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Which Countries are US Military Personnel Deployed in Right Now?

The US has 200K active troops overseas in 177 countries... but which countries are they?
Visual Capitalist creates and curates enriched visual content focused on emerging trends in business and investing. Founded in 2011 in Vancouver, the team at Visual Capitalist believes that art, data, and storytelling can be combined in a manner that makes complex issues and processes more digestible. Covering high-growth opportunities and industries such as technology, mining, and energy, Visual Capitalist reaches millions of investors each year. Visual Capitalist’s infographics have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Zero Hedge, Maclean’s, Gizmodo, The Vancouver Sun, and Business Insider.
Visual Capitalist creates and curates enriched visual content focused on emerging trends in business and investing. Founded in 2011 in Vancouver, the team at Visual Capitalist believes that art, data, and storytelling can be combined in a manner that makes complex issues and processes more digestible. Covering high-growth opportunities and industries such as technology, mining, and energy, Visual Capitalist reaches millions of investors each year. Visual Capitalist’s infographics have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Zero Hedge, Maclean’s, Gizmodo, The Vancouver Sun, and Business Insider.

US Military Personnel Deployments by Country

There was no shortage of cuts proposed in Trump’s budget for 2018, which was released earlier this week.

However, one of the few departments that did not receive a haircut was the Department of Defense. If the proposed budget ultimately passes in Congress, the DoD would be allocated an extra $54 billion in federal funding – a 10% increase that would be one of the largest one-year defense budget increases in American History.

To put the proposed increase in context, the United States already spends more on defense than the next seven countries combined. Meanwhile, the additional $54 billion is about the size of the United Kingdom’s entire defense budget.

Country Military Spending (2015) Share
United States $596 billion 35.8%
China $215 billion 12.9%
Saudi Arabia $87 billion 5.2%
Russia $66 billion 4.0%
United Kingdom $55 billion 3.3%
India $51 billion 3.1%
France $51 billion 3.1%
Japan $41 billion 2.5%
Germany $39 billion 2.4%
South Korea $36 billion 2.2%
Others $427 billion 25.6%

“BE ALL YOU CAN BE”

With over half of all US discretionary spending being put towards the military each year, the US is able to have extensive operations both at home and abroad. Our chart for this week breaks down military personnel based on the latest numbers released by the DoD on February 27, 2017.

In total, excluding civilian support staff, there are about 2.1 million troops. Of those, 1.3 million are on active duty, while about 800,000 are in reserve or part of the National Guard.

On a domestic basis, there are about 1.1 million active troops stationed in the United States, and here’s how they are grouped based on branch of service:

Military Branch Active Domestic Personnel As a Percentage
Army 394,236 35%
Navy 283,499 25%
Marine Corps 149,992 13%
Air Force 249,738 22%
Coast Guard 38,659 3%
Total 1,116,124 100%

Internationally, there are just under 200,000 troops that are stationed in 177 countries throughout the world.

Here are the top 20 countries they are stationed in, as well as an “Other” category that represents the rest:

Rank Country / Territory U.S. Troops
#1 Japan 39,345
#2 Germany 34,805
#3 South Korea 23,468
#4 Italy 12,102
#5 Afghanistan 9,294
#6 United Kingdom 8,479
#7 Kuwait 6,296
#8 Iraq 5,540
#9 Bahrain 5,504
#10 Guam 3,831
#11 Spain 3,256
#12 Qatar 2,976
#13 Turkey 2,234
#14 Djibouti 1,961
#15 Jordan 1,759
#16 United Arab Emirates 1,079
#17 Belgium 842
#18 Cuba 806
#19 Romania 667
#20 Greece 407
Other / Unknown 34,834
Total 199,485

In 2015, Politico estimated that there are 800 US bases abroad, and that it costs up to $100 billion annually to maintain this international presence.

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