SEAL Team 6, officially known as United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), and Delta Force, officially known as 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D), are the most highly trained elite forces in the U.S. military.
via U.S. Marine Corps The Marine Corps is the top-rated military service branch, according to reviews on the career website Glassdoor.
In 2022, China had the largest armed forces in the world by active duty military personnel, with about 2 million active soldiers. India, the United States, North Korea, and Russia rounded out the top five largest armies respectively, each with over one million active military personnel.
1. The US Navy SEALs is arguably the top special operations force. Created in 1962, the Sea-Air-Land operators go through years of training and, especially after 9/11, endure an incredible operation tempo. Many foreign militaries base their special ops on the SEALs.
The US special-operations community boasts some of the toughest special-operations courses. From time to time, US commandos head overseas to test their mettle at foreign special-operations schools. These are two of those foreign special-operations courses known for their difficulty and realism.
The toughest SAS fitness test in the world is the Russian Alpha Group Spetsnaz. To gain selection to the Russia's special forces unit, applicants must undergo a gruelling seven part fitness challenge that finishes with a literal fight.
Armed Forces
The United States in comparison, has significantly less - 1.4 million - but when assessing the overall power of the world's military forces, the U.S. comes out on top, ahead of Russia and China in second and third, respectively.
Marine Corps training is considered one of the toughest to scale through because they are an offensive force. Marines go through a grueling 13-week boot camp training that tests physical stamina, mental toughness and moral integrity.
John J. “Blackjack” Pershing (1860-1948) was promoted to General of the Armies during World War I, the highest rank ever held in the United States Army.
Interestingly, the top 2 places were taken by the US Air Force and US Navy, followed by the Russian Air Force, US Army Aviation, and US Marine Corps. The list is followed by the Indian and Chinese (PLAAF) Air Force.
Andorra has no standing army but has signed treaties with Spain and France for its protection. It has a small volunteer army which is purely ceremonial in function. The paramilitary GIPA special forces unit (trained in counter-terrorism and hostage rescue) is part of the national police.
The US dominates the air with far more bases, fighter jets and bombers than Russia but Russia is superior on the ground with more tanks, artillery and land vehicles. At sea, the countries are more evenly matched, but here the US has the edge with more destroyers, submarines and aircraft carriers.
US lost five major wars after 1945
However, the US was unable to get any significant victory in its wars abroad. America fought five major wars after 1945 including Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan in addition to some minor wars in Somalia, Yemen, and Libya.
Among the Soviet Union's 15 republics, Russia withstood the highest number of casualties, with 6,750,000 military deaths and 7,200,000 civilian deaths.