U.S. military branches by the numbers

Lt. Col. Ann Peru Knabe // U.S. Air Force photo

U.S. military branches by the numbers

While a great deal of noise has been made about the politicization of the military in recent years, people on both sides of the aisle can step back from politics and simply appreciate the bravery put on display by the more than one million active service members in the armed forces. Not only do they put their lives on the line in the pursuit of defending the United States, but they come from all different walks of life, having various ethnic backgrounds, educational history, and unique skill sets.

To provide more context on military diversity, Stacker used data from CNA that provides specific breakdowns of the American armed forces by various demographics. This story focuses on Department of Defense services branches, specifically the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Data was unavailable for the U.S. Coast Guard. For each branch, we've included 2016 statistics about the makeup of their personnel across various categories.

Read on to get a better idea of what the large coalition of brave servicemen and servicewomen protecting our nation actually looks like.

ALSO: Military heroes from every state
1 / 32

Boing-boing // Wikimedia Commons

Active duty personnel – Army

2016 active duty personnel: 378,835
Percent of total personnel: 35.7%
2 / 32

Official Navy Page // Wikimedia Commons

Active duty personnel – Navy

2016 active duty personnel: 265,716
Percent of total personnel: 25.1%
3 / 32

US Air Force // Flickr

Active duty personnel – Air Force

2016 active duty personnel: 252,762
Percent of total personnel: 23.8%
4 / 32

Marines // Flickr

Active duty personnel – Marines

2016 active duty personnel: 162,828
Percent of total personnel: 15.4%
5 / 32

The U.S. Army // Wikimedia Commons

Breakdown by gender – Army

2016 active duty males: 325,603 (85.9%)
2016 active duty females: 53,232 (14.1%)
6 / 32

Official Navy Page // Wikimedia Commons

Breakdown by gender – Navy

2016 active duty males: 215,540 (81.1%)
2016 active duty females: 50,176 (18.9%)
7 / 32

US Air Force // Flickr

Breakdown by gender – Air Force

2016 active duty males: 204,476 (80.9%)
2016 active duty females: 48,286 (19.1%)
8 / 32

U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos // Flickr

Breakdown by gender – Marines

2016 active duty males: 149,497 (91.8%)
2016 active duty females: 13,331 (8.2%)
9 / 32

The U.S. Army // Wikimedia Commons

Breakdown by race/ethnicity – Army

2016 active duty members:
White: 65.1%
Black: 24.3%
Asian: 4.5%
Unknown: 4.12%
Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander: 1.2%
American Indian, Alaska Native: 0.8%
Two or more: 0.0%
10 / 32

Official Navy Page // Wikimedia Commons

Breakdown by race/ethnicity – Navy

2016 active duty members:
White: 58.3%
Black: 19.1%
Asian: 5.6%
Unknown: 3.5%
Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander: 1.2%
American Indian, Alaska Native: 3.0%
Two or more: 9.3%