United States Department of Defense

The total numerical strength of the Armed Forces on July 31, 1996 was 1,478,926. This is an increase of 239 from June 30, 1996 and a decrease of 54,190 from the same time in 1995.

These figures represent full-time military personnel comprising both regular and reserves on active duty and officer candidates, including cadets at the three military academies.

Excluded from these figures are approximately 65,000 full-time military personnel who are paid from other than active duty military personnel appropriations. This group is funded from appropriations for reserve components and Corps of Engineers civil functions. A comparable figure for Fiscal Year 1995 was also 65,000 military personnel.

July 1996 strength figures for each service with month-ago and year-ago figures for comparison are:

                  07/31/96      06/30/96     Change from Prev. Month       
                   (Actual)     (Actual)        Amount   Percent      07/31/95    
   Total DoD       1,478,926    1,478,687         239    0.02%       1,533,116 
   Army              491,598      491,094         504    0.10%         517,131 
   Navy              421,955      422,717        -762   -0.18%         439,693 
   Marine Corps      173,094      172,287         807    0.47%         173,659 
   Air Force         392,279      392,589        -310   -0.08%         402,633 

Please note the active duty personnel strength data provided does not include Selected Reserve strength ordered to active duty by the President under Title 10, United States Code 12304.