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- With more than 2.5 million people on payroll, the Department of Defense is the largest employer in the United States.
- The bulk of DOD employees are active-duty service members, who can be deployed to combat at any time.
- While these men and women are stationed across the country, the presence of several major bases in Hawaii has made the state a critical hub for American military operations.
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The Department of Defense has a work force of about half a million more people than Walmart, the world’s largest private sector employer. Of the 2.6 million Americans employed by the DOD, only about 734,000 are civilians, and the rest are active-duty troops, reservists, and National Guardsmen.
Across all service branches in the U.S. military, there are over 1.1 million active-duty service members and an additional 743,000 reserve troops and Guardsmen. Although it falls under purview of the Department of Homeland Security, rather than the DOD, the U.S. Coast Guard employs another 57,000 Americans. The backbone of American military power, these men and women are stationed across the country — but in certain states, the presence of military personnel is far more pronounced than in others. (Here is a look at the number of active-duty service members in each state .)