In June 1775, the Continental Congress directed General George Washington to establish an army. It was an inexperienced force populated by ordinary citizens with an extraordinary goal: to fight tyranny and win freedom for the American colonies. The Continental Army was a motley group of patriots who were going up against the most powerful army in the world at the time. While not as experienced as the British force they fought, the Continental Army was armed with a zealous desire for freedom, a powerful weapon for which the British were unprepared.Since the Revolution 235 years ago, the U.S. Army has evolved into the world’s most formidable fighting force, but the ideals for which it fights remain the same: freedom from oppression for all. To accomplish its mission, the Army has become an agile, dynamic force that can respond quickly and decisively to eliminate threats, prevail on the battlefield and continue to protect the freedom for which it fought more than two centuries ago.Profile of the U.S. Army—a reference handbook is published by the Association of the United States Army’s Institute of Land Warfare to describe and define the Army as it is organized today. It is intended to be a user-friendly reference book for people familiar with the Army and an easy-to-read introduction for family members, civilian employees, contractors and future SoldiersThis Profile takes a top-down approach, first describing the Army’s role as a key element in the national security structure and then flowing into the “why” and “how” of the Army’s organization. Profile also contains information and helpful graphics on the Soldier, the uniform, the Army’s command structure, Army families, installations and the Army’s current operations. For readers wishing to seek more details, each chapter includes a list of relevant websites. Finally, Profile contains a glossary of acronyms and maps illustrating locations of current Army combat corps and divisions, current Army National Guard divisions and brigade combat teams, and projected Army Reserve direct reporting commands.In addition, Profile is available on the AUSA website (http://www.ausa.org/ilw). A comprehensive weapons directory containing detailed information about Army weapon systems, published by AUSA’s ARMY magazine, is also available (http://www.ausa.org/publications/armymagazine/greenbook2009/Pages/defau…. aspx). The directory describes all of the Army’s weapon systems including aircraft, artillery, tanks, individual equipment and state-of-the-art technologies used by Soldiers in the warfight.Profile of the U.S. Army is your guide. We welcome your comments and suggestions on how to make future editions as useful to you as possible. The goal of the Association of the United States Army and the Institute of Land Warfare in publishing this book is to give you a greater understanding and appreciation of the men, women, families, institutions, organizations and constitutional authority that go into creating the world’s greatest army.