60 Fun Facts About US Army

On which date was the Continental Army created, a date now celebrated as the Army's birthday?

The Continental Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, a day before naming Washington its commander. That makes the Army older than the nation, and June 14 is also Flag Day.

In which city did Washington resign his commission as commander-in-chief on December 23, 1783?

Washington resigned in Annapolis, where Congress was sitting in the Maryland State House on December 23, 1783. Most of the Continental Army had already been disbanded after the Treaty of Paris.

What is the official motto of the United States Army?

'This We'll Defend' has been the Army motto since its 1778 seal, where a rattlesnake holds the scroll above a Roman cuirass and flags. Semper Fidelis belongs to the Marines.

The Army's official song grew out of a 1908 tune about which horse-drawn artillery wagons?

The tune was 'The Caissons Go Rolling Along', written by Edmund L. Gruber in the Philippines in 1908; John Philip Sousa reworked it as the U.S. Field Artillery March in 1917 before it became the Army song.

What is the nickname of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, which guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

The 3rd Infantry Regiment is The Old Guard, tracing its origins to the First American Regiment of 1784. It escorts the President, conducts Arlington funerals and posts the Tomb sentinels.

The 1st Infantry Division is called 'The Big Red One' because of what?

The 1st Infantry Division is The Big Red One for the red numeral 1 on its shoulder patch. Organized in 1917, it is the oldest continuously serving Regular Army division and landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day.

Which nickname belongs to the 101st Airborne Division?

The 101st Airborne Division is the Screaming Eagles, based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and reorganized as an air assault division in 1974. HBO's Band of Brothers followed its Easy Company, 506th Regiment.

The 82nd Airborne earned its 'All American' nickname in World War I because its soldiers came from where?

Formed in 1917, the 82nd drew soldiers from every one of the 48 states, hence 'All American' and the AA patch. It made its fourth and final WWII combat jump in Operation Market Garden in 1944.

With which single word did the 101st's acting commander reply to the German surrender demand at Bastogne in 1944?

Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe answered 'Nuts!', a reply that baffled the German officers, who had to have it explained. Patton's Third Army broke the siege of Bastogne days later.

On D-Day the 2nd Ranger Battalion scaled 90-foot cliffs to destroy German guns at which point?

At Pointe du Hoc the guns had been moved inland, but the Rangers found and disabled them anyway. Ronald Reagan honoured the survivors there on the 40th anniversary in 1984.

Ranger School's final swamp phase is run from Camp Rudder in which state?

Ranger School ends with its Florida phase at Camp James E. Rudder on Eglin Air Force Base, where students patrol the swamps; the earlier phases are held in Georgia.

Which president authorized the green beret as the exclusive headgear of Army Special Forces in 1961?

John F. Kennedy authorized the green beret in 1961, calling it 'a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom.' The Special Forces motto De Oppresso Liber means 'to free the oppressed'.

A Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha, the classic 'A-team', is made up of how many soldiers?

An ODA has 12 soldiers, each with a specific job, and can split into two six-man elements. Their core mission is training and leading guerrilla forces in occupied countries.

Delta Force founder Charles Beckwith modelled the unit on which foreign special forces regiment he had served with?

Beckwith had served on exchange with the British SAS in the early 1960s and built Delta on its model; the unit was established on November 19, 1977. Its first major mission, Operation Eagle Claw in 1980, failed after helicopter breakdowns.

Which president signed the 1802 act establishing the United States Military Academy at West Point?

Thomas Jefferson signed the Military Peace Establishment Act on March 16, 1802, founding the academy. West Point is the oldest continuously operating Army post in the country, and its graduates are known as the Long Gray Line.

What is the three-word motto of West Point?

West Point's motto is Duty, Honor, Country, and Douglas MacArthur built his famous 1962 farewell speech to the cadets around those three words. Women were first admitted to the academy in 1976.

Which animal has been the mascot of West Point's sports teams since 1899?

Army adopted the mule in 1899 to honour the animal that hauled its supplies and guns for a century. Navy counters with a goat at the annual Army-Navy Game.

Who was the first Black graduate of West Point, in 1877?

Henry O. Flipper, born into slavery in Georgia, graduated in 1877 and served with the 10th Cavalry. He was court-martialed on disputed charges in 1881 and received a posthumous pardon in 1999.

Who is the only officer to have held the Army's highest rank, General of the Armies, during his own lifetime?

John J. Pershing was promoted to General of the Armies in 1919 after leading the American Expeditionary Forces in WWI. Washington and Grant hold the rank only posthumously.

Which Civil War general was posthumously promoted to General of the Armies by a 2020s defense act?

Ulysses S. Grant was posthumously promoted to General of the Armies by the defense act signed in December 2022. George Washington received the same honour in 1976, effective July 4 of that year, ranking above every officer past or present.

Who was the last officer promoted to five-star General of the Army, in 1950?

Omar Bradley received his fifth star in September 1950. The rank had been created in December 1944, when the other four holders were appointed within a week, and Bradley remained the last living five-star general until his death in 1981.

The M1 Abrams tank is unusual among tanks for being powered by what kind of engine?

The Abrams runs on a gas turbine, the Honeywell AGT1500, which puts out 1,500 horsepower and can burn several fuels. The tank is named for General Creighton Abrams and first fought in the 1991 Gulf War.

The UH-60 Black Hawk continues an Army tradition of naming its helicopters after what?

Its namesake is the Sauk leader Black Hawk. It replaced the Vietnam-era Huey in 1979, and stealth-modified versions carried the SEALs on the 2011 bin Laden raid.

In which year was the position of Sergeant Major of the Army created?

The Sergeant Major of the Army post was created in July 1966; its first holder, William O. Wooldridge, was serving with the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam when chosen. The Marine Corps had created the equivalent post in 1957.

What is the lowest non-commissioned officer rank in the US Army?

Corporal is the lowest NCO rank. It and Specialist both sit at pay grade E-4, but only the corporal carries NCO authority, while a private E-1 wears no insignia at all.

The rank insignia of an Army Specialist (E-4) features which symbol instead of chevrons?

The Specialist insignia is an eagle on a shield-shaped patch rather than chevrons, which soldiers nickname the 'sham shield'. Specialist is the Army's largest single rank by headcount.

Which Army post is the largest basic training center, handling about half of all new soldiers?

Fort Jackson, South Carolina, founded as Camp Jackson in 1917 and named for Andrew Jackson, puts roughly 35,000 recruits a year through ten weeks of basic combat training.

Which Kentucky Army post sits beside the US Bullion Depository holding much of the nation's gold?

Fort Knox is named for Henry Knox, Washington's artillery chief and the first Secretary of War. It hosted the Armor School from 1940 until the school moved to Georgia in 2011.

What was Fort Bragg renamed in 2023, before the old name returned in 2025?

Fort Bragg became Fort Liberty in June 2023. The Bragg name came back in 2025, this time honouring WWII paratrooper Private First Class Roland L. Bragg rather than the Confederate general Braxton Bragg.

Which 1827 Kansas post houses the Command and General Staff College and the DoD's only maximum-security prison?

Fort Leavenworth, founded in 1827, houses the Command and General Staff College and the United States Disciplinary Barracks. Eisenhower graduated first in his staff college class there in 1926.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated US unit of its size, was made up of soldiers of which ancestry?

The 442nd was made up of Japanese American soldiers under the motto 'Go for Broke'. Members earned 21 Medals of Honor, including future senator Daniel Inouye, and rescued the 'Lost Battalion' in the Vosges in 1944.

Which all-Black Army regiments, formed in 1866, served as early rangers of Yosemite and Sequoia national parks?

The Buffalo Soldiers, a nickname usually credited to Plains Indian warriors, patrolled Yosemite and Sequoia between 1899 and 1904 and built the first trail up Mount Whitney in 1903.

Who was the first director of the Women's Army Corps when it was created during World War II?

Oveta Culp Hobby led the corps from its start as the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in May 1942; it was folded into the regular Army in 1978. MacArthur called the WACs 'my best soldiers'.

In which year did the Army Air Forces split away to become the independent US Air Force?

The National Security Act of 1947 created the independent Air Force on September 18 of that year. Under Hap Arnold the Army's air arm had grown to 2.4 million people and nearly 80,000 aircraft.

Roughly how many Americans served in the Army during World War II?

About 11 million Americans served in the Army during World War II, including the Army Air Forces, out of roughly 16 million who served in all branches.

The Medal of Honor is presented by the President in the name of which body?

The Medal of Honor is awarded in the name of Congress. The Army version, created in 1862, is a gold star bearing the head of Minerva; about 3,500 have been awarded, over 40 percent for the Civil War.

Who is the only woman ever awarded the Medal of Honor?

Mary Edwards Walker earned the Medal of Honor as a civilian Army surgeon in the Civil War. It was revoked in 1917 along with hundreds of others and restored in 1977.

Audie Murphy, the most decorated American combat soldier of WWII, played himself in which 1955 film?

Murphy played himself in To Hell and Back, Universal's biggest hit until Jaws. He had won the Medal of Honor at 19 for holding off a German attack from atop a burning tank destroyer in January 1945.

How many German prisoners did Sergeant Alvin York capture on October 8, 1918?

York captured 132 Germans in the Argonne after killing about 25 with rifle and pistol. The Tennessee marksman had originally sought conscientious-objector status; Gary Cooper won an Oscar playing him in 1941's Sergeant York.

The Purple Heart descends from the Badge of Military Merit, created in 1782 by whom?

George Washington created the Badge of Military Merit in 1782. It was revived as the Purple Heart on his 200th birthday in 1932 and bears his profile.

Which Union general arranged the bugle call 'Taps' at Harrison's Landing, Virginia, in 1862?

Daniel Butterfield reworked an earlier call with his bugler Oliver Norton in July 1862. The 24-note 'Taps' uses only the notes of a C major chord, and both Union and Confederate armies adopted it within months.

Sergeant Stubby, WWI mascot dog of the 102nd Infantry, was credited with single-handedly capturing what?

The Boston terrier mix served 18 months and 17 battles, and his preserved body is in the Smithsonian. Two Purple Hearts were among his decorations.

The term 'G.I.' for an American soldier originally stood for what on Army paperwork?

G.I. stood for galvanized iron, stamped on buckets and trash cans. By World War I it was reinterpreted as 'government issue', and by World War II it meant the soldier himself.

What does the acronym MRE, the Army's standard field ration since 1981, stand for?

MRE stands for Meal, Ready-to-Eat; soldiers nicknamed early versions 'Meals Rejected by Everyone'. A flameless chemical heater was added in 1990.

'Essayons', the motto of the Army Corps of Engineers, is French for what?

Essayons means 'Let us try'. The Corps of Engineers finished the Washington Monument in 1884, oversaw the Panama Canal and ran the Manhattan Project; its insignia is a castle.

The Army National Guard traces its origins to a militia regiment that first drilled in Salem in which year?

The Massachusetts Bay Colony organized its militia into regiments on December 13, 1636, the date the Guard counts as its birthday, making it older than the Army itself. Governors can call up Guard units for domestic emergencies.

The Army's 'pinks and greens' service uniform revives an officers' uniform from which era?

The Army Green Service Uniform, unveiled in 2018, revives the 'pinks and greens' worn by World War II officers. Rangers, Special Forces and airborne units stand out by beret colour: tan, green and maroon.

'The Golden Knights' is the nickname of which Army unit?

The Golden Knights are the Army's parachute demonstration team, formed in 1959 by Brigadier General Joseph Stilwell Jr.; they jump at events from county fairs to nationally televised games.

Meatpacker Samuel Wilson, behind the 'Uncle Sam' legend, supplied Army rations during which war?

Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York supplied beef to the Army during the War of 1812, his barrels said to be stamped 'U.S.'. James Montgomery Flagg's 1917 'I Want You' poster, printed four million times, fixed the character's look.

The Pentagon, home of Army headquarters, was built in roughly how many months during World War II?

Ground was broken on September 11, 1941, exactly 60 years before the 2001 attack, and the building was finished in January 1943, about 16 months later. Its five floors hold about 17.5 miles of corridors.

Which Army general commanded the coalition forces in the 1991 Gulf War?

Norman Schwarzkopf, a West Point graduate and Vietnam veteran, led U.S. Central Command through Operation Desert Storm in 1991; the ground war lasted about 100 hours.

Who became Army chief of staff on September 1, 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland?

George C. Marshall was sworn in as chief of staff on September 1, 1939, hours after Germany invaded Poland, and grew the Army from about 190,000 soldiers to more than eight million by 1945.

Which Army chief of staff adopted the Total Force Policy after Vietnam, binding Regulars, Guard and Reserve together?

Creighton Abrams, chief of staff from 1972 to 1974, built the force so that extended operations were impossible without Guard and Reserve support, a lesson applied in the Gulf War and Iraq.

What was the Army's approximate projected headcount for fiscal year 2022, across all three components?

The fiscal 2022 plan came to about 1 million soldiers: roughly 485,000 Regulars, 336,000 National Guard and 189,500 Army Reserve.

In the early 2020s, which active-duty Army division had no permanent brigade combat teams?

The 2nd Infantry Division, based in South Korea, had no brigade combat teams of its own and relied on armored brigades rotating in from divisions in the United States.

United States Army Alaska was reorganised into which Arctic-focused division?

The 11th Airborne Division was reactivated in Alaska in June 2022, taking over two brigade combat teams from the 25th Infantry Division.

Which rifle did the Army begin fielding in 2024 to replace the M4 in close-combat units?

The M7, Sig Sauer's 6.8 mm rifle from the Next Generation Squad Weapon program, went first to the 101st Airborne Division in 2024 alongside the M250 automatic rifle; the M4 it replaces is a compact variant of the M16.

What is the calibre of the M224, the smallest mortar in the Army's inventory?

The M224 is a 60 mm mortar normally assigned at company level; battalions get 81 mm M252s and mechanised units the 120 mm M120/M121.

What was the code name of the December 1989 US invasion that ousted Manuel Noriega?

Operation Just Cause began on December 20, 1989; the 82nd Airborne and Rangers made combat parachute jumps, and Noriega surrendered on January 3, 1990.

Which nuclear weapon, a recoilless rifle, was at the small end of the Army's Cold War tactical arsenal?

The Davy Crockett fired a W54 warhead from a 120 mm or 155 mm recoilless rifle over a few kilometres; at the other end of the scale was the Pershing II ballistic missile.