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United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
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Hyman G. Rickover
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Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, U. S. Navy, directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of Naval Reactors. In addition, he oversaw the development of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, a naval officer who served in a flag rank for nearly 30 years – from 1953 to 1982 – Rickover was promoted to four-star admiral after 51 years of commissioned service. Vessels are now decommissioned and others are under construction, Rickover is the only person who has ever been awarded two Congressional Gold Medals. Rickover was born Chaim Godalia Rickover, to Abraham Rickover and Rachel Rickover and his parents later changed his name to Hyman, which, like Chaim, is derived from Chayyim, meaning life. He did not use his name, Godalia, but when required to list one for the Naval Academy oath. The family name Rickover is derived from the village and the estate of Ryki, located within 100 kilometres of Warsaw, decades later, the entire remaining Jewish communities of Ryki and Maków Mazowiecki were killed or otherwise perished during the Holocaust. Rickover took his first paid job at nine years of age and he graduated from grammar school at 14. While attending John Marshall High School in Chicago, Rickover held a job as a telegraph boy delivering Western Union telegrams. Congressman Adolph J. Sabath, himself a Czech Jewish immigrant, through the intervention of a family friend, Sabath nominated Rickover for appointment to the United States Naval Academy. Rickover was only an alternate for appointment, but through disciplined self-directed study and good fortune. Rickovers active duty career began in 1918, during a time when attending military academies was considered active duty service. On 2 June 1922, Rickover graduated 107th out of 540 midshipmen and was commissioned as an ensign and he joined the destroyer La Vallette on 5 September 1922. Rickover impressed his commanding officer with his work and efficiency. At Columbia, he met Ruth D. Masters, a Christian and graduate student in international law, shortly after marrying, Rickover wrote to his parents of his decision to become an Episcopalian, remaining so for the remainder of his life. Columbia was the first institution that encouraged me to think rather than memorize and my teachers were notable in that many had gained practical engineering experience outside the university and were able to share their experience with their students. I am grateful, among others, to Professors Morecroft, Hehre, much of what I have subsequently learned and accomplished in engineering is based on the solid foundation of principles I learned from them. I am therefore especially gratified by your invitation to return and speak this evening, Rickover preferred life on smaller ships, and he also knew that young officers in the submarine service were advancing quickly, so he went to Washington and volunteered for submarine duty. His application was turned down due to his age, at that time 29 years, fortunately for Rickover, he ran into his former commanding officer from Nevada while leaving the building, who interceded successfully on his behalf
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United States Naval Academy
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The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The entire campus is a National Historic Landmark and home to historic sites, buildings. It replaced Philadelphia Naval Asylum, in Philadelphia, that served as the first United States Naval Academy from 1838 to 1845 when the Naval Academy formed in Annapolis. Candidates for admission generally must both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a Member of Congress, students are officers-in-training and are referred to as midshipmen. Tuition for midshipmen is fully funded by the Navy in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation, approximately 1,200 plebes enter the Academy each summer for the rigorous Plebe Summer, but only about 1,000 midshipmen graduate. The United States Naval Academy has some of the highest paid graduates in the according to starting salary. Midshipmen are required to adhere to the academys Honor Concept, the United States Naval Academys campus is located in Annapolis, Maryland, at the confluence of the Severn River and the Chesapeake Bay. In its 2016 edition, U. S. News & World Report ranked the U. S. Naval Academy as the No.1 public liberal arts college and tied for the 9th best overall liberal arts college in the U. S. In the category of High School Counselor Rankings of National Liberal Arts Colleges, Military Academy and the U. S. Air Force Academy, and is tied for the No.5 spot for Best Undergraduate Engineering program at schools where doctorates not offered. In 2016, Forbes ranked the U. S. Naval Academy as No.24 overall in its report Americas Top Colleges, nominations may be made by members of and delegates to Congress, the President or Vice-President, the Secretary of the Navy or certain other sources. Candidates must also pass a fitness test and a thorough medical exam as part of the application process. In the 21st century, there have been about 1,200 students in each new class of plebes, the U. S. government pays for tuition, room, and board. Midshipmen receive monthly pay of $1,017.00, as of 2015, from this amount, pay is automatically deducted for the cost of uniforms, books, supplies, services, and other miscellaneous expenses. Midshipmen only receive a portion of their pay in cash while the rest is released during firstie year. Midshipmen fourth-class to midshipmen second-class receive monthly stipends of $100, $200, $300, Midshipmen first-class receive the difference between pay and outstanding expenses. Students at the academy are addressed as Midshipman, an official military rank. The same term comprises both males and females, upon graduation, most naval academy midshipmen are commissioned as ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps and serve a minimum of five years after their commissioning. If they are selected to serve as a pilot, they will serve 8–11 years minimum from their date of winging, Foreign midshipmen are commissioned into the armed forces of their native countries
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United States Strategic Command
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United States Strategic Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Department of Defense. Strategic Command was established in 1992 as a successor to Strategic Air Command and it is headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha, Nebraska. In October 2002, it merged with the United States Space Command and it employs more than 2,700 people, representing all four services, including DoD civilians and contractors. Strategic Command is one of the three Unified Combatant Commands organized along a functional basis, the other six are organized on a geographical basis. On 1 June 1992, President George H. W. Bush established the U. S. Strategic Command from the Strategic Air Command and other Cold War military bodies, the Command unified planning, targeting and wartime employment of strategic forces under one commander. Day-to-day training, equipment and maintenance responsibilities for its forces remained with the Air Force, as a result of the 2002 Nuclear Posture Review, the Cold War system of relying solely on offensive nuclear response was modified. Shortly after a meeting between President George W, the activation of the new USSTRATCOM took place on 1 October 2002. The merged command was responsible for early warning of and defense against missile attack as well as long-range strategic attacks. This combination of roles, capabilities and authorities under a unified command was unique in the history of unified commands. U. S. Strategic Command officials were expected to deliver a detailed plan on the separation to General Cartwright for approval by September 2006 and this comes after some concern by officials and lawmakers such as U. S. S. Department of Defense and specifically the way space has been organized at U. S. Strategic Command, as result of the separation, the Missile Correlation Center in Cheyenne Mountain AFS was broken into two separate entities. NORAD/NORTHCOM now controls the Missile and Space Domain and JFCC Space controls the Missile Warning Center and they are both still located at Cheyenne Mountain AFS. It was expected that MSD would eventually move to Peterson AFB to join the rest of N2C2 and this combination of authorities, oversight, leadership and management is supposed to enable a more responsive, flattened organizational construct according to the commands leadership. U. S. Cyber Command United States Cyber Command —The CYBERCOM is a unified command under United States Strategic Command. The current commander is Admiral Michael S. Rogers, CYBERCOM was created by United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates on 23 June 2009, and activated in September of that year. The command was first led by the director of the National Security Agency and it combines elements of JTF-GNO and JFCC-NW, which were dissolved in October 2010. In an interview of General Alexander, now retired, he stated that United States Special Operations Command was a model for the future evolution of CYBERCOM. Joint Functional Component Command for Global Strike The Commander Eighth Air Force serves as the Joint Functional Component Commander for Global Strike, some of these tasks belonged to a JFCC for Space and Global Strike before being split into two components
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Commendation Medal
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The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration which is presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. The Commendation Medal was originally only a ribbon and was first awarded by the U. S. Navy. An Army Commendation Ribbon followed in 1945, and in 1949, the Navy, Coast Guard, by 1960, the Commendation Ribbons had been authorized as full medals and were subsequently referred to as Commendation Medals. Additional awards of the Army and Air Force Commendation Medals are denoted by bronze, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and Coast Guard Commendation Medal are authorized gold and silver 5/16 inch stars to denote additional awards. The Operational Distinguishing Device is authorized for wear on the Coast Guard Commendation Medal upon approval of the awarding authority, order of Precedence is following the Bronze Star Medal but before the Prisoner of War Medal and all campaign medals. Each of the services also awards separate Achievement Medals which are below the Commendation Medals in precedence. This award is intended for service on a joint military staff and is senior in precedence to service-specific Commendation Medals. As such, it is worn above the service Commendation Medals on a military uniform. S, Army after December 6,1941, distinguished themselves by heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service. Approval of the award must be made by an officer in the grade of Colonel or higher, the medallion of the Army Commendation Medal is a bronze hexagon, 1 3⁄8 inches wide. On the medallion is an American bald eagle with wings spread horizontally, on its breast is a shield paly of thirteen pieces and a chief. The reverse bears a panel for naming between the words FOR MILITARY above and MERIT below, all placed above a laurel sprig, the ribbon is 1 3⁄8 inches wide primarily of myrtle green. It is edged in white and in the center are five thin white stripes spaced equally apart, devices Oak leaf cluster and V Device The U. S. Air Force began issuing its own Air Force Commendation Medal in 1958 with additional awards denoted by oak leaf clusters. Prior to this time, USAF recipients received the Army Commendation Medal and it was not until 1996 that the V device was authorized on the Air Force Commendation Medal, prior to 1996, there was not a valor distinction in effect for the Air Force Commendation Medal. For USAF enlisted personnel, the Air Force Commendation Medal is worth three points under the Air Force enlisted promotion system, approval of the award must be made by an officer in the grade of Colonel or higher. The Air Force Commendation Medal is a bronze hexagonal medallion, on the medallion is a shield surmounted by an eagle superimposed over clouds. On the shield bears a pair of wings and a vertical baton with an eagles claw at either end, behind the shield are eight lightning bolts. The design on the shield is derived from the Seal of the Department of the Air Force, the ribbon of the Air Force Commendation Medal is golden yellow with blue edges. In the center are three bands of blue, the stripes are thin with the center stripe being wider
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United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
United States
U.S. Navy
Admiral
Silver SSBN Deterrent Patrol insignia (5 awards)
Command at Sea insignia
Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge
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This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Navy document "United States Navy Biography, Vice Admiral James F. Caldwell Jr., Naval Inspector General". Retrieved on 2014-11-22.