United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Employment Toolkit
Military Structure

Want to know all of the branches of the military or understand what your Veteran employee may have done in the Army or Navy?

Learn more about the structure of the military and read brief descriptions of what each branch does in our Structure & Branches (Handout).

Two Marine Sergeants stand before a formation during an appointment and relief ceremony.

Need to know what a rank of ‘E-5’ on a Veteran's resume means or understand the level of leadership and responsibility a Veteran had in his or her military service?

Learn about the different types of military personnel and the order of ranks in each military branch in our Military Ranks (Handout).

Unsure about the difference between someone who is 'active duty' and someone who is in the Reserve or National Guard?

Learn about the difference, the roles of the Reserve and National Guard, and what it means when they deploy in our icon_web Active Duty vs. Reserve or National Guard (Handout).

Interested in knowing more about who is serving in today's military?

Learn more about the demographics in the icon_web Who Are Today's Service Members? (Handout).

Want to know the correct names of military conflicts, what OEF or OIF means, or which conflicts are considered wars?

Learn more about both current and past military conflicts in our
Dates & Names of Conflicts (Handout).

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