As we celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of American liberty, there are a host of other historical anniversaries to mark as well. Case in point: Sunday, June 14th, marks the 251st birthday of the United States Army. Hoo-ah!
251 years of defending America's freedom, and we're just getting started.
— U.S. Army (@USArmy) June 14, 2026
From the first musket shots in 1775 to the high-tech, multi-domain force of today, our Soldiers have always been, and always will be, ready to answer the call. pic.twitter.com/as86YwSoi1
On June 14th, 1775, the Second Continental Congress voted to establish what was then called the Continental Army, with which to oppose the British Army. Before that, the colonies had local militias and some colonial troops, but there was no national army under a unified command. On that day in 1775, that changed. The Continental Congress authorized the raising of ten companies of soldiers, each serving a one-year term. General George Washington was named as the commander of the Continental Army on June 15th. Riflemen, hunters, pioneers; many joined up, and the 1st Continental Regiment was formed in 1776. These men, about ten percent of whom were black, proceeded to give the British Army a good lesson in American courage and determination, and our republic stands today because of them.
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Since then, many have served, many have sacrificed, to protect the liberty and property of the citizens of the United States; as the famous saying goes, "All gave some. Some gave all."
Personal note: In my family, I was the third generation of soldiers. My paternal grandfather served as a mess sergeant in the Army during the Great War. My father was a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber navigator in World War II. I joined up in the late years of the Cold War, served in Operation Desert Storm, and in a few other places along the way. One of the things I'm proudest of in my life is that I was once a soldier, and my wife, also an Army Desert Storm veteran, feels the same way - and we both believe that the oath we took, all those years ago, still applies.
The United States Army is like few others in the history of military affairs. Our army is an army that does not subjugate or conquer; it liberates. It's a force of citizens, not mercenaries, and now, today, it's a force of volunteers. Our soldiers serving now are there because they chose to be, not because they were conscripted or impressed. Our army is also a force that is difficult to predict and counter in battle; there's an apocryphal story from World War II (known as World War Eleven in some quarters) of a German general claiming that the reason the United States Army was so difficult to face in battle was that "...While they have books of doctrine, their officers not only don't follow them, most of them don't even read them."
Be that as it may, our army has a history of winning. The United States Army has a history of doing what they are meant to do: To close with and destroy the enemy by fire, maneuver, and shock effect, and now that the current Secretary of War is weeding out the DEI horse squeeze put in place during previous (Democrat) administrations, our troops are now better at that than they have been for quite a while.
Soldiers and veterans, enjoy this day. It's the anniversary of the founding of an institution that, without which, there would be no republic - there would be no United States. So, happy birthday, United States Army! Hoo-ah!
Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.
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