Uniformed services of the United States

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The United States has seven uniformed services as defined by Title 10 of the United States Code:

Five of these comprise the armed forces, four of which are within the Department of Defense. The Coast Guard has both military and law enforcement duties, and is now under the command of the Department of Homeland Security; however, Title 14 of the U.S. Code states that the Coast Guard is part of the military at all times. It is therefore the only branch of the military not under the control of the Department of Defense. The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and NOAA Commissioned Corps operate under military rules with the exception of the applicability of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Contents

1 Armed forces

1.1 Military

2 Other uniformed services
3 See also
4 References

Armed forces

The United States Armed Forces comprise five of the seven uniformed services.

Military

Other uniformed services

NOAA Commissioned Corps, a uniformed branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and part of the Department of Commerce, formerly the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Members of the NOAA Corps and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps wear uniforms that are basically derived from the U.S. Navy wardrobe, except that the commissioning devices, buttons, and insignia are unique. They are paid on the same scale as members of the military and wear similar insignia of rank. Both of these services consist only of commissioned officers and have no enlisted ranks, although the Public Health Service will be introducing warrant officers later in 2006.

The distinction between a commissioned officer of a non-military uniformed service and a civilian is important under the laws of war. Members of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the NOAA Corps are considered as non-combatants in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, in Category V. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (a predecessor to NOAA) originally began commissioning its officers so that if captured while engaged in battlefield surveying, they could not legally be tried as spies. The Public Health Service (PHS) traces its origins to a system of marine hospitals created "for the relief of sick and disabled seamen" by the U.S. Congress in 1798 and they adopted a military model of organization in 1871. United States Code. Title 5. Part III. Chapter 21. S 2101. www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/history

References

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Uniformed services of the United States

Armed forces

Military

Other uniformed services

See also

References