US military to expand by more than 30,000 troops this year

Congress is backing increases to the size of the U.S. armed forces this year, having passed and proposed final legislation that will raise and fund rises in end strength by more than 30,000 troops. The fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law Dec.

18, allowed the defense and homeland security departments to increase the size of their services. The departments’ respective appropriations bills, released Tuesday, contain the funding needed to support the increases. Under the legislation, the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard will grow, with the Army and Navy seeing the largest increases.

According to the law and bills, the Army will grow to 454,000, up 11,700 from last year, while the Navy active-duty ranks will increase by 12,300 to 334,600. The Air Fo