• The land for military bases is ceded to the federal government.in the army image by Tomasz Pawlowski from Fotolia.com
  
  Federal enclaves are areas of land within states that have been ceded to federal control for many reasons. One of the most common reasons is that it is being used as a military base. The doctrine of federal enclaves gives the federal government legal control over the land, enabling military bases to be run under military law without interference of specific state law.
  
  

Army

• The Army is the largest branch of the United States military, with bases spread throughout the country. The army operates bases in thirty U.S. states and the District of Columbia. One of the bases is Walter Reed in Washington, DC, the site of the largest military hospital. The Army operates training bases in several places, such as Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Fort Jackson, South Carolina; and Fort Benning, Georgia. Active Army Bases include Fort Stewart, Georgia; Fort Hood, Texas; and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
  
  

Air Force

• Originally part of the Army and known as the Army Air Corps and later the Army Air Force, the United States Air Force became a separate branch of the United States military in 1947. Today, the Air Force operates bases in 37 states and the District of Columbia. The Air Force bases include Wright-Patterson in Ohio, Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.
  
  

Navy

• Originally established alongside the United States Army in 1775 by the Continental Congress, the Unites States Navy operates in Washington, D.C; and 22 states. This branch operates the Great Lakes Training Center in Illinois for the training of new recruits, the infamous base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as well as bases in Charleston, South Carolina and New Orleans, Louisiana.
  
  

Marine Corps

• The Marine Corps is an amphibious force that is nominally part of the United States Navy. It now serves the United States as one of the centerpieces of its fighting units. The Marine Corps operates in nine states and the District of Columbia, including Camp Lejune, North Carolina, Camp Pendleton, California, and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona.
  
  

Coast Guard

• Established in 1915 by Woodrow Wilson, the Coast Guard operates in United States waters. The Coast Guard operates in 15 states and Washington, DC. The service operates an Operations Systems Center in West Virginia as well as a document center, and bases such as Station Maui in Hawaii, Air Station Elizabeth City in North Carolina, and Air Station Cape Cod in Massachusetts.