Military Branches
This military branch has no Warrant Officers.
What is the Air Force?
This person is the only non-military official in the military chain of command.
Who is the Secretary of Defense?
This combatant command is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
What is EUCOM?
The Chief of Staff of the Air Force is responsible for this key function.
What is organizing, training, and equipping the Air Force?
The President must seek Congressional approval to deploy military forces for longer than this many days under the War Powers Resolution.
What is 60 days?
The newest branch of the U.S. military, established in 2019, is this.
What is the Space Force?
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not in the chain of command but instead serves in this capacity.
What is the principal military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council?
This command has the largest geographic area of responsibility, spanning over half the Earth's surface.
What is INDOPACOM?
This is the primary warfighting mission of the U.S. Space Force.
What is space superiority and defense of space assets?
This position is next in line after the Secretary of Defense in the military chain of command.
What is the Combatant Commanders?
The National Guard operates under dual authority, reporting to these two entities.
Who are the state governors and the President?
This civilian-led office is responsible for the budgeting, policy, and oversight of the U.S. military.
What is the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)?
The combatant commander for this command is also responsible for NORAD, which is a joint U.S.-Canadian defense organization.
What is NORTHCOM?
The Combatant Commanders report directly to this person.
Who is the Secretary of Defense?
This military operation in 1999 was the first major conflict led entirely by NATO without a United Nations mandate.
What is Operation Allied Force?
The Coast Guard can be transferred to the Navy during this type of situation.
What is a declaration of war?
This combatant command, headquartered at MacDill AFB, Florida, oversees military operations in Central and South America.
What is SOUTHCOM?
AFRICOM is the newest geographic combatant command, having been created in this year.
What is 2007?
The National Security Act of 1947 merged these two war departments into the Department of Defense.
What are the War Department and the Department of the Navy?
The first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff served under this U.S. President.
Who is Harry Truman?
The Marine Corps and Navy share this key leadership position.
What is the Secretary of the Navy?
This law, enacted in 1986, restructured the military by strengthening the role of combatant commanders and reducing interservice rivalries.
What is the Goldwater-Nichols Act?
This is the only combatant command whose commander is always a four-star Marine General.
What is U.S. Marine Forces Command (MARFORCOM)?
The U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) is unique among combatant commands because it reports to both the DoD and this agency.
What is the National Security Agency (NSA)?
This Cold War-era unified command was disbanded in 2002 and replaced by U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM).
What is U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM)?