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Uniformed services of the United States

The United States has seven federal uniformed services that commission officers as defined by Title 10, and subsequently structured and organized by Title 10, Title 14, Title 42 and Title 33 of the United States Code.

Statutory definition

The United States has seven uniformed services that commission officers as defined by :

The term “uniformed services” means—

 (A) the armed forces;

 (B) the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and

 (C) the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service.

The five uniformed services that make up the Armed Forces are defined in the previous clause :

The term “armed forces” means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.

Uniformed services

The seven services are:

United States Department of Defense (DOD)

1. United States Army (USA) June 14,1775
2. United States Navy (USN) October 13,1775
3. United States Marine Corps (USMC) November 10,1775
4. United States Air Force (USAF) September 18,1947

United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

5. United States Coast Guard (USCG) (August 4, 1790)
Note: The Coast Guard also operates under the Defense Department during wartime, and in military operations.

United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

6. United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) (1889)

United States Department of Commerce (DOC)

7. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps (NOAA Corps) (1917)

Armed forces

Five of the uniformed services make up the armed forces, four of which are within the Department of Defense. The Coast Guard has both military and law enforcement duties, and is currently under the control 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, at least in peacetime; during war, control of the Coast Guard passes to the Department of the Navy if Congress declares war or at the request of the President. The Commandant of the Coast Guard reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security. The commissioned corps of the US Public Health Service and NOAA Commissioned Corps operate under military rules with the exception of the applicability of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, to which they are subject when militarized by executive order or while detailed to any component of the armed forces.

The National Guard is a militia force and operates under Title 32 and under State authority. The National Guard was first formed in the Colony of Virginia in 1607 and is the oldest uniformed military force founded in the New World. The National Guard can be federally recognized as a reserve military force, becoming the National Guard of the United States which can be mobilized by the President to be under Federal authority through Title 10. The National Guard of the United States is managed by the National Guard Bureau, which is a joint activity under the Department of Defense , with a general in the Army or Air Force as its top leader. The National Guard of the United States serves as a reserve component for both the Army and the Air Force and can be called up for federal active duty in times of war or national emergencies .

Noncombatant uniformed services

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps (NOAA Corps) is a uniformed branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is under the Department of Commerce.
United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) is the uniformed personnel system of the United States Public Health Service, which is under the Department of Health and Human Services.

Commissioned officers of NOAA and PHS wear uniforms that are derived from Navy uniforms, except that the commissioning devices, buttons, and insignia reflect their specific service. Uniformed officers of NOAA and PHS are paid on the same scale as members of the armed services with respective rank and time-in-grade. Additionally, PHS Officers are covered by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act and the Service Members Civil Relief Act (formerly the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act).

Both uniformed service consist only of commissioned officers and have no enlisted ranks. Commissioned officers of the Public Health Service and of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration can be militarized by the President of the United States. Statutory authorization to militarize the Public Health Service is under Title 42 U.S.C. (Based on rank, commissioned officers of the Public Health Service (USPHS) and NOAA can be classified as Category III, IV, and V under the Geneva Convention). 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; they adopted a military model of organization in 1871.