English - Essay Example

The UAE has remained a strong ally of the US in the region, and though the sizes of their militaries are significantly different, they share some important structural similarities and objectives. The US has the largest military force in the world with 1,380,082 active personnel as of August 2007. Of that total approximately 38 percent were in the Army, with the Air Force and Navy each contributing 25 percent. The remaining 12 percent were members of the Marines (Active Duty Military Personnel, 1940–2007).

The UAE armed forces were comprised of 50,500 active members as of 2004, with 88 percent of them being in the Army (Child Soldier Global Report 2008 - United Arab Emirates). Both the US and the UAE allow women to volunteer, but the UAE sets the age limit for women at 18-29 and a requirement that they have completed middle school. Currently, unlike the US, there are no women serving in the UAE military. Both countries have an all-volunteer force with a minimum age requirement of 18. The UAE does have military education as part of the secondary school curriculum for males 15 to 18 (Child Soldier Global Report 2008 - United Arab Emirates).

While the US has a larger force, only one out of 217 US residents are in the armed forces, compared to one out of 90 in the UAE. Because there is a considerable difference in size between the two armed forces, there is also a large difference in the military budgets. According to Ripley and Foss the UAE military budget has been set at $2.5 billion dollars for the last 10 years. The US budget for the military is approximately $700 billion, which includes the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Global War on Terror (Tyson A06).

On a per capita basis, the US spends $2300, which is 4 times as much as the UAEs $550 per person spending. Both countries invest heavily in modern weapons systems and aircraft, such as