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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, also called the Military Ordinariate of the United States, provides the Roman Catholic Church's pastoral and spiritual services to those serving in the United States armed forces or other federal services overseas. This military ordinariate is a special diocese canonically erected by Pope Pius XII in 1939 for members and others employed by the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, the Veterans Health Administration and its patients, and for Americans in government service overseas. The Archdiocese for the Military Services was created by Pope John Paul II in 1985 and incorporated under the laws of the State of Maryland that same year.

Its Ordinary is the Archbishop for the Military Services; the Archbishop-elect is Timothy P. Broglio, a Cleveland native. According to the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (http://www.usccb.org), Archbishop-designate Broglio was formerly the Apostolic Nuncio to Puerto Rico and thus also the Apostolic Delegate to the Dominican Republic. The Archbishop is assisted by several auxiliary bishops which oversee chaplain priests serving throughout the world. The seat of the Archdiocese is Washington, DC, where the Archdiocese maintains its offices.

Before its elevation to an independent archdiocese in 1985, The Military Ordinariate came under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of New York. Prior to the creation of the Military Ordinariate and then the Archdiocese for the Military Sercices, the armed forces of the United States was served by an informal corps of volunteer priests. Their work dates back to the colonial era of American history, through the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War, World War I and World War II. What would later become the apostolic vicariate of the military, popes began choosing bishops to oversee military chaplains since the appointment of Bishop Patrick Hayes (later Cardinal) as papal military vicar for the United States on November 24, 1917.

• Patrick Cardinal Hayes, Apostolic Vicar (24 November 1917-10 March 1919)
• John Francis O'Hara, CSC, Apostolic Vicar (11 December 1939-10 March 1945)
• Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York (11 December 1939-2 December 1967)
• Terence Cardinal Cooke, Archbishop of New York (4 April 1968-6 October 1983)
• John Joseph Thomas Ryan, First Archbishop of the Archdiocese for Military Services (16 March 1985-14 May 1991)
• Joseph Thomas Dimino, Archbishop for the Military Services (14 May 1991-12 August 1997)
• Edwin Frederick O'Brien, Archbishop for the Military Services (12 August 1997-12 July 2007)
• Timothy P. Broglio, Archbishop-elect for the Military Services (19 November 2007)

• William Tibertus McCarty, C.Ss.R. (1943 - 1947)
• William Richard Arnold (1945 - 1965)
• James Henry Ambrose Griffiths (1949 - 1955)
• Philip Joseph Furlong (1955 - 1971)
• William Joseph Moran (1965 - 1981)
• James Jerome Killeen (1975 - 1978)
• John Joseph O'Connor (1979 - 1983)
• Lawrence Joyce Kenney (1983 - 1990)
• Angelo Thomas Acerra, O.S.B. (1983 - 1990)
• Joseph Thomas Dimino (1983 - 1991)
• Francis Xavier Roque (1983 - 2004)
• John Gavin Nolan (1987 - 1997)
• John Joseph Glynn (1991 - 2002)
• José de Jesús Madera Uribe, M.Sp.S. (1991 - 2004)
• John Joseph Kaising (2000 - 2007)
• Joseph Walter Estabrook (2004 - Present)
• Richard Brendan Higgins (2004 - Present)

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services