How many Americans are serving in the military overseas? In light of our care package mission, we are often asked that question. Some recent statistics from the DOD give a good overview of U.S. personnel serving abroad.
As of December 31, 2012, approximately 1,372,522 Americans served in active military roles worldwide. Of those, 172,966 were stationed outside the continental U.S. and it's territories.
Specifically related to the Overseas Contingency Operations deployments (often referred to as the War on Terror), total U.S. military personnel (12/31/2012) overseas include:
Operation New Dawn (Iraq) - 127
Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) - 974
Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) - 76,818
Kuwait - 15,352
Krygyzstan - 3,041
* Other or unspecified countries comprise the remainder of the total 140,770 troops.
* Totals include deployed Reserve/National Guard personnel.
For those serving specifically in Afghanistan, the breakdown is :
59,160 - Army
4,868 - Navy
7,579 - Marine Corps
5,211 - Air Force
In addition to the above totals, about 20,772 military dependents and 35,000 U.S. civilian contractors were located outside the U.S. and it's territories.
For total military personnel worldwide, the breakdown is :
535,247 - Army
312,877 - Navy
195,700 - Marine Corps
328,658 - Air Force
The number of troops assigned to specific countries or missions changes constantly, but this is an overview as of December 31, 2012.
