1. Drive supply trucks
   Operate signal flags and devices
2. Parachute from planes or helicopters
   Perform surgery in the field

Paratroopers approach enemy territory in a novel and dangerous way: They parachute in. Paratroopers were important to Operation Overlord, of which D-Day was a part. These units suffered high casualties, with contributing factors including adverse weather, poorly marked drop zones and lack of navigators on the airplanes.

1. John Adams
   John Jay
2. Patrick Henry
   George Washington

Washington was an admired military leader, who, of course, went on to be the new nation's first president. Not-so-fun fact: Washington was troubled, for much of his later life, with pain from his bad teeth. We can only wonder how much more effective a leader he would have been without this distraction!

1. David Petraeus
   Patrick Shanahan
2. Steve Rogers
   Donald J. Trump

Oh, how we wish it were Steve "Captain America" Rogers! But the sitting president of the United States is always the commander-in-chief; as of 2019 and the writing of this quiz, that's President Donald Trump.

1. True
2. False

The Air Force took over most fixed-wing aircraft from the Army, as well as the general mission of air and space defense. But the Army still actively uses helicopters, which were very important in Vietnam, for example. And few can forget the "Black Hawk Down" disaster in Somalia in the 1990s.

1. Annapolis
   School of the Americas
2. The South Hudson Institute of Technology
   West Point

The name "West Point" was a geographic designation; the school sits high on the west bank of the Hudson River. That's also the reason behind answer option #3, which is a nickname cadets have given the school.

1. An Army of One
   Army Strong
2. Be All You Can Be
   Go Big or Go Home

Of the three examples above, "Be All You Can Be" is the oldest, dating from the 1980s. "An Army of One" was meant to attract young millennials, individualistic thinkers who were thought unlikely to enlist based on patriotism alone. We're not sure where the expression "Go big or go home" came from, tbh.

1. The Department of Defense
   The National Security Agency
2. The Pentagon
   West Point

The Department of Defense is part of the federal government, and oversees all seven branches of the military. Sidebar: Yes, there are really seven branches ... can you name all of them? Most people only know five, or even just four (Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines).

1. The Army's entry physical
   The draft
2. The selection of officer candidates from enlisted troops
   The ceremony in which a new officer chooses a branch

The government, including the Army, has a history of taking something that average people have an easily-understood word for -- "the draft" -- and renaming it with a euphemism. Such was the case with the Selective Service Act of 1917, which re-introduced conscription for the modern age.

1. They were born at the same hospital.
   They were in the same high school class.
2. They were in the same West Point class.
   They died on the same day.

The class of 1915 was known as "the class the stars fell on" for its large percentage of generals. Both Bradley and Eisenhower distinguished themselves in World War II, but only one went on to be a president.

1. The 101st Airborne
   Delta Force
2. 5th Special Forces Group
   The Rangers

The full saying is "Rangers, lead the way!" It comes from an exchange on Omaha Beach on D-Day, where a general asked a major in the 5th Ranger Division who his men were. On hearing the answer, the general said, "Well, Rangers, lead the way!"

1. Chaplain
   Deacon
2. Shepherd
   Verger

"Chaplain" is not, of course, a term specific to the Army; the other branches use this term, too. The Army has an entire "Chaplain Corps," made up of these ordained ministers and their assistants. Famous fictional chaplains include the beloved Father Mulcahy of "M*A*S*H."

1. Cadet
   Corporal
2. Private
   Sergeant

This term is shared by other English-speaking countries, like the UK. "Cadet" is the term for a student in a military academy or one in an ROTC program. Not only does a cadet outrank a private, he or she outranks any enlisted soldier.

1. The enlisted men and women
   The officers
2. The soldiers not stationed overseas
   The full-time, not Reserve or National Guard, soldiers

America has a substantial "regular Army." In addition, there is the Army National Guard, which is a national militia, and the Army Reserve, forces that train one weekend a month and are called up in time of need.

1. True
2. False

The Secretary of the Army is appointed by the president (but must be confirmed in a Senate hearing). The Navy has a similar system, and perhaps its most famous Secretary of the Navy was Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

1. Corporal
   Lieutenant
2. Major
   Sergeant

Sergeants can be non-commissioned officers, or "NCOs." But lieutenant is the lowest rank for a commissioned officer. Soldiers who successfully complete officer training emerge as second lieutenants.

1. An officer with only administrative powers
   An officer in the military police
2. A classification between "enlisted" and "commissioned officer"
   There is no such classification

The name comes from the fact that this soldier was made an officer by a warrant, not a "commission," which is the more typical route (and a little too complicated to explain here). Warrant officers are often ones with highly specialized skills. Don't confuse them with "non-commissioned officers," who earn their status mostly by virtue of seniority.

1. Colt .45
   Glock 17
2. Tec-9
   Walther PPK

This pistol was known in the Army as the M1911 (Colt .45s were also widely sold to civilians). It was designed by John Browning and widely used from 1911 until the mid-1980s, when it was replaced by the Beretta 92F.

1. The Army's official song
   The Army's longtime motto
2. The most recent recruiting slogan
   A training film made by Frank Capra

Sounds kind of laid back and easygoing, doesn't it? It's a lot more stirring when you hear it played by a brass band. Also known as "The Army Song," it was composed in the early 20th century by John Philip Sousa.

1. True
2. False

The Army's "Cav" units never shut down ... they just modernized, using motor vehicles and tanks. Fun fact: There *was* a horseback unit in Afghanistan, where it proved the best way to get around on rocky, mountainous terrain. However, this was a Special Forces unit, not cavalry.

1. The Black Knights
   The Eagles
2. The Mules
   The Staillions

The Army's football team was known for a long time as "the Cadets." This was fitting as they played out of the Army's college, the United States Military Academy. They were informally called "The Black Knights of the Hudson," and eventually, this became the official name.

1. The Air Force
   The Coast Guard
   The Marines
2. All of these
   None of these

Early in the 20th century, fixed-wing aircraft were part of the Army, a sub-unit known as the Army Air Corps or, later, the Army Air Forces. The National Security Act of 1947, signed by President Truman, made the Air Force an independent branch.

1. Bill Clinton
   Gerald Ford
2. Grover Cleveland
   Harry S Truman

Believe it or not, it used to be perfectly legal to pay someone to do Army service for you, should you be conscripted. This was the route that Cleveland took, and it raised a few eyebrows at the time. Some people say that the "college deferment" is simply a roundabout way for wealthy or middle-class people to do the same thing today.

1. 1949
   1951
2. 1976
   1983

Unsurprisingly, the admission of women into what are called the "federal service academies" was caused by a lawsuit. Female cadets suffered ostracization and hazing, but today, they make up about 20 percent of West Point's enrollment and have served as leader of the Cadet Corps.

1. Bill Clinton
   Rutherford B. Hayes
2. Gerald Ford
   Theodore Roosevelt

Of course, it would be Teddy Roosevelt! This adventurer and macho man volunteered to serve in World War I. This was about 10 years after his time in the Oval Office. Fun fact: Theodore Roosevelt Jr., though he had a bad leg, was an inspirational figure who rallied troops at Omaha Beach on D-Day.

1. David Petraeus
   Douglas MacArthur
2. George Patton
   George Washington

Patton represented the United States at the Olympics in Pentathlon, a combination of five sports that includes fencing. Also on Patton's resume? Designing a sword that was put into use by the Army, called the "Patton saber."

1. Morgan Freeman
   Clint Eastwood
2. Elvis Presley
   Hugh Hefner

Freeman served in the U.S. Air Force in his youth. The other three famous people were all in the Army. Eastwood served in Korea after being drafted; Presley signed up in part to clean up his image with the American public (which wasn't very good among older people and the religious), and Hugh Hefner drew cartoons for a military newspaper.

1. 4,000 square miles
   6,000 square miles
2. 24,000 square miles
   The Army is not allowed to own land

If all the land that the Army owned was consolidated into a single state, it would be larger than Rhode Island, Connecticut, and six other states! The Army requires a lot of land for its bases, which include proving grounds, ordnance ranges and more.

1. 7
   12
2. 16
   31

Thirty-one is the number of U.S. presidents who have served in the military overall. It probably doesn't surprise you that the Army, the largest branch, can claim the greatest number of presidents who came from its ranks.

1. 250,000
   350,000
2. Nearly 500,000
   A bit less than 750,000

The enlistment of the regular Army is about 476,000. That's impressive on its own, but when you add in the 343,000 National Guard soldiers and 200,000 reservists, it brings the "consolidated force" to more than 1 million persons. That's a lot!

1. Alaska
   Connecticut
2. New York
   Wyoming

OK, Wyoming *is* America's least-crowded state, with a population of about 570,000 people. Still, this statistic reflects the truly awesome size of the United States Army. That's a lot of people to train, provide uniforms for, et cetera.

1. He founded the Army Air Corps.
   He was an early superintendent of West Point.
2. He sold West Point to the British.
   He took a bullet for Thomas Jefferson.

Thayer wasn't the first superintendent, but he was the one who standardized the school's curriculum and admissions standards; a statue of him stands on the campus. It was Benedict Arnold who sold out West Point, back when it was still an Army fort.

1. A goat's head
   A pentagram
2. A swastika
   An upside-down cross

You might already know that before the Nazi Regime, the swastika was seen by more than one culture as a sign of good luck and protection. The Army's 45th Infantry adopted it as part of their sleeve insignia until World War II, after which the symbol was just not acceptable in anything like polite society.

1. The Confederate Army
   The Continental Army
2. The Legion of the United States
   Both the Continental Army and the Legion of the United States

After declaring America's independence, the Founding Fathers created the Continental Army to fight the British Army in the war they knew would ensue. The Continental Army was disbanded after the war, but America's new leaders saw the need for a standing army and created the Legion of the United States, renamed the U.S. Army in 1796.

1. True
2. False

Nope, it's the Marines who run Guantanamo Bay! Did we get you? No matter which branch it belongs to, the idea of a U.S. military base on the land of a Communist nation is just plain strange. It doesn't help that the U.S. tried to assassinate Fidel Castro several times. Awkward!

1. The Civil War
   World War 1
2. The Korean Conflict
   The Revolutionary War

Many people know about the early submarines used in the Civil War ... but a rudimentary, Jules Verne-ish submersible was also deployed in the Revolutionary War. It was called the Turtle, was operated in part by foot pedals, and did not succeed in sinking a British ship. Back to R&D!