During the Second World War, a total of approximately 342,000 women served in the United States military in some capacity. Some of these were enlisted in various branches of the military, while others were part of civilian organizations who provided voluntary assistance to the Armed Forces. The majority of these women remained in the U.S. for the duration of the war, in roles such as communications, engineering, and administration. American women overseas were not permitted to take part in active combat, but they played an indispensable role in keeping supply lines moving, while volunteer nurses saved countless lives near or on the frontlines (sometimes on active battlefields).

Women's Army Corps

Almost half (44 percent) of these women were enlisted in the Women's Army Corps (WAC). President Roosevelt signed a bill into law in May 1942, creating the WAC - a goal of 25,000 enlistments was set for the first year, but interest was so high that a limit of 150,000 was later introduced, and quickly met. Women were primarily seen as substitutes for men at home, as every female enlistment allowed one male soldier to take up a combat role. Women's roles were then expanded during the war, and physical and weapons trainings were provided so they could replace men if necessary. Women quickly gained prominent supporters among leading generals and military organizations, with the Air Force in particular advocating for increased female involvement - yet, society at large was less welcoming.

Backlash

Many women, especially wives of servicemen or those in towns with army bases, felt threatened by large numbers of young women enlisting. Volunteers were accused of sexual promiscuity, prostitution, and lesbianism. Servicemen often dissuaded their partners or sisters from volunteering, for fear of such accusations, while other men were opposed as they felt the presence of women weakened or emasculated their own position. Prominent journalists and religious organizations also repeated such sentiments, creating negative nationwide sentiments towards female volunteers. However, no investigations found evidence of these activities on a scale that warranted such hysteria, and military leaders pushed for further female participation in the military after the war's conclusion. Today, women make up just over one-sixth of the U.S. Armed Forces personnel.

In the fiscal year of 2019, 21.39 percent of active-duty enlisted women were of Hispanic origin. The total number of active duty military personnel in 2019 amounted to 1.3 million people.

Ethnicities in the United States The United States is known around the world for the diversity of its population. The Census recognizes six different racial and ethnic categories: White American, Native American and Alaska Native, Asian American, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are classified as a racially diverse ethnicity.

The largest part of the population, about 61.3 percent, is composed of White Americans. The largest minority in the country are Hispanics with a share of 17.8 percent of the population, followed by Black or African Americans with 13.3 percent. Life in the U.S. and ethnicity However, life in the United States seems to be rather different depending on the race or ethnicity that you belong to. For instance: In 2019, native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders had the highest birth rate of 58 per 1,000 women, while the birth rae of white alone, non Hispanic women was 49 children per 1,000 women.

The Black population living in the United States has the highest poverty rate with of all Census races and ethnicities in the United States. About 19.5 percent of the Black population was living with an income lower than the 2020 poverty threshold. The Asian population has the smallest poverty rate in the United States, with about 8.1 percent living in poverty.

The median annual family income in the United States in 2020 earned by Black families was about 57,476 U.S. dollars, while the average family income earned by the Asian population was about 109,448 U.S. dollars. This is more than 25,000 U.S. dollars higher than the U.S. average family income, which was 84,008 U.S. dollars.

In 2023, around 21.3 percent of active duty officers in the United States Navy were women. Additionally, approximately 19.4 percent of officers in the Space Force were women.

The graph illustrates the number of personnel in each branch of the U.S. Military for the year 2025. The x-axis lists the military branches: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The y-axis represents the number of personnel, ranging from 41,689 to 452,823. Among the branches, the Army has the highest number of personnel with 452,823, followed by the Navy with 337,209 and the Air Force with 321,211. The Marine Corps and Coast Guard have 170,201 and 41,689 personnel, respectively. The data is displayed in a bar graph format, effectively highlighting the distribution of military personnel across the different branches.

This statistic shows the share of women and men in the U.S. Military in 2010 by branch. In 2010, 37 percent of all active-duty enlisted women were part of the Army. The total number of military personnel in the U.S. Army can be found here.

In the fiscal year of 2019, 25.14 percent of all active-duty enlisted women were employed as administrators. A further 14.79 percent of active-duty women were employed in the medical field, as compared to 5.75 percent of men.

The U.S. Army remains the largest branch of the American military, with 449,344 active duty personnel in 2023. While the Army leads in numbers, the newly established Space Force had just 8,879 active duty members, highlighting the evolving nature of modern warfare and the increasing importance of space-based capabilities. Confidence in military remains high Despite fluctuations in force size, public trust in the U.S. military remains strong. In 2024, 61 percent of Americans expressed a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the armed forces, a slight increase from the previous year. While a slightly higher share of Republicans have shown more confidence in the military, trust in the institution remains high across party lines. Global commitments The United States continues to invest heavily in its military capabilities, with defense spending reaching 916.02 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. This substantial budget supports not only domestic defense needs but also enables the U.S. to respond to global crises, as evidenced by the over 40 billion euros in military aid provided to Ukraine following Russia's invasion. The high level of spending, which translates to about 2,220 U.S. dollars per capita.

At the end of the fiscal year of 2024, it is estimated that there will be ** Generals serving the United States Army, and a total of ******* enlisted personnel. Military personnel The military departments in the United States are: the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Coast Guards. The President of the United States is the military’s overall head and forms the military policy with the U.S. Department of Defense. The U.S. military is one of the largest militaries in term of number of personnel. The largest branch of the United States Armed Forces is the United States Army. The United States Army is responsible for land-based military operations. The active duty U.S. Army personnel number has decreased from 2010 to 2021. In 2010, there were ******* active duty U.S. Army members, as compared to ******* in 2021. The number of active duty U.S. Navy personnel has decreased slowly over the past 20 years. In 2021, there were ******* active duty Navy members in the United States Navy. The United States Navy personnel are enlisted sailors, commissioned officers, and midshipmen. Sailors have to take part in Personnel Qualification Standards, to prove that they have mastered skills. The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States. The active duty U.S. Air Force personnel numbers also decreased between 1995 and 2015, although has started to increase slightly since 2015. The number decreased again in 2021, when the Air Force had ******* personnel.

In the fiscal year of 2024, the United States Navy estimates there will be a total year-end strength of ******* personnel. In the same year, they expect to have ** Admirals and ** Vice Admirals serving in the U.S. Navy. The Navy The United States Navy is the maritime branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is the largest navy in the world. In 2021, the Navy had around ******* personnel, and a budget of ***** billion U.S. dollars in the same year. Additionally, this branch of the Navy boasts a large fleet of deployable battle force ships, totaling *** in 2023. Anchors aweigh The number of active duty naval personnel has been on the decline in the U.S. since 1995, though the number of personnel has remained relatively steady since 2008. Among Navy officers in the U.S., there have historically been significantly more male officers than female officers.

The American Civil War is the conflict with the largest number of American military fatalities in history. In fact, the Civil War's death toll is comparable to all other major wars combined, the deadliest of which were the World Wars, which have a combined death toll of more than 520,000 American fatalities. The ongoing series of conflicts and interventions in the Middle East and North Africa, collectively referred to as the War on Terror in the west, has a combined death toll of more than 7,000 for the U.S. military since 2001. Other records In terms of the number of deaths per day, the American Civil War is still at the top, with an average of 425 deaths per day, while the First and Second World Wars have averages of roughly 100 and 200 fatalities per day respectively. Technically, the costliest battle in U.S. military history was the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge, which was a part of the Battle of the Bulge in the Second World War, and saw upwards of 5,000 deaths over 10 days. However, the Battle of Gettysburg had more military fatalities of American soldiers, with almost 3,200 Union deaths and over 3,900 Confederate deaths, giving a combined total of more than 7,000. The Battle of Antietam is viewed as the bloodiest day in American military history, with over 3,600 combined fatalities and almost 23,000 total casualties on September 17, 1862. Revised Civil War figures For more than a century, the total death toll of the American Civil War was generally accepted to be around 620,000, a number which was first proposed by Union historians William F. Fox and Thomas L. Livermore in 1888. This number was calculated by using enlistment figures, battle reports, and census data, however many prominent historians since then have thought the number should be higher. In 2011, historian J. David Hacker conducted further investigations and claimed that the number was closer to 750,000 (and possibly as high as 850,000). While many Civil War historians agree that this is possible, and even likely, obtaining consistently accurate figures has proven to be impossible until now; both sides were poor at keeping detailed records throughout the war, and much of the Confederacy's records were lost by the war's end. Many Confederate widows also did not register their husbands death with the authorities, as they would have then been ineligible for benefits.

Over the course of the Second World War approximately 127.2 million people were mobilized. The world's population in 1940 was roughly 2.3 billion, meaning that between five and six percent of the world was drafted into the military in some capacity. Approximately one in every 25 people mobilized were women, who generally served in an administrative or medical role, although hundreds of thousands of women did see active combat. Largest armies In absolute numbers, the Soviet Union mobilized the largest number of people at just under 34.5 million, and this included roughly 35 percent of the USSR's male population. By the war's end, more Soviets were mobilized than all European Axis powers combined. However, in relative terms, it was Germany who mobilized the largest share of its male population, with approximately 42 percent of men serving. The USSR was forced to find a balance between reinforcing its frontlines and maintaining agricultural and military production to supply its army (in addition to those in annexed territory after 1941), whereas a large share of soldiers taken from the German workforce were replaced by workers drafted or forcibly taken from other countries (including concentration camp prisoners and PoWs). Studying the figures The figures given in these statistics are a very simplified and rounded overview - in reality, there were many nuances in the number of people who were effectively mobilized for each country, their roles, and their status as auxiliary, collaborative, or resistance forces. The British Empire is the only power where distinctions are made between the metropole and its colonies or territories, whereas breakdowns of those who fought in other parts of Asia or Africa remains unclear. Additionally, when comparing this data with total fatalities, it is important to account for the civilian death toll, i.e. those who were not mobilized.

In 2022, approximately ******* active duty personnel in the United States Department of Defense were Black or African American. Furthermore, another ******* active duty DoD personnel were white in that year, making up around **** percent of the total number.

In the fiscal year of 2024, it is estimated that there will be ** Generals serving in the United States Air Force. U.S. Air Force The U.S. Air Force is a service branch of the United States Armed Forces that specializes in aerial warfare. It was formed in September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947 and is one of the newest branches of the country’s military. The Air Force’s most common fighter is the F-16C Fighting Falcon, with *** planes in the 2021 inventory. This plane was developed by General Dynamics specifically for the U.S. Air Force. Since its first flight in January 1974, the fighter has developed into an all-weather multirole vehicle. The United States is the highest military spender in the world by a significant margin, expending *** billion U.S. dollars in 2022. The U.S. Air Force's budget amounted to ****** billion U.S. dollars in that year.