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Updated November 22, 2021
Defense Primer: Department of the Army and
Army Command Structure
Overview
Source: Defense Military Manpower Center (DMDC), Military and
Article I, Section 8, Clause 12 of the Constitution stipulates,
Civilian Personnel by Service/Agency by State/Country as of
“The Congress shall have power ... to raise and support
September 30, 2021.
Armies ... make rules for the government and regulation of
the land and naval forces ... for calling forth the militia to
Senior Leadership
execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and
The DA is headed by a civilian Secretary of the Army
repel invasions.”
(SECARMY) who is appointed by the President with the
advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. The SECARMY
Constitutional Provision
reports to the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) and serves as
Article I, Section 8, Clause 12, known as the Army Clause.
civilian oversight for the U.S. Army and Chief of Staff of
“The Congress shall have Power To . . raise and support
the Army. The Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) is an
Armies ... ”
administrative position at the Pentagon held by a four-star
Relevant Statutes
general in the U.S. Army and is a statutory office (10
U.S.C. §3033). The CSA is the chief military advisor and
Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle B, Armed Forces: Army
deputy to the SECARMY and serves as a member of the
Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle E, Reserve Components
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), also a statutory office (10
Title 32, U.S. Code, National Guard
U.S.C. §151). The JCS is composed of the DOD’s senior
uniformed leaders who advise the President, SECDEF, and
The Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three
Cabinet officials as needed on military issues.
military departments reporting to the Department of
Defense (DOD). The Army’s primary mission is to fight
Operational and Institutional Missions
and win the nation’s ground wars. The Army’s mission is
The operational Army—known as the Operational Force—
both operational and institutional, and it is composed of
conducts or directly supports the full spectrum of military
four distinct components: the regular Active Component
operations and consists of numbered armies, corps,
(AC), the reserve components of the United States Army
divisions, brigades and battalions (e.g., Brigade Combat
Reserve (USAR), the Army National Guard (ARNG), and
Teams [BCTs], Aviation Brigades, Medical Brigades). The
Department of the Army civilians (DAC). See Figure 1.
majority of the Army is currently based in the continental
The Regular Army is the full-time, federal force of AC
United States (CONUS) relying on forward-stationed and
soldiers.
rotational units outside the continental U.S. (OCONUS) to
deter potential enemies, defend against aggression if
USAR is a federal reserve force that provides specialized
needed, and train allies.
units and capabilities, as well as individual soldiers when
mobilized.
The institutional Army supports the operational Army by
ARNG is a dual-status force that normally remains under
providing the training, education, and logistics necessary
“
the command of state governors and can respond to
to raise, train, equip, deploy, and ensure the readiness of
domestic emergencies, unless its units are mobilized for a
all Army forces.” Army organizations whose primary
federal mission.
mission is to generate and sustain the Operating Forces
(e.g., U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
DAC are federal government workers who fill a variety of
[TRADOC], U.S. Army Materiel Command [AMC], U.S.
support roles.
Army Intelligence and Security Command [INSCOM]) are
also known as the Generating Force. According to the
Table 1. Army Components
Army’s website, “Without the institutional Army, the
Total
Location
operational Army cannot function. Without the operational
Component
Number
(CONUS/OCONUS)
Army, the institutional Army has no purpose.”
AC
482,007
432,769/49,238
Army Command Structure
There are three types of commands: Army Commands,
USAR
184,358
178,250/6,108
Army Service Components Commands (ASCCs), and
ARNG
337,525
329,709/7,816
Direct Reporting Units (DRUs).
DAC
250,317
238,174/12,143
Army Commands. Army commands perform many Title
10 functions across multiple disciplines. They include U.S.
Army Forces Command, U.S. Army Futures Command,
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Defense Primer: Department of the Army and Army Command Structure
U.S. Army Materiel Command, and U.S. Army Training
Test and Evaluation Command; and U.S. Army War
and Doctrine Command.
College.
Army Service Components Commands (ASCCs).
CRS Products
ASCCs are operational organizations that are aligned with
combatant commands. ASCCs supporting geographic
CRS Insight IN10889, Army Futures Command (AFC),
combatant commands include U.S. Army Europe and
by Andrew Feickert.
Africa, U.S. Army Central, U.S. Army North, U.S. Army
Pacific, and U.S. Army South.
CRS In Focus IF11409, Defense Primer: Army Multi-
Domain Operations (MDO), by Andrew Feickert.
ASCCs with a global mission supporting functional
combatant commands include U.S. Army Cyber Command,
CRS In Focus IF10540, Defense Primer: Reserve
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/U.S.
Forces, by Lawrence Kapp.
Army Strategic Command, U.S. Army Special Operations
Command, and U.S. Army Surface Deployment and
Other Resources
Distribution Command.
Department of Defense, “The Department of Defense
Direct Reporting Units (DRUs). DRUs consist of one or
Releases the President’s Fiscal Year 2022 Defense
more units that have institutional or operational functions.
Budget,” New Release, May 28, 2021, at
These units provide broad, general support to the Army in a
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/
single, unique discipline not available elsewhere in the
Article/2638711/the-department-of-defense-releases-the-
Army and include U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center;
presidents-fiscal-year-2022-defense-budg/
Arlington National Cemetery; U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers; U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command;
Department of the Army Budget Materials at
U.S. Army Human Resources Command; U.S. Army
https://www.asafm.army.mil/Budget-Materials/
Installation Management Command; U.S. Army
Intelligence and Security Command; U.S. Army Marketing
and Engagement Brigade; U.S. Army Medical Command;
U.S. Military Academy; U.S. Army Military District of
Washington; U.S. Army Reserve Command; U.S. Army
Figure 1. Department of the Army
Source: Association of the United States Army (AUSA), Institute of Land Warfare, Profile of the United States Army, September 2020, p. 2, at
https://www.ausa.org/publications/profile-united-states-
Andrew Feickert, Specialist in Military Ground Forces
army-2020.
IF10544
Barbara Salazar Torreon, Senior Research Librarian
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Defense Primer: Department of the Army and Army Command Structure
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
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