USA p. 3

 

US Marine Corps Budget

            $13-billion personnel

            $6-billion operations and maintenance

            $2-billion procurement (including ~$700-million ammunition)

            RDTE and Military construction consolidated with Navy Budget.

 

Personnel (Army and Marine Corps)           

 

Active

National Guard

Reserve[1]

Total

Army

569,000[2]

358,200

205,000

1,124,000

Marines

204,000[3]

 

39,000

   240,000

 

 

 

 

1,347,000

Civilians

 

 

 

 

Marines

 

 

 

24,000

 

Comment

 

While reviewing these pages, readers will find it useful to understand that the US Army has, through the 20th Century to the present day, been a mobilization army. It can, on complete mobilization, reach 1.2 million personnel within days, including ~110,000 Individual Ready Reserve. It is further designed to rapidly boost its intake and training load if required. Reinstating a draft would probably deliver the first recruits to basic training within 90 days, so that an expansion could take place rapidly.

 

The US military an extraordinarily large number of civilians, almost 600,000 compared to 1.4-million active duty personnel, and this excludes what may total 150,000 “contractors” in Afghanistan and Iraq. So it is much larger than it might appear at first sight.

Keeping this in mind will explain why the US Army seems to have such a large number of HQs often with a minimal number of assigned units. For example, 1st Signal Brigade in Korea has just three battalions. To be properly classified as a brigade, it should have a number of groups each with several battalions. But should the need arise, however, by calling up reserve signal units, the Brigade could rapidly become a true Brigade.

 

Similarly, looking at US Forces Korea overall, there seem to be a phenomenal number of HQs for a force that has two infantry brigades. Again, however, mobilization could see several divisions reinforce 8th Army. All the higher HQs needed for a complete theatre are already in place. 8th Army could increase to 500-800,000 troops without any significant increase in HQs, though of course the HQs themselves will need personnel augmentation.


[1] United States Army Reserve, almost exclusively training and support units.

[2] Includes 22,000 increase which the budget considers temporary as it will be funded from the allotment for “Overseas Contingency Operations”.

[3] Plus 9000 activated reservists.

 

 

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