Armed forces

The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors. In broad usage, the terms "armed forces" and "military" are often treated synonymously, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces.

Described below are some examples of armed forces.

French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion was the military service wing of the French Army, established in 1831. It was unique in that it was created to allow foreign nationals to willingly serve with the French military. However, it was often viewed with some controversy regarding its practice, particularly that it forces non-nationals to undergo dangerous missions to protect French citizenry from getting hurt, although it granted benefits such as French citizenship and permanent residency, and the ones who join were granted an equal chance, regardless of what they were.

Former members:


 * George Kasler
 * Mistral

Japan Self-Defense Forces
The Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) were the unified military force of Japan. Founded in 1954, it was met with controversy due to Article 9 forbidding war from ever being enacted in Japan. However, Tokyo's official stance is that Article 9 of the Japanese constitution did not forbid self-defense, which allowed it to create a force for the purpose of self-defense. Kazuhira Miller was a former member for the Self-Defense Forces, but quit due to not improving in the SDF, Yukio Mishima's suicide, and the fact that his mother died, so he no longer had a reason to continue.

Former members
 * Kazuhira Miller

People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the defacto armed forces of the People's Republic of China, as well as the military arm of the Communist Party of China. Its headquarters were the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department. The female sleeper agent, known by EVA, was assigned to the second division.

Former members:


 * EVA

United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States of America.

United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare, space warfare, and cyberwarfare branch of the U.S. armed forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U.S. military to be formed.

During the Shadow Moses Incident a pair of F-16 fighters were sent to the island as a diversion, to aid Solid Snake's infiltration. However, they were shot down by the terrorist leader, Liquid Snake, piloting a Hind D. Towards the end of the incident, the island was to be bombed by F117 Nighthawks and B-2 bombers, but were called off at the last minute.

In 2018, a World Marshal contact at the United States Air Force scrambled a pair of MQ-320 aerial drones to pursue Doktor's chopper when it was escaping World Marshal's HQ in Denver, Colorado. The drones were later destroyed by Raiden, and none were scrambled afterwards because of their trying to give a coverstory for why they launched a pair of US Attack Drones at a city against someone who wasn't even a national threat.

United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. It is a blue water navy with the ability to project force onto the littoral regions of the world, engage in forward areas during peacetime, and rapidly respond to regional crises, making it an active player in American foreign and defense policy. There were five fleets active in the United States Navy (six counting the Naval Reserve), which are the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh fleets, which were stationed around the Atlantic coast of South America and West Coast of Central America alongside the portion of the Atlantic Ocean from the United States cost to the middle of the Atlantic, portions of the eastern and northern Pacific ocean (including the Bering Sea, Aleutian Chain, Alaska, and the Arctic), the areas around the Persian gulf/Red Sea/Arabian Sea and East Africa up to Kenya, Europe, and portions of Asia that included Korea and Japan, respectively.

The U.S. Navy, with the backing of the Patriots, conceived the Arsenal Gear program. This makes the backing of the RAY program by the Marine Corps confusing as the Navy is the parent organisation of the Marines. A Navy captain was killed, during the Big Shell Incident, by Dead Cell in order to retrieve "The Football" that was handcuffed to him. Also, SEAL Team 10 used Navy helicopters to board the Big Shell.

Richard Nixon served in the Navy against the Japanese in World War II until 1947, when he left to after a discharge in 1946.

The Colorado senator and 2020 Presidential candidate Steven Armstrong formerly served in the United States Navy, of which he noted caused him to sacrifice advancing to a professional football player.

Former members
 * Richard Nixon
 * Steven Armstrong

United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the homeshore branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. While the United States Navy was tasked with the capability to project force onto the littoral regions of the world, the Coast Guard was designed to conduct maritime law enforcement with jurisdictions within both federal and international law. The Coast Guard is generally applied to the Department of Homeland Security, although it can be transferred to the United States Navy by Congress or by the President, during war and at any time, respectively.

Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht (German: Defence Force) was the main armed forces of Germany (then Nazi Germany) during World War II. Its three core tennants were the Luftwaffe (Air Force), Heer (Army) and Kriegsmarine (Naval forces). In 1940, the Wehrmacht stumbled upon one of the mass graves near the Katyn Forest in Poland containing at least 4,000 deceased Poles, which led to a blame game between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany regarding who was responsible (the former actually being responsible via the NKVD). The Wehrmacht was eventually disbanded by the time of Germany's defeat in the war.

Former members
 * Old Boy