ARMED SERVICES

ARMED SERVICES

The Constitution authorizes Congress to raise, support, and regulate armed services for the
national defense. The President of the United States is commander in chief of all the branches of the services and has ultimate control over most military matters.
The United States has always been wary of maintaining a strong military force. This concern was shown by the Framers of the Constitution when they finally allowed the creation of a standing army but at the same time limited the process by which money could be raised to support the military, by requiring that Congress review the appropriations every two years. In
this way, the Framers ensured that members of
each new Congress had the opportunity to
address their lingering concerns about domestic
tyranny with a fresh perspective. Furthermore,
the Framers ensured that the states could main-
tain their own militias and protect themselves
from federal military domination, by recogniz-
ing “the right of the people to keep and bear
Arms” (U.S. Const. amend. 2).

The various branches of the armed services
were created at different times to serve different
purposes. The earliest branch was the Army,
instituted on July 14, 1775, followed closely by
the Navy and the Marine Corps in the same year.
All three were established to respond to the
needs of the revolutionary forces fighting the
British. The Navy and the Marine Corps were
disbanded after the Revolutionary War but were
reestablished in 1798. The Coast Guard traces its
origins to 1790 but was officially created in
1915. Finally, the Air Force had its genesis in the
Signal Corps of the Army and was formally
established as the Army Air Service in 1920.
Military personnel are governed by a set of
laws that is separate from and independent of
CIVIL LAW. The UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY
JUSTICE (10 U.S.C.A. § 801 et seq.) outlines the
basic laws and procedures governing members
of the armed services. MILITARY LAW is mainly
concerned with maintaining order and disci-
pline within the ranks. It is unrelated to MAR-
TIAL LAW, which is the temporary imposition of
military rule during a national or regional crisis.
Offenses committed by members of the armed
services are tried by a COURT-MARTIAL, a special
tribunal created specifically to hear a military
case and then disbanded once judgment and
punishment are pronounced.
The constitutionality of the military legal
system has been challenged several times, with-
out success. In 1994, the Supreme Court reaf-
firmed the constitutionality of the system with a
unanimous decision in Weiss v. United States, 510 U.S. 163, 114 S. Ct. 752, 127 L. Ed. 2d 1. At issue were the selection process and tenure of
military judges,who are chosen by their branch’s
JUDGE ADVOCATE general. The plaintiffs
claimed that because the judges could be
removed at any time by the judge advocate gen-
eral, they were biased toward the prosecution
and could not be impartial. The Court held that
sufficient safeguards were in place to protect
against improper influence by the judge advo-
cate general and that the defendants’ FIFTH
AMENDMENT DUE PROCESS rights had not been
violated.
Military Ban on Homosexuality
One controversial and divisive issue facing
the military is the inclusion of homosexuals. For
more than fifty years, the U.S. armed services
prohibited gay men and lesbians from serving in
the military. In the past,members who disclosed
that they were homosexual were subject to
immediate discharge. That policy was chal-
lenged in several prominent cases during the late
1980s and early 1990s, and the Clinton adminis-
tration addressed the issue with a new approach
that ultimately led to more confusion and con-
troversy.
The federal courts tackled the question of
whether the military’s automatic ouster of
homosexual personnel is constitutional, in
Meinhold v. United States Department of Defense,
34 F.3d 1469 (9th Cir. 1994). The plaintiff, Petty
Officer Keith Meinhold, of the Navy, announced
on a national television broadcast in May 1992
that he is gay. As a result, discharge proceedings
were begun against him. Meinhold was dis-
missed solely on the basis of his televised state-
ment. He sued the Navy and the DEPARTMENT
OF DEFENSE, claiming that their policy was
unconstitutional. The district court agreed,
holding that the Navy’s actions denied gay men
and lesbians EQUAL PROTECTION under the law.
In August 1994, the Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit agreed that Meinhold could not
be discharged merely for stating that he was gay.
However, the appeals court disagreed with the
district court’s finding that the military’s policy
was unconstitutional and instead found that by
discharging Meinhold because of his status as a
homosexual and not because of any actions on
his part, the Navy was equating status with pro-
hibited conduct. The court conceded that the
Navy could legally discharge someone who
manifested a “fixed or expressed desire to com-
mit a prohibited act,” such as engaging in homo-
sexual sex but found that Meinhold had not
manifested any such desire and therefore must
be reinstated. In November 1994, the Clinton
administration announced it was dropping its
efforts to bar Meinhold from serving and would
not appeal the Ninth Circuit’s ruling.
Another challenge to the military ban on
homosexuals occurred in Steffan v. Aspin, 8 F.3d
57 (D.C. Cir. 1993). The plaintiff, Joseph Steffan,
admitted to being a homosexual just six weeks
before his expected graduation from the U.S.
Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Maryland, in
1987. Steffan was one of the top ten students in
his class. He had consistently received outstand-
ing marks for leadership and military perform-
ance. In his junior year, he was named a
battalion commander in charge of one-sixth of
the academy’s 4,500 students. After Steffan
acknowledged his homosexuality to a classmate
and a chaplain, he was brought before a discipli-
nary board, which recommended that he be dis-
charged. Rather than face dismissal, he resigned.
Sometime later, he asked to be reinstated. His
request was denied, and he then sued for rein-
statement to his commission, claiming that he
was forced to resign because of his status as a
homosexual, not because of any conduct—in
violation of the Constitution’s equal protection

The Branches of the Armed Services

The five branches of the U.S. armed services are
staffed by volunteer enlisted men and women
who hold various ranks. Military personnel are no
longer conscripted, or drafted, into service.
Army
The Army was the first branch of the armed services
established by Congress. The U.S. Army evolved
from the Continental Army, created on July 14, 1775,
by the CONTINENTAL CONGRESS to fight the Revolutionary
War against the British.
The three segments of the Army are the Army
Reserve, the Army National Guard, and the Active
Army. The Army Reserve provides training and combat
support to the Active Army in times of emergency.
The Army National Guard, the oldest military force in
the United States, began in the Massachusetts Bay
Colony in 1636. During peacetime, the National Guard
unit in each state is commanded by the state governor.
The National Guard often assists in natural disasters,
such as earthquakes or floods, or in civil
unrest, such as riots. The president has the authority
to call the Guard to federal duty when necessary. For
example, President DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER federalized
the Arkansas National Guard in 1957 and
assigned them to control angry mobs protesting the
enrollment of African American students in a previously
segregated Little Rock high school. Similarly,
President GEORGE H.W. BUSH assigned Guard units to
duty with the Active Army during the Persian Gulf
War of 1991.
The Army’s many responsibilities include combat,
combat support, and combat service support arms.
The combat arms, including the infantry, armored
divisions, air defense artillery, field artillery, and aviation,
are directly involved in fighting. The combat support
arms include the Corps of Engineers, the Signal
Corps, the Military Police Corps, the Chemical Corps,
and military intelligence. The combat service support
arms provide logistical and administrative assistance
to the other arms.

Women were originally restricted to the Women’s
Army Corps (WAC) but now serve alongside men in
almost all capacities. Their roles have been gradually
expanded, and they now serve in combat units,
which gives them equal opportunities with men for
higher pay and advancement in rank.
The U.S. Military Academy, the oldest of the service
academies, was established at West Point, New
York, in 1802. It was originally charged with training
army engineers, but evolved into the training ground
for those wishing to become officers in the Army.
West Point has been coeducational since 1976.
Navy
The Navy traces its origins to 1775 and the American
Revolution. A fleet established to fight the British
was disbanded after the war, but the need for a naval
force was again recognized in 1798, when Congress
established the NAVY DEPARTMENT. The Navy was a
separate branch of the government until the National
Security Act of 1947 (5 U.S.C.A. § 101 et seq., 10
U.S.C.A. § 101 et seq., 50 U.S.C.A. § 401 et seq.) created
the Department of Defense with a cabinet-level
secretary to oversee all branches of the military.
The Navy’s forces are grouped into various fleets
that serve in different areas of the world. Traditionally,
odd-numbered fleets, such as the Third and Seventh
Fleets, have served in the Pacific Ocean.
Even-numbered fleets, like the Second and Sixth
Fleets, have served in the Atlantic Ocean. Over the
years, U.S. Navy fleets have been disestablished
(removed from service) and reconstituted (restored
to service) as the distribution of military power
throughout the world has changed.
A naval reserve force is made up of civilians who
train regularly and stand ready to be called in times
of need.
Although women originally could only join the
Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service
(WAVES), they now serve alongside men, drawing
equal pay and attaining equivalent rank.
The Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Maryland,
was established in 1845 to train young men to be officers
in the Navy and the Marine Corps. Women have
been admitted since 1976.
Air Force
The Aeronautical Division of the Army Signal
Corps, the precursor to the U.S. Air Force, was established
on August 1, 1907. The First Aero Squadron
was organized in 1914 and served with the Mexican
Border Expedition in 1916. The Air Force remained a
division of the Army until 1947.
The Air Force is responsible for domestic security
in such areas as the Strategic Air Command
(SAC), which plays a major role in deterring air and
missile attacks as well as conducting space surveillance.
Other responsibilities of the Air Force include
maintaining a combat-ready mobile strike force and
operating air bases in key areas around the world.
The Air Force’s chief of staff, along with the
chiefs of staff of the Army and the Navy, is a member
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which advises the president
and the secretary of defense.
The Air Force Academy, authorized in 1954 and
located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, prepares college
students to become officers in the Air Force.
Women were admitted beginning in 1976.
Marine Corps
Steeped in history, tradition, and folklore, the
Marine Corps, a self-contained amphibious combat
force within the Department of the Navy, traces its
roots to the Revolutionary War. During its two hundred-
year history, the U.S. Marines has fulfilled its
obligation to provide air, land, and sea support for
naval forces, establish beachheads during war, and
protect U.S. lives and interests at foreign embassies
and legations.
The Marines maintain a large reserve unit,
which, when mobilized in times of crisis, can
increase the corps strength by 25 percent within
weeks.
The Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, established
in 1942, provides support in the mainland United
States and in Hawaii so that men are available for
combat.
Marine Corps officers are trained mainly at the
U.S. Naval Academy, at Annapolis.
Coast Guard
The U.S. Coast Guard was first established in
1790 as the U.S. Lighthouse Service under the
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY. It later moved to the
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, where it
remained for 36 years. On February 25, 2003, the
Coast Guard officially transferred to the DEPARTMENT
OF HOMELAND SECURITY, where it comprises
about one-fourth of the new department. The move
was part of the largest government reorganization
since the DEFENSE DEPARTMENT was established in
1947.
The Coast Guard is charged with guarding the
country’s coasts against SMUGGLING, enforcing customs
laws, and responding to emergencies along the
coasts. The move to the Department of Homeland
Security did not change the Coast Guard’s mission
significantly, although it is now responsible for securing
the nation’s ports and has been prepared to be
involved with international conflicts in the WAR ON
TERRORISM.
The Coast Guard provides officer training for college
students at the Coast Guard Academy, at New
London, Connecticut, which began admitting women
in 1976.
CROSS-REFERENCES
Homeland Security Department; Military Law.