United States Armed Forces

==Order of precedence==
[[File:Chief of the General Staff of Israel Defense Forces, AFFHW, June 21, 2021 (51261475692).jpg|thumb|The Joint Armed Forces Color Guard at [[Arlington National Cemetery]]]]
[[File:220530-D-XI929-1036 (52109853997).jpg|thumb|Soldiers, marines, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians, and coast guardsmen from their services ceremonial units stand in formation at [[Arlington National Cemetery]]]]

Under Department of Defense regulation, the various components of the U.S. Armed Forces have a set order of seniority.<ref>{{USC|10|118}} (prior section 133b renumbered in 1986); [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/dodandmilitaryejournals/www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/html2/d10058x.htm DoD Directive 1005.8 dated 31 October 77] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203031801/http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/dodandmilitaryejournals/www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/html2/d10058x.htm |date=3 February 2016 }} and [http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/R600_25.pdf AR 600-25] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106070936/http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/R600_25.pdf |date=6 January 2012 }}</ref> Examples of the use of this system include the display of service flags, and placement of soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, guardians, and coast guardsmen in formation.

* Cadets, [[United States Military Academy|U.S. Military Academy]]
* Midshipmen, [[United States Naval Academy|U.S. Naval Academy]]
* Cadets, [[United States Air Force Academy|U.S. Air Force Academy]]
* Cadets, [[United States Coast Guard Academy|U.S. Coast Guard Academy]]
* Midshipmen, [[United States Merchant Marine Academy|U.S. Merchant Marine Academy]]
* United States Army
* United States Marine Corps
* United States Navy
* United States Air Force
* United States Space Force
* United States Coast Guard
* Army National Guard
* United States Army Reserve
* United States Marine Corps Reserve
* United States Navy Reserve
* Air National Guard
* United States Air Force Reserve
* United States Coast Guard Reserve
* Other training and auxiliary organizations of the Army, Marine Corps, [[United States Merchant Marine|Merchant Marine]], [[Civil Air Patrol]], and [[United States Coast Guard Auxiliary|Coast Guard Auxiliary]], as in the preceding order.

While the U.S. Navy is older than the Marine Corps,<ref name="precedence">Naval History & Heritage Command. [http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/origins-of-the-navy/precedence-of-the-navy-and-marines.html "Precedence of the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310041150/http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/origins-of-the-navy/precedence-of-the-navy-and-marines.html |date=10 March 2016 }}, U.S. Department of the Navy. 11 February 2016</ref> the Marine Corps takes precedence due to previous inconsistencies in the Navy's birth date. The Marine Corps has recognized its observed birth date on a more consistent basis. The [[Second Continental Congress]] is considered to have established the Navy on 13 October 1775 by authorizing the purchase of ships, but did not actually pass the [[United States Navy Regulations#History|"Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies"]] until 27 November 1775.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies of North-America |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/organization-and-administration/regulations-and-policy/navy-regulations-1775.html|website=Naval Historical Center|publisher=Department of the Navy|access-date=11 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123152420/http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/organization-and-administration/regulations-and-policy/navy-regulations-1775.html|archive-date=23 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The Marine Corps was established by an act of the Second Continental Congress on 10 November 1775. The Navy did not officially recognize 13 October 1775 as its birth date until 1972, when then–[[Chief of Naval Operations|chief of naval operations]] Admiral [[Elmo Zumwalt]] authorized it to be observed as such.<ref name="precedence"/>

The Coast Guard is normally situated after the Space Force, but if it is moved to the Department of the Navy, then its place in the order of precedence changes to being situated after the Navy and before the Air Force.<ref name="precedence"/>