Army of the United States*

The Army of the United States (A.U.S.) is the land based military component of the Armed Forces. It was established by act of Congress during the earliest days of our country. In fact, the very first A.U.S. commander was General George Washington. Over the years, Congress and the War Department (present day DoD) redefined the A.U.S. and what groups were to be included in its membership. This occurred several times over the years, including in 1841when Volunteer Corps was added and in 1866 when VRC was included. Notable changes include Militia being re-designated National Guard in 1903 and provision for the inclusion of draftees. It’s not well known but draftees were not members of the U.S. Army (U.S.A.) but of the A.U.S. Although the draft ended with the Vietnam War (1974), the A.U.S. continues in existence to support its other components.

Today, the Army of the United States includes the following:

1) The Regular Army. Subgroups: U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and the National Guard,
 

2) The Retired Reserve. Subgroups:
 

a. Persons retired from the Regular Army after the requisite time in service (20 years),
 

b. Persons who have served less than the requisite time in service but were placed on the retirement list due to age (60 YOA with a few exceptions), and
 

3) Persons retiring from service with a brevetted rank. For example, a person holding the rank of captain (O-3), but for meritorious service has been “brevetted” major (O-4), would enter into the Retired Reserve as a major but drawing the pay of captain. He/she would be entitled to use the title Captain (USA) (Ret) or Major (AUS) (Ret).
 

4) Draftees.
 

5) The U.S. Volunteers. Only the President of the United States can call upon governors of the various states to provide volunteer units for federal active military duty and then only during times of war. Most notably, Civil War Volunteer regiments fell into this category as well as Teddy Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders” during the Spanish American War, and

6) The Veteran Reserve Corps (VRC). By act of Congress in 1866, the U.S. VRC was included in the Army of the United States. That’s because thousands of disabled soldiers, brevetted soldiers, and U.S. Volunteers were placed on the retirement roles. By statute, members were appointed to the VRC by governors of states that had furnished troops to the Union war effort. Even though the VRC was largely melded into the regular army in 1869, the remnant remained to support retirees. 

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*The U.S. VRC does not claim to be related, other than to honor historically,

the Civil War Era VRC.