In a country of nearly three hundred million people, only two and a half million serve in the active-duty armed forces, the Reserves, and the National Guard.

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Poland has 7.9 million males of military age but only 127, 266 active-duty personnel in its armed forces.

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While some of the security cooperation efforts undertaken with allies and potential partners are carried out directly by active duty U.S. armed forces personnel, reserve and National Guard components also play an important role.

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Under Mr Blair, however, the armed forces are far more active than they planned to be.

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Estimates suggest that as many as 300, 000 child soldiers are active in conflicts around the world. 40% of armed forces (including national armies, militias, gangs, terrorist organizations and resistance forces) in the world use children.

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He did so by pursuing a course of action vehemently opposed by the nation's military in order to pander to politically active homosexuals insisting on the right to serve openly in the armed forces.

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About 70, 000 foreign-born men and women serve in the U.S. armed forces, or about 5 percent of the total active-duty force, according to the Pentagon.

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India's army and paramilitary forces insist that a few hundred armed militants are still active.

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The total size of the armed forces would shrink from 2.1 million to 1.6 million active-duty end strength and from 1.6 million to around 900, 000 reserves.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | The Measure of a Superpower: A Two Major Regional Contingency Military for the 21st Century | Page: 2