History of United States military operations

The military history of the United States spans a period of over two centuries. During those years, the United States evolved from a new nation fighting Great Britain for (1775–1783), through the monumental  (1861–1865) and, after collaborating in triumph during  (1941–1945), to the world's sole remaining  from the late 20th century to present.

The Continental Congress in 1775 established the, , and and named General  its commander. This newly formed military, along with state militia forces, the French Army and Navy, and the Spanish Navy defeated the British in 1781. The new Constitution in 1789 made the president the commander in chief, with authority for the to levy taxes, make the laws, and declare war.

As of 2017, the U.S. Armed Forces consists of the, , and , all under the command of the. There also is the, which is controlled by the.

The is the, and exercises the authority through the  and the , which supervises combat operations. Governors have control of each state's Army and Air units for limited purposes. The president has the ability to federalize National Guard units, bringing them under the sole control of the Department of Defense.

Colonial wars (1620–1774)
The beginning of the United States military lies in civilian frontier settlers, armed for hunting and basic survival in the wilderness. These were organized into local militias for small military operations, mostly against tribes but also to resist possible raids by the small military forces of neighboring European colonies. They relied on the British regular Army and Navy for any serious military operation.

In major operations outside the locality involved, the militia was not employed as a fighting force. Instead the colony asked for (and paid) volunteers, many of whom were also militia members.

In the early years of the, military action in the thirteen colonies that would become the United States were the result of conflicts with Native Americans, such as in the of 1637,  in 1675, the  in 1715 and  in 1722.

Beginning in 1689, the colonies became involved in a between  and France for control of North America, the most important of which were, in which the British  French colony , and the final  (1754–63) when Britain was victorious over all the French colonies in North America. This final war was to give thousands of colonists, including Virginia colonel, military experience which they put to use during the.

War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1748)
In the struggle for control of North America, the contest between Great Britain and France was the vital one, the conflict with Spain, a declining power, important but secondary. This latter conflict reached its height in the "," a prelude to the, which began in 1739 and pitted the British and their American colonists against the Spanish.

In the colonies the war involved a seesaw struggle between the Spanish in and the West Indies and the English colonists in  and. Its most notable episode, however, was a British expedition mounted in Jamaica against, the main port of the Spanish colony in Colombia. The mainland colonies furnished a regiment to participate in the assault as British Regulars under British command. The expedition ended in disaster, resulting from climate, disease, and the bungling of British commanders, and only about 600 of over 3,000 Americans who participated ever returned to their homes.

War of Independence (1775–83)
Ongoing between  and the  reached a crisis in 1774 when the British placed the  under martial law after the  protested taxes they regarded as a violation of their constitutional rights as Englishmen. When shooting began at in April 1775, militia units from across New England rushed to Boston and bottled up the British in the city. The appointed  as commander-in-chief of the newly created, which was augmented throughout the war by colonial. In addition to the Army, Congress also created the and. He drove the British out of Boston but in late summer 1776 they returned to New York and nearly captured Washington's army. Meanwhile, the revolutionaries expelled British officials from the 13 states, and declared themselves an independent nation on 4 July 1776.

The British, for their part, lacked both a unified command and a clear strategy for winning. With the use of the, the British were able to capture coastal cities, but control of the countryside eluded them. A British in 1777 ended with the disastrous surrender of a British army at. With the coming in 1777 of, the training and discipline along Prussian lines began, and the Continental Army began to evolve into a modern force. France and Spain then entered the war against Great Britain as Allies of the US, ending its naval advantage and escalating the conflict into a world war. The Netherlands later joined France, and the British were outnumbered on land and sea in a world war, as they had no major allies apart from tribes,  and.

A shift in in 1779 resulted in a string of victories for the British, but General  engaged in  and prevented them from making strategic headway. The main British army was surrounded by Washington's American and French forces at in 1781, as the French fleet blocked a rescue by the Royal Navy. The British then sued for peace.

George Washington
General (1732–99) proved an excellent organizer and administrator, who worked successfully with Congress and the state governors, selecting and mentoring his senior officers, supporting and training his troops, and maintaining an idealistic Republican Army. His biggest challenge was logistics, since neither Congress nor the states had the funding to provide adequately for the equipment, munitions, clothing, paychecks, or even the food supply of the soldiers. As a battlefield tactician Washington was often outmaneuvered by his British counterparts. As a strategist, however, he had a better idea of how to win the war than they did. The British sent four invasion armies. Washington's strategy forced the first army out of Boston in 1776, and was responsible for the surrender of the second and third armies at Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781). He limited the British control to New York and a few places while keeping Patriot control of the great majority of the population. The Loyalists, on whom the British had relied too heavily, comprised about 20% of the population but were never well organized. As the war ended, Washington watched proudly as the final British army quietly sailed out of New York City in November 1783, taking the Loyalist leadership with them. Washington astonished the world when, instead of seizing power, he retired quietly to his farm in Virginia.

Patriots had a strong distrust of a permanent "", so the Continental Army was quickly demobilized, with land grants to veterans. General Washington, who throughout the war deferred to elected officials, averted and resigned as commander-in-chief after the war, establishing a tradition of civil control of the U.S. military.

Early national period (1783–1812)
Following the, the United States faced potential military conflict on the high seas as well as on the western. The United States was a minor military power during this time, having only a modest army, marine corps, and navy. A traditional distrust of standing armies, combined with faith in the abilities of local militia, precluded the development of well-trained units and a professional. leaders preferred a small army and navy, fearing that a large military establishment would involve the United States in excessive foreign wars, and potentially allow a domestic tyrant to seize power.

In the after the Revolution, the British had ceded the lands between the  and the  to the United States, without consulting the, ,  and other smaller tribes who lived there. Because many of the tribes had fought as allies of the British, the United States compelled tribal leaders to sign away lands in postwar treaties, and began for settlement. This provoked a in the  in which the U.S. forces performed poorly; the  in 1791 was the most severe defeat ever suffered by the United States at the hands of American Indians. President Washington dispatched a to the region led by General, which decisively defeated the Indian confederacy at the  in 1794.

When declared  in 1793, the United States sought to remain neutral, but the, which was favorable to Great Britain, angered the French government, which viewed it as a violation of the 1778. French s began to seize U.S. vessels, which led to an undeclared "" between the two nations. Fought at sea from 1798 to 1800, the United States won a string of victories in the Caribbean. George Washington was called out of retirement to head a "provisional army" in case of invasion by France, but President managed to negotiate a truce, in which France agreed to terminate the prior alliance and cease its attacks.

Barbary Wars
The Berbers along the Barbary Coast (modern day Libya) sent pirates to capture merchant ships and hold the crews for ransom. The U.S. paid protection money until 1801, when President  refused to pay and sent in the Navy to challenge the, the  followed. After the was captured in 1803, Lieutenant  led a raid which successfully burned the captured ship, preventing Tripoli from using or selling it. In 1805, after captured the city of, Tripoli agreed to a peace treaty. The other Barbary states continued to raid U.S. shipping, until the in 1815 ended the practice.

War of 1812
By far the largest military action in which the United States engaged during this era was the. With Britain locked in a with Napoleon's France, its policy was to block American  shipments to France. The United States sought to remain neutral while pursuing overseas trade. Britain cut the trade and seamen on American ships into the Royal Navy, despite intense protests. Britain supported an Indian insurrection in the American Midwest, with the goal of creating an Indian state there that would block American expansion. The United States finally declared war on the United Kingdom in 1812, the first time the U.S. had officially declared war. Not hopeful of defeating the, the U.S. attacked the by invading British Canada, hoping to use captured territory as a bargaining chip. The invasion of Canada was a debacle, though concurrent wars with Native Americans on the western front ( and the ) were more successful. After defeating in 1814, Britain sent large veteran armies to invade New York, raid Washington and capture the key control of the Mississippi River at New Orleans. The New York invasion was a fiasco after the much larger British army retreated to Canada. The raiders succeeded in the on 25 August 1814, but were repulsed in their  Campaign at the  and the British commander killed. The major invasion in Louisiana was stopped by a that killed the top three British generals and thousands of soldiers. The winners were the of the Battle of New Orleans, Major General, who became president and the Americans who basked in a victory over a much more powerful nation. The peace treaty proved successful, and the U.S. and Britain never again went to war. The losers were the Indians, who never gained the independent territory in the Midwest promised by Britain.

War with Mexico (1846–1848)
With the rapid expansion of the farming population, looked to the west for new lands, an idea which became known as "." In the (1835–36), the settlers declared independence and defeated the Mexican army, but Mexico was determined to reconquer the lost province and threatened war with the U.S. if it annexed Texas. The U.S., much larger and more powerful, did annex Texas in 1845 and war broke out in 1846 over boundary issues.

In the 1846–48, the U.S. Army under Generals  and  and others, invaded and after a series of victorious battles (and no major defeats) seized New Mexico and California, and also blockaded the coast, invaded northern Mexico, and invaded central Mexico, capturing the national capital. The peace terms involved American purchase of the area from California to New Mexico for $10 million.

American Civil War (1861–1865)
Long-building tensions between the Northern and over  suddenly reached a climax after the 1860 election of  of the new anti-slavery  as U.S. President. Southern states from the U.S. and formed a separate. Within the Confederate states, many U.S. forts with garrisons still loyal to the were cut off. Fighting started in 1861 when was fired upon.

The caught both sides unprepared. Neither the North's small standing army nor the South's scattered state militias were capable of winning a civil war. Both sides raced to raise armies—larger than any U.S. forces before—first with repeated calls for volunteers, but eventually resorting to unpopular large-scale for the first time in U.S. history.

The North initially sought a quick victory by trying to capture the Confederate capital at, not far from the U.S. capital at The South hoped to win by getting Britain and France to intervene, or else by exhausting the North's willingness to fight. The Confederates under General skillfully and tenaciously defended their capital until the very end, while the North struggled to find any general to match.

As the fighting between the two capitals stalled, the North found more success in campaigns elsewhere, using rivers, railroads, and the seas to help move and supply their larger forces, putting a stranglehold on the South—the. The war spilled across the continent, and even to the high seas. After four years of appallingly bloody conflict, with more casualties than all other U.S. wars combined, the North's larger population and industrial might slowly ground the South down. The resources and economy of the South were ruined, while the North's factories and economy prospered filling government wartime contracts.

The American Civil War is sometimes called the "first modern war" due to the mobilization and destruction of the civilian base——and due to by many technical military innovations involving, , , , and warships with turret guns.

Indian Wars (1865–91)
After the Civil War, population expansion, railroad construction, and the disappearance of the buffalo herds heightened military tensions on the Great Plains. Several tribes, especially the Sioux and Comanche, fiercely resisted confinement to reservations. The main role of the Army was to keep indigenous peoples on reservations and to end their wars against settlers and each other, and  were in charge. A famous victory for the Plains Nations was the in 1876, when Col. and two hundred plus members of the were killed by a force consisting of Native Americans from the, , and  nations. The last significant conflict came in 1891.

Spanish–American War (1898)
The was a short but decisive war marked by quick, overwhelming American victories at sea and on land against Spain. The Navy was well-prepared and won laurels, even as politicians tried (and failed) to have it redeployed to defend East Coast cities against potential threats from the feeble Spanish fleet. The Army performed well in combat in Cuba. However, it was too oriented to small posts in the West and not as well-prepared for an overseas conflict. It relied on volunteers and state militia units, which faced logistical, training and food problems in the staging areas in Florida. The United States freed Cuba (after an occupation by the U.S. Army). By the Spain ceded to the United States its colonies of, , and the. The Navy set up coaling stations there and in Hawaii (which voluntarily joined the U.S. in 1898). The U.S. Navy now had a major forward presence across the Pacific and (with the lease of in Cuba) a major base in the Caribbean guarding the approaches to the Gulf Coast and the Panama Canal.

To win its first colonies, the U.S. had lost 385 (369 Army, 10 Navy, 6 Marines); 1,662  (1,594 Army, 47 Navy, 21 Marines); and 2,061 dead of disease in the combat zones (a total of 5,403 died of disease at all locations, including stateside posts). Total Spanish combat deaths in action against U.S. forces were about 900.

Philippine–American War (1899–1902)
The (1899–1902) was an armed conflict between a group of  and the American forces following the ceding of the Philippines to the United States after the defeat of Spanish forces in the. The Army sent in 100,000 soldiers (mostly from the National Guard) under General. Defeated in the field and losing its capital in March 1899, the poorly armed and poorly led rebels broke into armed bands. The insurgency collapsed in March 1901 when the leader was captured by General  and his  allies. Casualties included 1,037 Americans killed in action and 3,340 who died from disease; 20,000 rebels were killed.

Modernization
The Navy was modernized in the 1880s, and by the 1890s had adopted the naval power strategy of Captain —as indeed did every major navy. The old sailing ships were replaced by modern steel battleships, bringing them in line with the navies of Britain and Germany. In 1907, most of the Navy's battleships, with several support vessels, dubbed the, were featured in a 14-month circumnavigation of the world. Ordered by President, it was a mission designed to demonstrate the Navy's capability to extend to the global theater.

Secretary of War  (1899–1904) led the modernization of the Army. His goal of a uniformed chief of staff as general manager and a European-type general staff for planning was stymied by General but did succeed in enlarging  and establishing the  as well as the. Root changed the procedures for promotions and organized schools for the special branches of the service. He also devised the principle of rotating officers from staff to line. Root was concerned about the Army's role in governing the new territories acquired in 1898 and worked out the procedures for turning Cuba over to the Cubans, and wrote the charter of government for the Philippines.

Rear Admiral was at the vanguard of new technology in naval guns and gunnery, thanks to his innovations in fire control 1890–1910. He immediately grasped the potential for air power, and called for the development of a torpedo plane. Fiske, as aide for operations in 1913–15 to Assistant Secretary, proposed a radical reorganization of the Navy to make it a war-fighting instrument. Fiske wanted to centralize authority in a chief of naval operations and an expert staff that would develop new strategies, oversee the construction of a larger fleet, coordinate war planning including force structure, mobilization plans, and industrial base, and ensure that the US Navy possessed the best possible war machines. Eventually, the Navy adopted his reforms and by 1915 started to reorganize for possible involvement in the World War then underway.

Banana Wars (1898–1935)
"Banana Wars" is an informal term for the minor intervention in Latin America from 1898 until 1934. These include military presence in, with the ,  (1915–1935),  (1916–1924) and  (1912–1925) & (1926–1933). The U.S. Marine Corps began to specialize in long-term military occupation of these countries, primarily to safeguard customs revenues which were the cause of local civil wars.

Hispaniola
Banditry and guerrilla resistance was endemic throughout the period of occupation. U.S. Marine losses in the Dominican Republic, 1916–22, totaled 17 killed, 54 dead of disease, 55 wounded (from a peak strength of 3,000). The Marines inflicted about 1,000 Dominican casualties. The most serious insurgencies occurred in Haiti, where some 5,000 rough mountaineers of the north, called Cacos, rebelled in 1915–17, losing 200 killed, to Marine losses of 3 KIA, 18 WIA, of 2,029 deployed. In 1918, the Cacos, angered by the Marine-enforced practice of (forced labor), followed the leadership of Charlemagne Peralte and Benoit Batraville into rebellion again, against the 1,500-man 1st Marine Brigade and the 2,700-man Haitian Gendarmerie. The rebellion lasted for more than 19 months, October 17, 1918–May 19, 1920. Both Caco leaders were killed in battle, along with at least 2,004 of their men. The Marines lost 28 slain in action and the Gendarmerie lost 70 killed.

Moro Rebellion (1899–1913)
The Moro Rebellion was an armed insurgency between tribes in the southern  between 1899 and 1913. Pacification was never complete as sporadic antigovernment insurgency continues into the 21st century, with American advisors helping the Philippine government forces.

Mexico (1910–1919)
The involved a civil war with hundreds of thousands of deaths and large numbers fleeing combat zones. Tens of thousands fled to the U.S. President Wilson sent U.S. forces of  for six months in 1914. It was designed to show the U.S. was keenly interested in the civil war and would not tolerate attacks on Americans, especially the 9 April 1914, "", which involved the arrest of American sailors by soldiers of the regime of Mexican President. In early 1916 a Mexican general ordered 500 soldiers on a murderous raid on the American city of Columbus New Mexico, with the goal of robbing banks to fund his army.

The German Secret Service encouraged Pancho Villa in his attacks to involve the United States in an intervention in Mexico which would distract the United States from its growing involvement in the war and divert aid from Europe to support the intervention. Wilson called up the state militias (National Guard) and sent them and the U.S. Army under General to punish Villa in the. Villa fled, with the Americans in pursuit deep into Mexico, thereby arousing Mexican nationalism. By early 1917 President had contained Villa and secured the border, so Wilson ordered Pershing to withdraw.

World War I (1917–1918)
The United States originally wished to remain neutral when broke out in August 1914. However, it insisted on its right as a neutral party to immunity from German submarine attack, even though its ships carried food and raw materials to Britain. In 1917 the, knowing that it would lead to American entry. When the United States declared war in early April 1917, the United States Army was still small by European standards (most of which had ) and mobilization would take at least a year. Meanwhile, the United States continued to provide supplies and money to Britain and France, and initiated the first peacetime draft. Industrial mobilization took longer than expected, so were sent to Europe without equipment, relying instead on the British and French to supply them.

By summer 1918, a million American soldiers, or "s" as they were often called, of the were in Europe, serving on the  under the command of , with 25,000 more arriving every week. The failure of the 's exhausted its manpower reserves and they were unable to launch new offensives. The and home front then revolted and a  signed a conditional surrender,, ending the war on the Western Front on 11 November 1918.

Russian Revolution (1918–1919)
The so-called was the involvement of 5,000 U.S. troops, during the, in blocking the s in , Russia as part of the greater.

1920s: Naval disarmament
The U.S. sponsored a major world conference to limit the naval armaments of world powers, including the U.S., Britain, Japan, and France, plus smaller nations. Secretary of State made the key proposal of each country to reduce its number of warships by a formula that was accepted. The conference enabled the great powers to reduce their navies and avoid conflict in the Pacific. The treaties remained in effect for ten years, but were not renewed as tensions escalated.

1930s: Neutrality Acts
After the costly U.S. involvement in World War I, grew within the nation. Congress refused membership in the, particularly due to. Pursuant to Article X, the charter would have required by contract the to intervene if a member of the League were attacked; this prompted the United States Senate to vehemently oppose the. Isolationism further grew after the events of the, which investigated corrupt military spending and fueled the  argument, thus increasing anti-war opinions.

In response to the growing turmoil in Europe and Asia, the gradually more restrictive were passed, which were intended to prevent the U.S. from supporting either side in a war. President sought to support Britain, however, and in 1940 signed the  Act, which permitted an expansion of the "" arms trade to develop with Britain, which controlled the Atlantic sea lanes.

Roosevelt favored the Navy (he was in effective charge in World War I), and used relief programs such as the to support Navy yards and build warships. For example, in 1933 he authorized $238 million in PWA funds for thirty-two new ships. The Army Air Corps received only $11 million, which barely covered replacements and allowed no expansion.

Due to the underlying pressure against military involvement by both citizens and politicians, the United States was reluctant to intervene in any overseas conflicts. The involvement that the United States had toward only extended as far as non-recognition. Other events such as 's went ignored by the U.S. along with the League of Nations being unable to act upon the usage of chemical weapons by the Italian fascists. No official involvement was waged during the and the, though both wars utilized s for U.S. involvement, such as volunteering and using British ships as a middleman for delivering provisions (since the Neutrality Acts only specified American ships). This, along with Roosevelt's, produced mixed opinions among Americans that were still anxious about military involvement. Non-interventionists were mainly constituent in the Republican Party, but other Democratic politicians, such as, attempted to pass bills to compromise and even amend the for the purpose of calling for public  to decide military involvement in cases that do not immediately follow an attack on the United States. was introduced many times, but failed to gain enough support, including opposition even by Roosevelt.

The overall neglect for military involvement eventually resulted in appeasement in the early stages of World War II, at the distress of Roosevelt (who wanted to continue cash-and-carry for the and ). After being rebuffed by Congress for attempting to reinstate cash-and-carry for the European theater, Roosevelt eventually won the favor of restoring the arms trade with after Germany's, which is said by. Total involvement in the war began after the, where isolationism began to cede.

World War II (1941–1945)
Starting in 1940 (18 months before Pearl Harbor), the nation mobilized, giving high priority to. American involvement in World War II in 1940–41 was limited to providing to Britain, the, and the. The U.S. on 8 December 1941 following the  on,. Japanese forces soon, with Hawaii and Australia serving as the main staging points for the eventual liberation of these territories.

The loss of eight battleships and 2,403 Americans at Pearl Harbor forced the U.S. to rely on its remaining s, which won a major victory over Japan at just six months into the war, and on its growing submarine fleet. The Navy and Marine Corps followed this up with an campaign across the central and south Pacific in 1943–45, reaching the outskirts of Japan in the. During 1942 and 1943, the U.S. deployed millions of men and thousands of planes and tanks to the UK, beginning with the of  and occupied Europe and leading up to the Allied invasions of occupied  in November 1942,  and  in 1943,  in 1944, and the invasion of Germany in 1945, parallel with the Soviet invasion from the east. That led to the in May 1945. While the final European Axis Powers were defeated within a year of, the fighting in Central Europe was especially bloody for the United States, with more US military deaths occurring in Germany than in any other country during the war.

In the Pacific, the U.S. experienced much success in naval campaigns during 1944, but bloody battles at and  in 1945 led the U.S. to look for a way to end the war with minimal loss of American lives. The U.S. on  and  to destroy the Japanese war effort and to shock the Japanese leadership, which quickly caused the. Following the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on 15 August 1945, ending 35 years of Japanese occupation of Korean Peninsula. American forces under General John R. Hodge arrived at the southern part of the Korean Peninsula on 8 September 1945, while the Soviet Army and some Korean Communists had stationed themselves in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

The United States was able to mobilize quickly, eventually becoming the dominant military power in most theaters of the war (excepting only eastern Europe), and the industrial might of the U.S. economy became a major factor in the mobilization of resources. Strategic and tactical lessons learned by the U.S., such as the importance of and the dominance of the  in naval actions, continue to guide U.S. military doctrine into the 21st century.

World War II holds a special place in the American psyche as the country's greatest triumph, and the U.S. military personnel of World War II are frequently referred to as "the ." Over 16 million served (about 11% of the population), and over 400,000 died during the war. The U.S. emerged as one of the two undisputed s along with the Soviet Union, and unlike the Soviet Union, the U.S. homeland was virtually untouched by the ravages of war. During and following World War II, the United States and Britain developed. Manifestations of this include extensive basing of U.S. forces in the UK, shared intelligence, shared military technology (e.g. nuclear technology), and shared procurement.

Cold War era (1945–1991)
Following World War II, the United States emerged as a global vis-a-vis the Soviet Union in the. In this period of some forty years, the United States provided foreign military aid and direct involvement in s against the Soviet Union. It was the principal foreign actor in the and  during this era. Nuclear weapons were held in ready by the United States under a concept of with the Soviet Union.

Postwar military reorganization (1947)
The, meeting the need for a military reorganization to complement the U.S. superpower role, combined and replaced the former Department of the Navy and War Department with a single -level Department of Defense. The act also created the, the , and the.

Korean War (1950–53)
The Korean War was a conflict between the United States and its allies and the  powers under influence of the Soviet Union (also a UN member nation) and the People's Republic of China (which later also gained UN membership). The principal combatants were North and South Korea. Principal allies of South Korea included the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, although many other nations sent troops under the aegis of the. Allies of North Korea included the People's Republic of China, which supplied military forces, and the Soviet Union, which supplied and aircraft pilots, as well as arms, for the Chinese and North Korean troops.

The war started badly for the US and UN. North Korean forces struck massively in the summer of 1950 and nearly drove the outnumbered US and ROK defenders into the sea. However the United Nations intervened, naming commander of its, and UN-US-ROK forces held a perimeter around , gaining time for reinforcement. MacArthur, in a bold but risky move, ordered an amphibious invasion well behind the front lines at, cutting off and routing the North Koreans and quickly crossing the 38th Parallel into North Korea. As UN forces continued to advance toward the on the border with Communist China, the Chinese crossed the Yalu River in October and launched a series of surprise attacks that sent the UN forces reeling back across the 38th Parallel. Truman originally wanted a strategy to unify Korea; after the Chinese successes he settled for a  policy to split the country. MacArthur argued for rollback but was by President  after disputes over the conduct of the war. Peace negotiations dragged on for two years until President threatened China with nuclear weapons; an armistice was quickly reached with the two Koreas remaining divided at the. North and South Korea are still de jure in a state of war, having never signed a peace treaty, and American forces remain stationed in South Korea as part of American foreign policy.

Lebanon crisis of 1958
In the that threatened civil war,  deployed several hundred Marines to bolster the pro-Western Lebanese government from 15 July to 25 October 1958.

Dominican Intervention
On 28 April 1965, 400 Marines were landed in Santo Domingo to evacuate the American Embassy and foreign nationals after dissident Dominican armed forces attempted to overthrow the ruling civilian junta. By mid-May, peak strength of 23,850 U.S. soldiers, Marines, and Airmen were in the Dominican Republic and some 38 naval ships were positioned offshore. They evacuated nearly 6,500 men, women, and children of 46 nations, and distributed more than 8 million tons of food.

The intervention cost the U.S. 27 KIA and 172 WIA. Another 20 Americans died from non-hostile causes; 111 were seriously injured. Ten of the KIA were Marines; 13 were from the. Among the 2,850 Dominican dead were 325 National Police officers and 500 members of the armed forces. An estimated 600 rebels were killed. Civilians accounted for the remainder.

Vietnam War (1964–1975)
The was a war fought between 1955 and 1975 on the ground in  and bordering areas of  and  (see ) and in the  (see ) of. American advisors came in the late 1950s to help the RVN (Republic of Vietnam) combat Communist insurgents known as "Viet Cong." Major American military involvement began in 1964, after Congress provided President  with  blanket approval for presidential use of force in  the.

Fighting on one side was a coalition of forces including the ( or the "RVN"), the United States, supplemented by South Korea, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. The allies fought against the (NVA) as well as the National Liberation Front (NLF, also known as Viet communists ), or "VC", a guerrilla force within South Vietnam. The NVA received substantial military and economic aid from the Soviet Union and China, turning Vietnam into a.

The military history of the American side of the war involved different strategies over the years. The bombing campaigns of the Air Force were tightly controlled by the White House for political reasons, and until 1972 avoided the main Northern cities of Hanoi and Haiphong and concentrated on bombing jungle supply trails, especially the. The most controversial Army commander was whose strategy involved systematic defeat of all enemy forces in the field, despite heavy American casualties that alienated public opinion back home.

The U.S. framed the war as part of its policy of of  in south Asia, but American forces were frustrated by an inability to engage the enemy in decisive battles, corruption and incompetence in the, and ever increasing protests at home. The in 1968, although a major military defeat for the NLF with half their forces eliminated, marked the psychological turning point in the war. With President opposed to containment and more interested in achieving  détente with both the Soviet Union and China, American policy shifted to "Vietnamization," – providing very large supplies of arms and letting the Vietnamese fight it out themselves. After more than 57,000 dead and many more wounded, American forces withdrew in 1973 with no clear victory, and in 1975 South Vietnam was finally conquered by communist North Vietnam and unified.

Memories and lessons from the war are still a major factor in American politics. One side views the war as a necessary part of the policy, which allowed the enemy to choose the time and place of warfare. Others note the U.S. made major strategic gains as the Communists were defeated in Indonesia, and by 1972 both Moscow and Beijing were competing for American support, at the expense of their allies in Hanoi. Critics see the conflict as a "quagmire"—an endless waste of American blood and treasure in a conflict that did not concern US interests. Fears of another quagmire have been major factors in foreign policy debates ever since. The draft became extremely unpopular, and President Nixon ended it in 1973, forcing the military (the Army especially) to rely entirely upon volunteers. That raised the issue of how well the professional military reflected overall American society and values; the soldiers typically took the position that their service represented the highest and best American values.

Grenada
In October, 1983, a power struggle in Grenada, which had installed a communist-leaning government, led to increased tensions in the region. Neighboring nations asked the U.S. to intervene. The invasion was a hurriedly devised grouping of paratroopers, Marines, Rangers, and special operations forces in. Over a thousand Americans quickly seized the entire island, taking hundreds of military and civilian prisoners, especially Cubans, who were building a large military airstrip.

Beirut
In 1983 fighting between and  factions reignited that nation's long-running civil war. A UN agreement brought an to occupy Beirut and guarantee security. US Marines landed in August 1982 along with Italian and French forces. On 23 October 1983, a suicide bomber driving a truck filled with 6 tons of TNT crashed through a fence and, killing 241 Marines; seconds later, a second bomber leveled a French barracks, killing 58. Subsequently, the US Navy engaged in bombing of militia positions inside Lebanon. While US President was initially defiant, political pressure at home eventually forced the withdrawal of the Marines in February 1984.

Libya
Code-named "Operation El Dorado Canyon", comprised the joint, , and   air-strikes against  on 15 April 1986. The attack was carried out in response to the, and resulted in the killing of 45 officers and 15 civilians.

Panama
On 20 December 1989 the, mainly from U.S. bases within the then-, to oust dictator and international drug trafficker. American forces quickly overwhelmed the Panamanian Defense Forces, Noriega was captured on 3 January 1990 and imprisoned in the U.S. and a new government was installed.

Persian Gulf War (1990–1991)
The was a conflict between  and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. The lead up to the war began with the i invasion of in August 1990 which was met with immediate economic sanctions by the  against Iraq. The coalition commenced hostilities in January 1991, resulting in a decisive victory for the U.S. led coalition forces, which drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait with minimal coalition deaths. Despite the low death toll, over 180,000 US veterans would later be classified as "permanently disabled" according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (see ). The main battles were aerial and ground combat within Iraq, Kuwait and bordering areas of. Land combat did not expand outside of the immediate Iraq/Kuwait/Saudi border region, although the coalition bombed cities and strategic targets across Iraq, and Iraq fired missiles on Israeli and Saudi cities.

Before the war, many observers believed the US and its allies could win but might suffer substantial casualties (certainly more than any conflict since Vietnam), and that the tank battles across the harsh desert might rival those of North Africa during World War II. After nearly 50 years of s, and constant fears of another war in Europe between and the, some thought the Persian Gulf War might finally answer the question of which military philosophy would have reigned supreme. Iraqi forces were battle-hardened after 8 years of war with, and they were well equipped with late model tanks and jet fighters, but the antiaircraft weapons were crippled; in comparison, the US had no large-scale combat experience since its withdrawal from  nearly 20 years earlier, and major changes in US doctrine, equipment and technology since then had never been tested under fire.

However, the battle was one-sided almost from the beginning. The reasons for this are the subject of continuing study by military strategists and academics. There is general agreement that US technological superiority was a crucial factor but the speed and scale of the Iraqi collapse has also been attributed to poor strategic and tactical leadership and low morale among Iraqi troops, which resulted from a history of incompetent leadership. After devastating initial strikes against Iraqi air defenses and command and control facilities on 17 January 1991, coalition forces achieved total air superiority almost immediately. The Iraqi air force was destroyed within a few days, with some planes fleeing to Iran, where they were interned for the duration of the conflict. The overwhelming technological advantages of the US, such as and  sights, quickly turned the air war into a "". The heat signature of any tank which started its engine made an easy target. Air defense radars were quickly destroyed by radar-seeking missiles fired from aircraft. Grainy video clips, shot from the nose cameras of missiles as they aimed at impossibly small targets, were a staple of US news coverage and revealed to the world a new kind of war, compared by some to a video game. Over 6 weeks of relentless pounding by planes and helicopters, the Iraqi army was almost completely beaten but did not retreat, under orders from Iraqi President, and by the time the ground forces invaded on 24 February, many Iraqi troops quickly surrendered to forces much smaller than their own; in one instance, Iraqi forces attempted to surrender to a television camera crew that was advancing with coalition forces.

After just 100 hours of ground combat, and with all of Kuwait and much of southern Iraq under coalition control, US President ordered a cease-fire and negotiations began resulting in an agreement for cessation of hostilities. Some US politicians were disappointed by this move, believing Bush should have pressed on to Baghdad and removed Hussein from power; there is little doubt that coalition forces could have accomplished this if they had desired. Still, the political ramifications of removing Hussein would have broadened the scope of the conflict greatly, and many coalition nations refused to participate in such an action, believing it would create a power vacuum and destabilize the region.

Following the Persian Gulf War, to protect minority populations, the US, Britain, and France declared and maintained in northern and southern Iraq, which the Iraqi military frequently tested. The no-fly zones persisted until the 2003 invasion of Iraq, although France withdrew from participation in patrolling the no-fly zones in 1996, citing a lack of humanitarian purpose for the operation.

Somalia
US troops participated in a UN peacekeeping mission in beginning in 1992. By 1993 the US troops were augmented with Rangers and special forces with the aim of capturing warlord, whose forces had massacred peacekeepers from Pakistan. During a raid in downtown Mogadishu, US troops became trapped overnight by a general uprising in the. Eighteen American soldiers were killed, and a US television crew filmed graphic images of the body of one soldier being dragged through the streets by an angry mob. Somali guerrillas paid a staggering toll at an estimated 1,000–5,000 total casualties during the conflict. After much public disapproval, American forces were quickly withdrawn by President. The incident profoundly affected US thinking about peacekeeping and intervention. The book  was written about the battle, and was the basis for the later.

Haiti
Operation Uphold Democracy (19 September 1994 – 31 March 1995) was an intervention designed to reinstate the elected President, who was reported to have died in office during the bombing of the presidential palace. The operation was effectively authorized by the 31 July 1994 United Nations Security Council Resolution 940.

Yugoslavia
During the war in Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the US operated in as part of the NATO-led multinational implementation force  in. The USA was one of the NATO member countries who bombed Yugoslavia between 24 March and 9 June 1999 during the and later contributed to the multinational force.

War on Terrorism (2001–present)
The is a global effort by the governments of several countries (primarily the United States and its principal allies) to neutralize international  groups (primarily  terrorist groups, including ) and ensure that  no longer support terrorist activities. It has been adopted primarily as a response to the on the United States. Since 2001, terrorist motivated attacks upon service members have occurred in and.

Afghanistan
The ( – Afghanistan) to depose that country's  government and destroy training camps associated with al-Qaeda is understood to have been the opening, and in many ways defining, campaign of the broader War on Terrorism. The emphasis on Special Operations Forces (SOF), political negotiation with autonomous military units, and the use of proxy militaries marked a significant change from prior U.S. military approaches.

Philippines
In January 2002, the U.S. sent more than 1,200 troops (later raised to 2,000) to assist the in combating terrorist groups linked to al-Qaida, such as, under. Operations have taken place mostly in the, where terrorists and other groups are active. The majority of troops provide. However, there are special forces troops that are training and assisting in combat operations against the terrorist groups.

Iraq
After the lengthy culminated with an American demand that Iraqi President  leave, which was refused, a  led by the United States and the United Kingdom fought the Iraqi army in the. Approximately 250,000 United States troops, with support from 45,000 British, 2,000 Australian and 200 Polish combat forces, entered primarily through their  in. (Turkey had refused to permit its territory to be used for an invasion from the north.) Coalition forces also supported Iraqi, estimated to number upwards of 50,000. After approximately three weeks of fighting, Hussein and the were forcibly removed, followed by 9 years of military presence by the United States and the coalition fighting alongside the newly elected Iraqi government against various insurgent groups.

Syrian and Iraqi intervention
With the emergence of and its capture of large areas of Iraq and Syria, a number of crises resulted that sparked international attention. ISIL had perpetrated sectarian killings and war crimes in both Iraq and Syria. Gains made in the were rolled back as Iraqi army units abandoned their posts. Cities were taken over by the terrorist group which enforced its brand of Sharia law. The kidnapping and decapitation of numerous Western journalists and aid-workers also garnered interest and outrage among Western powers. The US intervened with airstrikes in Iraq over ISIL held territories and assets in August, and in September a coalition of US and Middle Eastern powers initiated a bombing campaign in Syria aimed at degrading and destroying ISIL and -held territory. By December 2017, ISIL had no remaining territory in Iraq, following the 2017 Western Iraq campaign. Airstrikes by US and Coalition forces have continued in Syria against the Assad government especially after the in 2018.

Libyan intervention
As a result of the, the United Nations enacted , which imposed a no-fly zone over Libya, and the protection of civilians from the forces of. The United States, along with, committed a coalition force against Gaddafi's forces. On 19 March 2011, the first U.S. action was taken when 114 launched by US and UK warships destroyed shoreline air defenses of the Gaddafi regime. The U.S. continued to play a major role in, the -directed mission that eventually incorporated all of the military coalition's actions in the theater. Throughout the conflict however, the U.S. maintained it was playing a supporting role only and was following the UN mandate to protect civilians, while the real conflict was between Gaddafi's loyalists and fighting to depose him. During the conflict, American  were also deployed.