistol that had been in service with the US since World War One. The pistol was adopted in 1985 as the M9; it had a troubled early service after Navy SEALs suffered injuries from the weapons' slides exploding after only a few hundred rounds. The weapons, initially made in Italy, contained the soft metal tellurium which has a low melting point. Manufacturing of the M9 moved to the US and tellurium was removed from the process. A new variant, the M9A1, was adopted in 2012 with a rail under the barrel for the attachment of a tactical light; in 2017, the US Army held a replacement competition and selected the SIG-Sauer P320 to replace the M9, starting in 2019.

The Colt M1911A1, first entered into service in World War One, was officially replaced by the M9 in 1985, but remained in use with Special Operations and some Marine units to certain extents. In 2012, the Marine Corps adopted a new model built by Springfield, which was used by Force Reconnaissance and military police units.

Starting in 2014, the Glock 19, a 9mm pistol design from Austria, began to replace the M9 and other handguns in use with Army Rangers and Green Berets; MARSOC followed in 2015 and Navy SEALs in 2016.

Some military police units in the Army and Air Force carry the M11, a version of the SIG P228.  The US Coast Guard's standard sidearm is the .357 SIG P229, just like the Secret Service.

Other weapons

Most other weapons in use with the military are with Special Operations units, who utilize submachine guns like the German-made MP-5 and MP-7. These units often have a lot of leeway in what kind of weapons they carry, and sometimes even use the same weapons as their enemies.

Shotguns have been in use with the military since World War One; these days they are usually in use with security troops, or ground units who need them to breach doors or other obstacles. Today, the Mossberg 590, Remington 870, and Italian-made Benelli M1014 are in use with various units across all the branches.

A Historical Operator Feature: Carlos Hathcock

The United States Marine Corps' history is rife with legendary heroics and superhuman feats in combat, which means the branch has a lot of heroes. From the first day of boot camp, you are taught about the escapades of Dan Daly, who led a charge against the Germans in World War I after refusing orders from the French to withdraw, or of Chesty Puller, a veteran of the Banana Wars, World War Two, and Korea who was awarded five Navy Crosses over his 40-year career, or more recently of Kyle Carpenter, who at the age of twenty jumped on a grenade and saved his best friend's life during a mission in Afghanistan in 2010. 

One of the most hallowed heroes in the annals of Marine Corps history is Carlos Norman Hathcock II (May 20, 1942 - February 22, 1999).

Hathcock was born and raised in rural Arkansas, and lived with his grandmother through most of his childhood after his parents divorced.  He was introduced to shooting at a young age, and became quite adept at shooting his .22-caliber rifle mostly out of necessity, since hunting was his primary way of bringing good to the table of his poor family.  Like most boys of the time, he spent his free time taking his dad's WWI-era Mauser rifle into the woods, where he played soldier and hunted imaginary Japanese troops.

Hathcock held a lifelong goal of becoming a US Marine, so on the day of his 17th birthday, he enlisted in the Marine Corps.  From his entry in 1959, Hathcock became a military policeman and became involved in Marine Corps shooting events, including winning the Wimbledon Cup in 1965 and several other events aboard Camp Perry before that.

Hathcock deployed to Vietnam for the first time in 1966, where he was noticed by Captain Edward James Land.  Captain Land is well-known within the Marine Corps for initiating the Scout Sniper program, because he advocated having a sniper in every Marine platoon.  Land noted that Hathcock was an expert shot with a rifle, and recruited him as one of his many snipers, whom Land trained and groomed for long missions.

As a scout sniper, Hathcock favored the Winchester Model 70, an early bolt action rifle that would pave the way for the Remington 700, which was adopted by the Marine Corps as the M40A1 sniper rifle later in the Vietnam War, and eventually by the Army as the M24 in 1987. Hathcock also tested a Browning M2 .50-caliber machine gun that was fitted with a scope, as the first anti-materiel rifle, where he killed a Vietnamese soldier at a range of 1.40 miles in 1967. This distance held the world record for longest range sniper kill in history until 2002.

During his time in Vietnam, the North Vietnamese called Hathcock the "White Feather Sniper" because he wore a white feather in the band of his jungle hat during missions.  The North put a $30,000 bounty on Hathcock, the highest ever on any American sniper in the war; every known Vietnamese marksman that went after Hathcock was subsequently killed by him.  Other Marine snipers also put white feathers in their hats to confuse the enemy because they knew if Hathcock was killed it would effect their morale, so they purposefully made themselves targets for enemy snipers.

Hathcock would attain 93 confirmed kills during the Vietnam War, although unofficial records indicate he may have killed upwards of 300-400 enemy. Hathcock holds the distinction of having the second highest kill count of any Marine sniper, and fourth highest kill count of any American sniper.

Missions

-During a patrol in 1967, Hathcock was fired upon by a Viet Cong sniper who was downhill from Hathcock and his spotter.  Hathcock reflexively fired back, and eventually located the sniper's body. The Vietnamese sniper had been armed with a Russian-made Mosin-Nagant rifle fitted with a PU-1 scope; Hathcock had unwittingly shot the enemy sniper through his scope, killing him.  It is the only time this is known to have happened in warfare, and it was copied during a scene in the 1998 film "Saving Private Ryan."

-Hathcock was tasked with killing a North Vietnamese general, so he crawled more than 2,000 feet armed only with his rifle and five shots, and camouflaged with his ghilly suit, which took him three days because he crawled inches at a time.  Once in position, Hathcock fired and killed the NVA general with a shot to the heart; Hathcock took his time crawling back from his firing position, often coming within inches of being stepped on by Vietnamese soldiers who were looking for him.

Post-Vietnam

After the war, Hathcock remained in the Marine Corps, where he became involved in the Marine Corps Scout Sniper Program.  Hathcock was one of the first official instructors in the program, and he used his experiences in Vietnam to teach prospective Marine snipers tradecraft and other skills.  Hathcock left the Marine Corps in 1979 after twenty years of service.

Later in his life, Hathcock was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis) and he became confined to a wheelchair in the last decade of his life.  In 1996, he was awarded a Silver Star for pulling several fellow Marines from a burning vehicle after it rolled over a landmine in 1969.  Other than the Silver Star, Hathcock was also awarded a Purple Heart and a Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal during his service.

Hathcock died in 1999 from MS complications.  His son, Carlos Hathcock III, served in the Marine Corps and retired as a gunnery sergeant just like his father; his grandson joined the Marine Corps in 2010.

US Military Involvement in Conflict

Where have the United States fought and when?

The United States has been involved in 100 direct conflicts since it was first recognized as a nation in 1776, soon after the colonies shirked British rule. Of those, 42 of those conflicts were against Native Americans, some of them lasting several decades, such as the Apache Wars, which spanned 1851-1900 in the Southwestern United States.

Indians & Rebellions

The US was also at the forefront of several other conflicts.  Of the 58 remaining conflicts that weren't fought against Indians in the 18th, 19th and early 20th Century, four of them were uprisings, such as Shay's Rebellion in 1786, which resulted in anti-tax protestors being suppressed by the army (but also led to the ratification of the Constitution the following year) and the Whiskey Rebellion in 1791, again against tax protestors, which led to the army defeating armed resistance and asserting control over frontier people in Western Pennsylvania. There was also a slave uprising in present-day Louisiana in 1811, backed by Haiti, which was defeated by the US; the last rebellion the US fought was in 1859 when abolitionists seized a government armory in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.  Their leader, John Brown, was arrested by US Marines after they defeated the uprising.  Brown was executed for acts against the government soon after.

Problems with future allies

The US also fought several conflicts against Great Britain after the Revolutionary War, most notably the War of 1812 from 1812-15, during which British soldiers burned down the White House and forced the evacuation of President James Madison and his wife. The British were defeated in New Orleans by then General Andrew Jackson, who repelled a larger force of British soldiers with a combined force of US Army and US Marine troops, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1815.

But the US fought the British in the Northwest Indian War from 1785-93, a continuation of the Revolutionary War during which the British allied with the Western Confederacy against the United States, Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians over territory disputes in the Northwest Territory.

Despite being allied with France, the US fought against them in the Quasi War in 1798 because French privateers were attacking American shipping in the Atlantic Ocean.  Privateers at the time were state-backed pirates who attacked shipping and stole their goods (or the ship too) in exchange for money from their sponsoring government.  The war ended after the United States and France reached an agreement to stop privateer attacks.

Pirates?

The United States fought pirates in the First and Second Barbary Wars (1801-05 and 1815 respectively) in present-day Algeria and Libya, because Barbary Coast pirates were attacking American shipping. The US also sent ships to the Aegean Sea in 1825 to fight Greek pirates, which led to the liberation of a Greek-held British warship, the HMS Comet.  Due to the US role in saving the British sailors, the British government sent a letter of thanks to the US, and the two nations became friendly from that day forward.

Today, the US is heavily involved in counter-piracy operations, most notably in the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa.  A high profile mission from those operations was the rescue of the MV Maersk Alabama crew by US Navy SEALs in 2009 after Somali pirates hijacked the vessel. Since then, there have been many more rescues by the US and their allies.

All in the interest of learning

During the 1800s, much of the world was still closed off to the West. The United States sent ships to several areas as part of expeditions so they could establish trade, alliances, or colonial rule over them.  Sometimes, these expeditions led to armed conflict with local tribes or military forces.  The First and Second Sumatran Expeditions (1832 and 1838 respectively), the First and Second Fiji Expeditions (1855 and 1859 respectively), the Formosa Expedition (1867), and the US Expedition to Korea (1871) were all instances of such conflict.  While small scale in nature, the Korean Expedition led to the awarding of 15 Medals of Honor for personnel involved.

Neighborly issues

The US has fought two conflicts alongside Mexico and three against them. The US and Mexico shared the fight against the Comanche Indians between 1820-75 during the long-running Texas-Indian Wars, and Victorio's War from 1879-81, against the brutal Apache.

The US first fought against Mexico during the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, which led to the acquisition of the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Texas after an armed conflict against Mexico. The US and Confederates also fought against Mexico together during the American Civil War in the First and Second Cortina Wars of 1859-61. Most recently, the US fought against criminal elements of Mexico during the Border Wars of 1910-19, during which Pancho Villa and his gang of bandits terrorized American transportation and hassled the US Army.

Foreign intervention

The United States has taken smaller roles as an ally in several wars. During the Second Opium War of 1856-59, the US and France aided Great Britain in ceding Kowloon to the UK from the Qing Dynasty. The US was also involved in taking control of the Shimonseki Straits in Japan from the Choshu regime in 1863-64 alongside French, British and Dutch troops because the Choshu refused shipping access to the strait. The US was also responsible for helping restore order to Peking, China in 1900 after the Boxer Rebellion, during which a US Marine, Dan Daly, was awarded the Medal of Honor for singlehandedly killing over a hundred Boxers as they attacked the US Embassy. That action involved troops from Great Britain, Russia, Japan, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary and France, in what is considered one of the first multinational peacekeeping operations.

The US also participated in the Banana Wars of 1912-33, during which the US helped Cuba repulse Cuban blacks during the Negro Rebellion of 1912 and the Sugar Intervention in 1916, and Nicaragua against the Sandanista rebels over the next two decades. The US also occupied Haiti during 1915-34 as part of the Banana Wars, helping that regime fight rebels as well.

The US ended up joining World War I late, in 1917, in response to German aggression that had begun to target US shipping to the UK, and also in World War II in 1941, after Japan attacked the US Navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  In both conflicts, despite heavy casualties, the US helped the Allied Powers overpower the enemy (Imperial Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Turks in WWI, and Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and the Italian Empire in WWII). Both wars introduced technology to the battlefield that led to the employment of chemical weapons, machine guns, airplanes, and later, at the end of WWII, nuclear weapons.

The Korean War was the first United Nations action, during which UN forces attempted to keep the Communist North, backed by the Soviet Union and China, from taking over the democratic South, backed by the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and over thirty other nations. That war, fought from 1950-53, was fought to a stalemate that led to the present border between North and South Korea at the 38th Parallel.  Despite an armistice signed in 1955, North Korea still remains in a state of war with the US and South Korea because a peace treaty was never signed.

The US also intervened peacefully in Lebanon in 1958 to keep rebel elements from taking over the sea and airports in Beirut; US forces eventually withdrew without engaging in combat.

The US, alongside Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea and South Vietnam fought in the Vietnam War from 1965 until 1973. This conflict led to the strategic defeat of the US, even though the United States military overwhelmingly won battles in the war. Public resentment of the war led to a withdrawal of combat forces in 1973 and a complete evacuation in 1975, which was followed by the takeover of South Vietnam by the North.

The US also aided in uprisings in the Congo and the Dominican Republic (1964 and 1965 respectively) that led to victories and democratic elections.

The US helped South Korea repel several incursions over the DMZ by North Korea in 1966-69, and aided Thailand in fighting Communist rebels from 1965-83.

The US aided France, Belgium and Zaire (present-day Congo) in fighting rebels there in 1978.

The US and a Caribbean peace force primarily composed of troops and police from Barbados and Jamaica intervened in Grenada in 1983 after Cuban-backed Communist rebels overthrew the government there. The conflict ended when the Cubans and rebels were defeated by the US military and Grenada's governor reinstated.

The US and UK intervened together in the Iran-Iraq War during 1987-88 when both sides were sinking oil tankers in the Persian Gulf; the US and UK targeted Iranian and Iraqi naval vessels and also conducted mine clearing operations to make international shipping routes safe. The intervention led to the end of the Iran-Iraq War.

The US invaded Panama in 1989 to depose Manuel Noriega, whom had previously been supported by the US in the 1970s. Noriega was wanted because the Panamanian military was harassing US citizens in Panama and also backed the drug trade. Noriega was captured by Navy SEALs at the Vatican embassy in Panama City after a week-long standoff, and tried in international court. A democratic government was brought to power in 1990 after the peaceful withdrawal of US forces.

An American-led international coalition entered the Middle East in 1990-91 to combat Iraqi aggression against Kuwait, which led to Operation Desert Storm.  After two months of conflict, Iraq was kicked out of Kuwait, a no fly zone was created over Iraq to keep their air force on the ground, and security was restored to the region.  The US and its allies would continue to intervene within Iraq from 1992 to 2003, when the US invaded the country. US forces withdrew in 2011 after quelling a massive insurgency there, but started intervening again in 2014 when a new organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) took over large swaths of Iraq and Syria. That intervention continues today with the deployment of US forces to aid the Iraqi military.

The US also intervened in Somalia from 1992-95. The incident is most well-known because two US Army Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu in 1993.  The story is dramatized in the book and film "Black Hawk Down."  The US withdrew after providing humanitarian aid to over 100,000 civilians, while the prominent warlord behind the Black Hawk Down incident, Mohammad Farah Aidid, continued in power until his death in a motorcade ambush in 1996. The Somali Civil War continues to this day.

The US intervened as part of a NATO mandate in the Balkans in 1995-96 and 1998-99, but failed to prevent genocide between Serbians, Croats and Bosnian Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities. There was victory though because of the Dayton Accords, which led to the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the beginnings of war crimes trials.

Most recently, the US has been involved in the War in Afghanistan since 2001, in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  The War in Northwest Pakistan and the broader Global War on Terrorism stemmed from the War in Afghanistan, which primarily targets the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The US was also the leading force behind the Intervention in Libya in 2011 which led to the ousting of Moammar Gaddafi, the nation's longtime dictator.  The US and NATO launched air strikes against the Libyan military to help rebels on the ground.  The US has begun bombing Libya again in 2016 in response to ISIS spreading to Libya.

Military Defeats

 The US was also involved in an international coalition that entered Russia to help quell the Russian Civil War of 1920-23, between the Communist Reds and democratic Whites.  The conflict was also the first military defeat against the United States, because it forced the withdrawal of international forces before the Communists took over Russia.

President John F. Kennedy ordered the US, especially the CIA, to back Cuban rebels in an assassination attempt of Fidel Castro in 1961. The US military landed the rebels in Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, but the rebels were killed or captured.

Medal of Honor

America's Highest Honor

The Medal of Honor is the United States' highest military decoration for acts of valor, above and beyond the call of duty.  It is only awarded to US Military personnel.  The medal has three versions for the Army, Navy and Air Force; Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel who receive the medal are given the Navy version.  Since its creation in 1861, the Medal of Honor has been awarded 3,515 times to service members; 621 of those were posthumous, or awarded for actions that resulted in the death of the person being awarded the medal. Half of the awards were for Americans fighting in the Civil War alone.

A Brief History of the Medal of Honor

The medal was first created for the US Navy in 1861 as the "Medal of Valor"; a year later, the Army created the "Medal of Honor" to acknowledge the sacrifices of soldiers fighting on the ground, and the Navy changed the name of its award soon after.

In 1861, US Army Lieutenant Colonel Edward D. Townsend submitted a proposal to the Army for a valor award, because the US Military did not have such awards at the time. Winfield Scott, the general-in-chief of the Army (today called the Chief of Staff of the Army, the highest ranking officer in the branch) denied the proposal because awarding valor awards to soldiers was a European tradition, and the US Military did everything in its power to distance itself from European roots.

After General Scott retired in October 1861, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles adopted Lt Col Townsend's proposal to "honor distinguished naval service." Iowa Senator James W. Grimes, Chairman on the Committee on Naval Affairs, proposed Public Resolution 82 in December 1861 to "promote the efficiency of the navy"; this provision included a section creating the Navy Medal of Honor.

In January 1862, Secretary Welles directed the Philadelphia Mint to design the medal, and ordered 175 of the medals with the words "Personal Valor" engraved on the back.  The Army created their own Medal of Honor in July 1862, which were made of copper and coated in bronze, with the words "From the Congress to" on the back; the award was intended for privates and NCOs of the Army for valor on the battlefield. In July 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Medal of Honor as a permanent military decoration into law.

Officers in the US Military were not made elligible for the Medal of Honor until 1915; the US Air Force was created in 1947, but the branch did not get its own Medal of Honor until 1965. To that point, members of the Army Air Corps, Army Air Force and Air Force received the Army version.

Awards

The Medal of Honor has been awarded to 3,496 people since 1861. Of those, 19 people were awarded the medal twice. 14 of those people were awarded two medals for two separate actions, while the other five were awarded the Army and Navy versions for the same action. Today, only one medal is permitted per person.

The first Medal of Honor was presented to Private Jacob Parrott of the Union Army, and five of his comrades, for their involvement with the Andrews Raiders unit, which attacked and destroyed a Confederate train in Big Shanty, Georgia on April 12, 1862.

Corporal John F. Mackie became the first US Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for taking charge of deck guns on the USS Galena and directing rifle fire toward enemy positions on shore when many of the deck crew were killed or wounded; Corporal Mackie maneuvered about the deck under heavy fire to motivate his men and man several different deck guns and rifles.

The first Navy Medal of Honor was awarded to 41 sailors by Secretary of War Stanton on April 4, 1863 for their actions during the Battles of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip.

The only Coast Guardsman to receive the Medal of Honor, Signalman First Class Douglas Munro, was a Canadian-American who singlehandedly evacuated 500 US Marines from Guadalcanal on September 27, 1942 while under heavy fire from Japanese troops. He was killed in the action and received the medal posthumously.

Mary Edwards Walker is the only woman to have received the Medal of Honor. The Union Army surgeon was awarded the medal in 1865 for two separate actions, one during the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861 and another for her part in the Battle of Atlanta in September 1864.

61 Canadians serving in the US Armed Forces have been awarded the Medal of Honor, with only 4 of them being after the Civil War. One was awarded to Peter C. Lemon, the only Canadian-born naturalized US citizen to receive the award, for actions during the Vietnam War.

In 1993, two Delta Force snipers, Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon became the first Medal of Honor recipients since the Vietnam War when they sacrificed their lives to secure a downed helicopter in Mogadishu, Somalia. Their actions saved the life of the helicopter pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Two Michael Durant.  The incident was portrayed in the book and film "Black Hawk Down".

Only 14 Medals of Honor have been awarded for action during the War in Afghanistan, and 4 for the War in Iraq.

US Special Operations Command

Special Operations: What Are They, and What are Their Roles?

Today, the United States Armed Forces are more networked and coordinated than they ever have been before. While each branch has its own missions, its own culture, and its own way of doing things, sometimes they have to work together on the battlefield. During Operation Urgent Fury in October 1983, the United States Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy were involved in an invasion of Grenada to restore their democratically elected leader after a Cuban-backed coup. The lack of coordination between Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and US Marines led to friendly fire incidents and needless command arguments over who was really in charge of military operations on the tiny Caribbean island.

The answer?

Special Operations Command.

Every branch of the military has their own Special Operations units, but they were not amalgamated under a common command until SOCOM's formation in 1986. The command shortfalls in Grenada and the disastrous rescue attempt of hostages in Iran during Operation Eagle Claw in 1980 were a huge motivation for the creation of SOCOM, which would enable the Department of Defense to oversee units in all branches and be able to better coordinate their missions.

In this post, I will explore the history of the units under SOCOM, and what their roles are.

SOCOM is made up of commands from each branch that oversee their individual special operations units.  They are as follows:

United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC)
United States Air Force Special Operations Command (USAFSOC)
United States Naval Special Warfare Command (USNSWC)
United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command (USMARSOC)

Since they are not a part of the DoD, the Coast Guard is not included in SOCOM, but they do have their own special operations units.

USASOC
The US Army has several special operations units with varying missions:

• 75th Ranger Regiment, aka "Army Rangers": Formed in 1942, the Rangers are made up of three battalions who are specialized light infantry, headquartered at Fort Benning, Georgia. Rangers have some of the toughest training in the military, and emphasize teamwork and speed. They are well known for taking the cliff at Point du Hoc during the D-Day landings in 1944, infiltrating enemy positions in Panama in 1989, securing landing zones in Somalia in 1993, and other missions in the Global War on Terrorism since 2001, where their reputation as a rapid reaction force was perfected. Their main roles are direct action, counterterrorism, and reconnaissance.

• US Army Special Forces, aka "Green Berets": Formed in 1952 and headquartered in Fort Bragg, North Carolina Green Berets are trained to be experts in weaponry and in various forms of warfare. Green Berets are required to learn foreign languages, and are divided into various jobs in three categories (weapons, medical and communications). Green Berets often spend long periods of time behind enemy lines training partisans; they are also used to train partner nations' police forces and militaries. Green Berets are well known for their operations during the Vietnam War and also during the Salvadoran Civil War in the early and mid-1980s. Their main missions are irregular & guerilla warfare, foreign internal defense and counterterrorism.

• Special Operations Detachment - Delta, or more common in contemporary times Combat Applications Group, aka "Delta Force": Delta Force was formed in 1977 and is the United States' premier counterterrorism unit, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Delta is well-known for being incredibly secretive. Delta Force operators destroyed Iraqi Scud missiles in Desert Storm and were involved in the capture of several high level lieutenants from Mohammad Farah Aidid's regime in Somalia in 1993 during the Blackhawk Down incident. Delta's main mission is counterterrorism and direct action; they are trained to conduct hostage rescues.

• 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment aka "Night Stalkers": Formed in 1980 in response to the failed Iran hostage crisis, 160th SOAR is the only unit of its kind in the military. Based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. their pilots are highly trained in low-level and night flight, utilizing the MH-60 Pave Hawk, MH-47 Chinook, and MH-6 Little Bird helicopters. Their primary mission is to support other SOCOM units; 160th SOAR transports Rangers, SEALs and other units to and from their operations, most famously during the Blackhawk Down mission in Somalia in 1993 and during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.

• 4th & 8th Military Information Support Groups (Airborne): Formed in 2011, the MISGs are utilized to provide intelligence support to other Army Special Operations Units. They are also used to work with the State Department to gather information on political and military activity in foreign countries. Both MISGs are based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

• 528th Sustainment Brigade (Airborne): Formed in 1995, the 528th SB is used to provide logistical support to US Army Special Operations Command. The brigade is stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

AFSOC

AFSOC was created in 1983, moving all Air Force Special Operations units from Tactical Air Command to the newly formed Air Force Special Operations Command. AFSOC comprises four Special Operations Wings, one Special Operations Group, and one Special Operations Air Warfare Center on active duty, one Special Operations Wing, five Special Operations Squadrons, and three flights under the Air National Guard, and one Special Operations Wing in the Air Force Reserve.

Special Operations Wings contain parajumpers, joint tactical air controllers, civil engineers, weathermen, pilots and medical personnel who are tasked with combat search and rescue, irregular warfare, and behind enemy lines missions.

• 1st Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, FL
• 24th Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, FL
• 27th Special Operations Wing, Cannon AFB, NM
• 352nd Special Operations Wing, RAF Mildenhall, UK
• 353d Special Operations Group, Kadena AFB, Japan
• Air Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center, Hurlburt Field, FL
• 193rd Special Operations Wing (Air National Guard), Harrisburg ANGB, PN
• 919th Special Operations Wing (Air Force Reserve), Eglin AFB, FL

NSWC

NSWC oversees SEAL teams, SDV teams, Special Boat Teams, and training units.  There are ten SEAL teams (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 17, 18), two SDV teams (1, 2) and three Special Boat Teams (12, 20, 22).

The Navy SEALs were formed in 1962, SDV teams in 1975, and Special Boat Teams in 1987. SDV teams utilize the SEAL Delivery Vehicle submersible, which can be attached to nuclear submarines and used to deliver SEALs into enemy areas underwater. Special Boat Teams utilize various small water craft to infiltrate coastal regions or rivers; the Special Operations Craft Riverine (SOC-R) was featured in the 2012 film "Act of Valor". SEALs are most well-known for their work in the Vietnam War, where they gained the nickname "Men with Green Faces" by the Viet Cong. SEALs also gained worldwide fame in 2011 after killing Osama bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist in the world.

SEAL Team 6, alternatively referred to as Naval Special Warfare Development Group, is a specialized SEAL team separate from other teams and included under Joint Special Operations Command, which is shared with Delta Force, Air Force 24th Special Tactics Squadron, and the 4th MISG.

• Naval Special Warfare Group 1 (SEAL Teams 1, 3, 5, 7; NSW Units 1 & 3) Coronado, CA
• Naval Special Warfare Group 2 (SEAL Teams 2, 4, 8, 10; NSW Unit 2) Little Creek, VA
• Naval Special Warfare Group 3 (SDV Team 1) Pearl Harbor, HI
• Naval Special Warfare Group 4 (SBT-12, 20 & 22) Little Creek, VA
• Naval Special Warfare Group 5 (Reserve) (SEAL Teams 17 & 18) Coronado, CA

MARSOC

MARSOC is comprised of one Special Operations Regiment, separated into three battalions. MARSOC operators are called "Raiders", harkening back to their World War Two lineage when Jungle Raiders attacked Japanese positions throughout the Pacific Theatre. MARSOC was formed in 2006 and is the newest unit in SOCOM. MARSOC Raiders are well known for their operations inside Afghanistan, where they have conducted counterintelligence missions, direct action raids and reconnaissance to assist Coalition forces.

 -- Marine Corps Special Operation Regiment (Camp Lejeune, NC)

• 1st Marine Corps Special Operations Battalion (Camp Pendleton, CA)
• 2nd Marine Corps Special Operations Battalion (Camp Lejeune, NC)
• 3rd Marine Corps Special Operations Battalion (Camp Pendleton, CA)

A Brief Look at the United States Armed Forces

The United States Armed Forces

Most people don't know much about our military.  When veterans are asked if they served, they usually hear "what's the army like?" I usually respond with "I wouldn't know, I'm a Marine" which draws confused looks from my interrogator.  This post will differentiate between branches and also illustrate the responsibilities and capabilities of each branch.

The United States Armed Forces consist of seven 'uniformed service branches'.  The Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force are the main combat branches and fall under the Department of Defense, which is headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.  The Coast Guard is considered a branch of the military, but falls under the Department of Homeland Security.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Public Health Service are considered uniformed branches because they can have commissioned officers through the US Navy.

Under the Department of Defense, each branch has its own civilian-led administrative department (the army falls under the Department of the Army, Navy & Marine Corps under Department of the Navy, Air Force under Department of the Air Force).  Each department is led by a secretary that oversees the management of each service branch.

Each branch also has its own senior military staff, led by a general and a senior enlisted adviser who act as policy makers for the military.  In the Marine Corps, the Commandant is a four-star general who is in charge of the entire Corps; he is assisted by the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, his senior enlisted adviser.

The branches

The Army

The United States Armed Forces consisted of a total of over 3 million service members total in the mid-2010s.  Of that number, 1 million of them are in the US Army. 
The Army was created on June 10, 1775 (making it the oldest branch) by the Continental Congress to fight the British Empire during the Revolutionary War. 
The army's job in the US Armed Forces is as the primary ground fighting branch.  Since its creation, the US Army has fought in every conflict that involved Americans, attaining victory against the British in the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, and constituting itself as the Union during the American Civil War.  The US Army was also active in the Indian Wars through most of the 19th Century, and was also involved in storied fighting in both World Wars, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and several smaller conflicts throughout the 1980s and 1990s. 
Today, the US Army is heavily engaged in the Global War on Terrorism, being responsible for the bulk of ground fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The US Army has a reserve component, the US Army Reserve, and also has a National Guard Bureau that is responsible for the defense of each of the 50 states and America's external territories.

The Navy

The US Navy is the largest naval force in the world in terms of number of ships and their combined tonnage. 
Created on October 14, 1775 the Navy's primary mission is that of the United States' maritime force.  The Navy has roughly half a million members, with its own reserve component. 
Aside from fighting at sea, the Navy is one of two branches responsible for carrying out our nation's nuclear deterrence (the other being the Air Force).  The Navy also maintains ten aircraft carriers, the largest force in the world, and operates nearly 3,000 combat aircraft. 
The Navy is well known for being the first force in the world to utilize submarines, the first force to sail under the North Pole, the first force to harness nuclear power, and the force that killed Osama bin Laden, the warlord of al-Qaeda who masterminded and ordered the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 
The US Navy's most well-known actions were in World War Two, when it led the Pacific War against Japan and also participated in the largest amphibious assault in history, the D-Day landings in France, in 1944. 
The Navy also possesses one of the world's deadliest special operations units, the Navy SEALs, which were created by President John F. Kennedy in 1962.
Like the Army, the Navy is heavily engaged in the Global War on Terrorism, and has also participated in every US conflict.

The Marine Corps

The US Marine Corps is considered one of the most respected, well-trained and deadly fighting forces the world has ever seen. 
Created in a bar in Philadelphia on November 10, 1775 the Marine Corps is a force of 'sea soldiers', which means it can fight on land and sea (and in the air now, once it developed its own aviation component in 1912). 
The Marines have a reputation as hard-hitting and ferocious fighters, earning themselves the moniker 'Teufel Heunden' (Devil Dogs) from the Germans in World War One. 
Today, the active duty force contains 195,000 Marines (the largest force of its kind in the world), and has roughly 30,000 reservists scattered throughout units in 48 of the 50 states. 
Whereas the US Army has ten active duty divisions and several independent brigades and regiments, the Marine Corps has three active duty 'Marine Expeditionary Forces' which consist of a division, an air wing, and a logistics group.  The reserves are centered around a division, air wing and logistics group but are not organized as a MEF. 
The Marine Corps has fought in every US conflict since the Revolutionary War, and even in some conflicts where the army was not involved.  Because of its amphibious nature, US Marines are on ships around the world and are often the first responders to natural disasters and conflicts everywhere.  US Marines were first on the ground in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, and are also called on to evacuate civilians during unrest in war-torn countries. 

The Air Force

Aviation within the United States military was slow to catch on, with the Wright Brothers inspiring the US Army to adopt the airplane into its inventory by 1907.  The Navy would follow less than two years later, and the Marine Corps again in 1912. 
As a whole, most aviation was overseen by the Army, with the creation of the Army Air Corps in 1926.  The Army Air Corps became the Army Air Force in 1942 after the US realized they needed a more comprehensive aerial force to fight the Germans and Japanese in World War Two. 
After the war, seeing the importance of an air force, the US Air Force was created separately from the Army in 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act. 
Since then, the Air Force has dominated the skies in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm, several NATO actions, and the Global War on Terrorism. 
The US Air Force is the largest aerial combat force in the world only behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force.  Like the Navy, it is tasked with nuclear deterrence, possessing intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs.  The Air Force is also tasked with cyber warfare and space warfare, being responsible for spy satellites and computer defenses. 
The US Air Force has around 320,000 airmen on active duty and 150,000 reservists in both the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard.  The US Air Force also has the largest number of transport aircraft in the world, making it the first choice in the US military when it comes to moving people and equipment by air.  They are sought out by military and civilian groups alike for their ability to move large amounts of men and supplies to disaster zones and battlefields.  They have even flown Shamu the whale from one park to another because there was no other way to transport the whale.

Honorable mention: The Coast Guard

The US Coast Guard, created in 1790 as the Revenue Cutter Service, is a law enforcement branch that has the distinction of being the world's 12th largest naval force by itself (with the US Navy being first and the British Royal Navy second). 
The Coast Guard was officially created out of a merger of the Revenue Cutter Service and US Lifesaving Service in 1916, and was subsequently placed under the Department of Transportation.  Aside from being under Department of the Navy during both World Wars, the Coast Guard remained under DoT until 9/11, when the Coast Guard was placed in the newly formed Department of Homeland Security.
The US Coast Guard active duty force has 40,000 sailors and has a unique role in that it is the only branch allowed powers of arrest.  Other than protecting US waterways and trade routes, the Coast Guard serves as a force that oversees the lawful use of fisheries and protection of international shipping routes.  The Coast Guard is also the premier service utilized for life-saving; Coast Guard helicopters have executed some of the most daring water rescues in US history (see "The Guardian", starring Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner). 
The Coast Guard is also a leading force in the fight against drug importation.  The Coast Guard's most notable operation was during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, when the branch as a whole was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for rescuing over 33,000 people from New Orleans by air alone over the course of a week.

A Brief Side note:
-Personnel in the US Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard are referred to as 'soldiers'
-Personnel in the US Navy and Navy Reserve are referred to as 'sailors'
-Personnel in the US Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve are referred to as 'Marines'
-Personnel in the US Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard are referred to as 'airmen'
-Personnel in the US Coast Guard, Coast Guard Reserve and Coast Guard Auxiliary are referred to as 'Coast Guardsmen'