conflict robert t. marsh
The United States Army ( USA ) is the largest branch of the United States Armed Forces and performs land - based military operations . It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States and is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution , Article 2 , Section 2 , Clause 1 and United States Code , Title 10 , Subtitle B , Chapter 301 , Section 3001 . As the largest and senior branch of the U . S . military , the modern U . S . Army has its roots in the Continental Army , which was formed ( 14 June 1775 ) to fight the ___MASK10___ ( 1775  1783 ) before the U . S . was established as a country . 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 descended from the Continental Army , and dates its institutional inception from the origin of that armed force in 1775 . The United States Air Force ( USAF ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services . Initially part of the United States Army , the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947 . It is the most recent branch of the U . S . military to be formed , and is the largest and one of the world ' s most technologically advanced air forces . The USAF articulates its core functions as Nuclear Deterrence Operations , Special Operations , Air Superiority , Global Integrated ISR , Space Superiority , Command and Control , Cyberspace Superiority , Personnel Recovery , Global Precision Attack , Building Partnerships , Rapid Global Mobility and Agile Combat Support . Robert T . Marsh ( born January 3 , 1925 ) is a retired United States Air Force four - star general who served as Commander , Air Force Systems Command ( COMAFSC ) from 1981 to 1984 . The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States . They consist of the Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Coast Guard . The President of the United States is the military ' s overall head , and helps form military policy with the U . S . Department of Defense ( DoD ), a federal executive department , acting as the principal organ by which military policy is carried out . From the time of its inception , the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States . A sense of national unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the ___MASK60___ and the ___MASK11___ . Even so , the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force . It played an important role in the American Civil War , where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military . Not until the outbreak of ___MASK35___ did a large standing army become officially established . The National Security Act of 1947 , adopted following ___MASK35___ and during the Cold War ' s onset , created the modern U . S . military framework ; the Act merged previously Cabinet - level Department of War and the Department of the Navy into the National Military Establishment ( renamed the Department of Defense in 1949 ), headed by the Secretary of Defense ; and created the Department of the Air Force and National Security Council . The National Security Act of 1947 was a major restructuring of the United States government ' s military and intelligence agencies following ___MASK35___ . The majority of the provisions of the Act took effect on September 18 , 1947 , the day after the Senate confirmed James Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense .