The Department of the Air Force is headquartered at the Pentagon. Separate operating agencies of the Air Force include the Air Force Reserve, the Air Force Intelligence Service, and the U.S. Air Force Acad¬ emy. In 2000 there were over 350,000 Air Force personnel on active duty.
United States Air Force Academy Institution for the training of commissioned officers for the U.S. Air Force, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Created by an act of Congress in 1954, it opened in 1955. Gradu¬ ates receive a bachelor’s degree and a second lieutenant’s commission. Most physically qualified graduates go on to Air Force pilot-training schools. Candidates may come from the ranks of the U.S. Army or Air Force, may be children of deceased veterans of the armed forces, or may be nominated by U.S. senators or representatives or by the president or vice president. All applicants must take a competitive entrance examination.
United States Army Major branch of the U.S. military forces, charged with preserving peace and security and defending the nation. The first regular U.S. fighting force, the Continental Army, was organized by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, to supplement local militias in the American Revolution. It was placed under the control of a five-member civilian board, and U.S. military forces have remained in civilian control ever since. The U.S. Constitution named the president as commander in chief, and in 1789 the civilian Department of War was established to administer the armed forces. The Continental Army was officially dis¬ banded in 1783, and a small regular army was established. Thereafter, the army’s size increased during times of crisis, swelled by conscription, and decreased during peacetime. The Department of the Army is organized as a military section of the Department of Defense and is headed by the Sec¬ retary of the Army. The Army Staff gives advice and assistance to the secretary and administers civil functions, including the civil-works pro¬ gram of the Corps of Engineers. The army also administers the U.S. Mili¬ tary Academy at West Point. In 2000 there were about 400,000 soldiers on active duty.
United States Coast Guard U.S. military service that enforces mari¬ time laws. It is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security; in wartime it functions as part of the U.S. Navy. The Coast Guard enforces federal laws on the high seas and waters within U.S. territorial jurisdiction, develops and operates aids to navigation, and maintains a network of lifeboat and search-and-rescue stations using surface vessels and aircraft. It assists in the interdiction of illegal narcotics bound for the U.S. on or over coastal waters. It operates the International Ice Patrol (which maintains surveillance of icebergs in the North Atlantic shipping lanes), gathers data for the National Weather Service, and assists dis¬ tressed ships and planes. Its wartime duties include ship escort, port secu¬ rity, and transport duty. In 2000 there were some 35,000 Coast Guard personnel on active duty. Cadets are trained at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
United States Courts of Appeals In the U.S., the intermediate appellate courts included in the federal judicial system and created by act of Congress. There are 13 courts of appeal, including 12 courts whose jurisdictions are geographically apportioned, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, whose jurisdiction is subject-oriented and nationwide. The Federal Circuit court, located in Washington, D.C., was created by an act of Congress in 1982 and hears appeals from U.S. dis¬ trict and territorial courts primarily in patent and trademark cases, though it also hears appeals in cases in which the United States or its agencies is a defendant, as in alleged breaches of contract or in tax disputes. The courts are empowered to review the decisions of federal district courts (see United States District Court), as well as the decisions of the divisions of the U.S. Tax Court within their jurisdictions and those of the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts. All decisions of the courts are subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States.
United States District Court In the U.S., any of the 94 trial courts of general jurisdiction in the federal judicial system. Each state, as well as the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, has at least one federal district court. Each court has at least one district judge and can have more than a score of them, as well as a clerk, a U.S. attor¬ ney, a U.S. marshal, one or more U.S. magistrates, bankruptcy judges, probation officers, and other staff. Decisions of the district courts are nor¬ mally subject to appeal, typically to the United States Court of Appeals for the region in which the district court is located.
United States Marine Corps (USMC) Separate military service within the U.S. Department of the Navy (see U.S. Navy), charged with
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
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