Map Options
The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the U.S. Army. A reserve force is a military organization comprised of citizen-soldiers of a country who combine a military role or career with a civilian career. Army reserve soldiers’ main role is to be available and ready to fight when their military requires extra manpower.
Reserve forces allow a country to maintain a war-ready force while reducing its peacetime military expenditures. The U.S. Army Reserve was founded in 1908 as the Medical Reserve Corps. After World War I, the National Defense Act of 1920 authorized an Organized Reserve, which became the Army Reserve.
The U.S. Army Reserve has a congressionally authorized size of 199,000 soldiers, over 11,000 civilians, and 2,075 units that are present and operating and all 50 U.S. states, five U.S. territories, and 30 countries.
Below is the number of Army Reserve units in every state. The number of units in every state is relatively proportional to that state’s population. States like Texas and California have the highest number of units, while less populated states, such as Wyoming and Vermont, have much fewer units.
The ten states with the most army reserve units are: