Editing United States Army (section)

====World Wars====
{{main|United States Army during World War II}}
{{Hatnote|For a list of campaigns see [[List of United States Army campaigns during World War II]]}}
[[File:At close grips2.jpg|thumb|right|U.S. Army troops assaulting a German bunker in [[France]], {{circa|1918}}]]
[[File:Us army world war 1 johnstown pennsylvania common history.jpg|thumb|U.S. Army unit before heading to France during World War I]]

The [[American entry into World War I|United States joined World War I]] as an "Associated Power" in 1917 on the side of [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]], [[French Third Republic|France]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] and the other [[Allies of World War I|Allies]]. U.S. troops were sent to the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] and were involved in the last offensives that ended the war. With the armistice in November 1918, the army once again decreased its forces.

In 1939, estimates of the Army's strength ranged between 174,000 and 200,000 soldiers, smaller than that of [[Portugal]]'s, which ranked it 17th or 19th in the world in size. General [[George C. Marshall]] became Army chief of staff in September 1939 and set about expanding and modernizing the Army in preparation for war.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2014/jun/13/ken-paxton/us-army-was-smaller-army-portugal-world-war-ii/|title=U.S. army was smaller than the army for Portugal before World War II|work=Politifact|access-date=23 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pubs/summary.cfm?q=358|title=Excerpt – General George C. Marshall: Strategic Leadership and the Challenges of Reconstituting the Army, 1939–41|website=Ssi.armywarcollege.edu|access-date=23 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124005751/http://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pubs/summary.cfm?q=358|archive-date=24 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:U.S. Soldiers at Bougainville (Solomon Islands) March 1944.jpg|thumb|left|U.S. soldiers hunting for Japanese infiltrators during the [[Bougainville Campaign]]]]
The United States joined [[World War II]] in December 1941 after the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]. Some 11 million Americans were to serve in various Army operations.<ref name= debruyne>{{citation |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf |author=Nese DeBruyne, Congressional Research Service |date=18 September 2018 |title= American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics |at= Page 3, note j — |quote=World War II: 10.42 million (1 December 1941-31 August 1945)}}. Other sources count the Army of Occupation up to 31 December 1946. By 30 June 1947 the Army's strength was down to 990,000 troops.</ref><ref name="amh-v2">{{citation |publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]] |chapter-url=https://history.army.mil/books/AMH-V2/AMH%20V2/chapter4.htm |title=American Military History |volume= 2 |chapter=Chapter 4: "GRAND STRATEGY AND THE WASHINGTON HIGH COMMAND"|quote= 10.4 million |page=122}}</ref> On the [[European Theatre of World War II|European front]], U.S. Army troops formed a significant portion of the forces that landed in French North Africa and [[Tunisia campaign|took Tunisia]] and then [[Allied invasion of Sicily|moved on to Sicily]] and later [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|fought in Italy]]. In the June 1944 [[Normandy landings|landings in northern France]] and in the subsequent [[Western Front (World War II)#1944–45: The Second Front|liberation of Europe]] and defeat of [[Nazi Germany]], millions of U.S. Army troops played a central role. In 1947, the number of soldiers in the US Army had decreased from eight million in 1945 to 684,000 soldiers and the total number of active divisions had dropped from 89 to 12. The leaders of the Army saw this demobilization as a success.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Points Were All That Mattered: The US Army's Demobilization After World War II |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/points-system-us-armys-demobilization#:~:text=The%20US%20Army%20finally%20ended,684%2C000%20on%20July%201%2C%201947. |website=The National WWII Museum New Orleans | date=27 August 2020 |access-date=November 4, 2022}}</ref>

In the [[Pacific War]], U.S. Army soldiers participated alongside the [[United States Marine Corps]] in capturing the [[Pacific Islands]] from Japanese control. Following the [[Axis Powers|Axis]] surrenders in May (Germany) and August (Japan) of 1945, army troops were deployed to Japan and Germany to occupy the two defeated nations. Two years after World War II, the [[Army Air Forces]] separated from the army to become the [[United States Air Force]] in September 1947. In 1948, the army was [[Desegregation in the United States|desegregated]] by [[Executive Order 9981|order 9981]] of President [[Harry S. Truman]].