A Brief History
On December 20, 2019, the United States Space Force became a branch of the US Military, a military that far exceeds any current competitor.
Digging Deeper
Nations have always struggled with military costs, but the US is so rich that it is the only country to boast a Space Force at all. Spending nearly $900 billion per year, the US defense budget is 40% of the total world defense spending, more than the next 10 nations combined.
The US has 1.3 million active members and another 800,000 reservists. The Navy has 11 active aircraft carriers among its 470 ships, while no other nation has even a single carrier that matches any of ours. The Army has 5,500 of the finest tanks, and the most advanced individual soldier’s kit on Earth. The Air Force has 5,200 of the most capable planes, while the US Marine Corps is the finest fighting force of all time.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Stiehm, Judith Hicks. The US Military: A Basic Introduction. Routledge, 2012.
United States Space Force. Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forces. Nimble Books, 2020.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of President Donald J. Trump signing S. 1790, The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 Friday, Dec. 20, 2019, at Hangar 6 at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead), is a work of an employee of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain.
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