United States Armed Forces

"What happened to you?" "I joined the Army."

- Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers

The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They mainly consisted of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

World War II
"General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons but are won by men. Our goal is to create the greatest army in history."

- Chester Phillips

When the USA entered World War II in 1941, the US Armed Forces had to fight on two fronts, against the Nazi Third Reich in Europe, and against the Empire of Japan in the Pacific. To improve their chances to win the war, the Strategic Scientific Reserve, the Allied secret science agency, began to work on Project Rebirth, which resulted in the creation of Captain America, the first and only Allied Super Soldier.

During the war, on the battlefields of Europe, the US Army had to face many advanced and deadly weapons developed by HYDRA, the Nazi special weapons division led by the SS general Johann Schmidt. However, thanks to Captain America and his Howling Commandos, HYDRA was destroyed in 1945, and the US Army triumphantly defeated all countries of the Axis powers, winning the war.

The Hulk incident
"You must realize that what I'm about to tell you is very sensitive, both to me and to the Army. You know that we have a Bio-Force Department, and that we had a bio-force enhancement research project developed during World War II..." "A Super-Soldier."

- Thaddeus Ross and Emil Blonsky

After World War II, the US Army continued to work on the Super Soldier Serum, trying to recreate the formula developed by Abraham Erskine. The project was led by general Thaddeus Ross, who employed Dr. Bruce Banner to recreate the serum. However, in an accident involving Gamma radiation, Banner was transformed into the Hulk.

Afghanistan
"Hi, Rhodey, its me." "It's who?" "Oh, I'm sorry, it is ME. You asked. What your asking about, it's me." "No, you see, this isn't a game. You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You understand that?" "It's not a piece of equipment, I'm in it! Its a suit! It's ME!"

- Tony Stark and James Rhodes

Over the years after World War II, the US armed forces have undergone drastic changes in their military equipment and weapons thanks to Stark Industries who provides the latest and most advanced technology it can offer.

During the Global War on Terrorism, the US Army occupied Afghanistan. In 2009, the CEO of Stark Industries Tony Stark came to Afghanistan to demonstrate the Jericho missile to the Army officers. After the demonstration, he was kidnapped by the terrorist group known as the Ten Rings. The Army searched for him for some time, until he was found alone in the desert.

Some time later, an unidentified flying object was spotted by the Army in the province of Kunar. The two F-22 Raptors tried to shot it down, but the object, actually a man in an armored suit, accidentally damaged one of the planes. The man saved the pilot from the damaged plane, and Lieutenant-Colonel James Rhodes later told to the reporters at the press-conference that the plane crashed during the training exercise.

War for Earth
In 2012, as part of Loki's agreement with The Other, the Chitauri army invaded New York City. The US Army was sent to repel the invasion, but the attackers were ultimately defeated by the group of superheroes known as the Avengers.

The Mandarin's threat
When Eric Savin commandeered the Iron Patriot Armor from James Rhodes, it was easy for him to infiltrate Air Force One so he could kidnap President Ellis. A few high ranking officers onboard the plane tried to stop him, but he easily defeated them.

Weapons
The US Armed Forces has the state-of-the-art high-tech weaponry at their disposal. Most of them were manufactured by Stark Industries, Hammer Industries and other weapons companies.

Vehicles
Army
 * Humvee

Air Force
 * Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
 * Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
 * F-22 Raptor

Behind the scenes

 * Stan Lee appears briefly in Captain America: The First Avenger as an unnamed four-star general of the US Army.
 * Five members of the US military were used as extras during the filming of Iron Man 3.