In 2002, there were 12,767 active-duty military personnel stationed in the District of Columbia, the vast majority of whom were at the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, which covers 34 acres (14 hectares) of Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac. An Air Force installation (Bolling AFB), the Army's Fort McNair, and Walter Reed Medical Center were also within the District. Firms in the District received $1.4 billion in federal defense contract awards in 2001.
There were 44,484 veterans of US military service in the District as of 2000, of whom 9,269 served in World War II; 5,430 in the Korean conflict; 11,816 during the Vietnam era; and 4,942 during 1990–2000 (including the Persian Gulf War). Veterans' benefits totaled $1.7 billion during 2002.
Because Washington is often the scene of political demonstrations and because high federal officials and the District's foreign embassy personnel pose special police-protection problems, the ratio of police personnel to residents is higher than in any state. In 2000, 3,963 police employees were employed in the District.