Today is the U.S. Army’s 245th birthday

KLFY Staff

5 years ago

FILE - In this Aug. 21, 2015 file photo, U.S. Army Capt. Kristen Griest, left, of Orange, Conn., stands in formation during an Army Ranger School graduation ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga. In arguments to be heard on a college campus, federal appeals court judges on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, will consider whether the military's all-male draft system is constitutional. A Texas-based federal judge ruled last year that it is not, ruling in a lawsuit brought by the National Coalition for Men. The government appealed, leading to Tuesday's hearing before a three judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

The United States Army was founded on this day in 1775, making today the 245th birthday of armed services in America.

According to the U.S. Army Center of Military History, the Army was raised in the third month of Revolutionary War. Citizen soldiers fought against the British as early as April 1775, but it wasn’t until June that Congress resolved to raise “six companies of expert riflemen, be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia… [and] as soon as completed, shall march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry, under the command of the chief Officer in that army.” The soldiers were enlisted for one year.

On June 15, 1775, Congress voted to appoint Gen. George Washington to command the new infantry. On June 16, Congress established the Adjutant General’s Corps, the Corps of Engineers, the Finance Corps and the Quartermaster Corps.

For more informaiton on the birthdays of the various Army branches, visit the U.S. Army Center of Military History’s website.

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