User Panel
Posted: 3/10/2006 10:08:46 AM EDT
I've been thinking over joining up sometime in the future and was wondering what some of the differences in the Army and Marines are. Not really sure on what I'd like to do if I do join up.
Doc |
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Join the Air Force and avoid the debate. (watch it from an air conditioned facility while eating a hot meal)
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"What! No cable! This sucks!" |
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I doubt it. |
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fuck it, just hook up the xbox 360 and make use of the surround sound |
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It's ok. It's just that these Army/Marine/Whatever things always turn ugly. Truth is, we are all on the same team, and, your service will be honorable whatever service you choose. The Marines and Army both have long, distinguished liniage. The best thing to do is to figgure out what kind of a job you want to do, and, then, go to the recruiters office and, research online. I was an Army Medic, and, then, in the NG, I was a Cav Scout. Two very fun jobs, for the most part. |
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Hopefully this won't turn into the shit storm that I fear it will. I was 6 years in the Army as a 12B, and I liked it a lot. From my experience the Marines usually would fight through an area and the Army would come in behind them and secure and occupy the area that the Marines just kicked the shit out of. The Marine Corps has my utmost respect, but both branches are awesome at what they do.
Semper Fi, and Essayons!!! |
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The only real objective observation of the services is something I witnessed myself.
I'm in the Air Guard, and I have done a couple of aeromedical evacuation missions. Every Air Force and Army patient that we transported was carried or helped to a waiting med-bus. The Marine patient that we had was met at the plane by the base commander (a general officer) who took the time out of his schedule to greet his wounded Marine. It left an impression. |
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Combat Engineer. Best Enlisted MOS in the Army.
OK, I will try to take a swing as best I can. If you want to be a Marine, go be a Marine. Nothing will dissuade you or change your mind. semper fi, do or die, have fun. Army has the best benefits AFTER you get out. If you decide to stay in, Army promotion rates are faster than everyone except the navy (And in the combat MOSs as fast as anyplace) You have a much bigger choice of jobs in the Army. In the Marines, their pogue units are a lot better than Army pogue units. No debate there. In the light infantry realm, I would take the 101, 82nd, 10th as good as any MEU. The Rangers, IMHO are the best light infantry in the DOD. the Marines have a great mission and great spirit as a whole. In the Army, pride comes from unit, not from "big army." the marines have pride in "the corps" first and unit second. A big difference and something the army needs to figure out. The big question is, "What do you want to do?" Benefits and promotions, Army wins. Unless you go airborne infantry in the Army, you might find yourself disappointed with the level of hooah-ness (ooh rah-ness) in some of the non infantry units (combat engineers excluded, of course) Either way, you can't go wrong in the long run. |
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Rather than asking such a general question, why don't you first ask yourself exactly what you want to do in the military (medic, infantry, electronics, aviation, etc). From there you can narrow it down and see which branch of the service offers the best training in that field..... |
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Forget both. Join NASA and be a Door Gunner on the Space Shuttle!
Good luck choosing and thanks for your service. |
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Whether you go army or navy, try to be a tanker. Then you get to sit down all day. Being a grunt is too much work.
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The major difference is the hat. Marines use one with points on it and call it a cover. The Army uses a silly French thingy, that no one looks good in, and was supposed to increase morale. |
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Hey! The Marines might be part of the Department of the Navy, but it's the Men's Department. |
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Nothing quite like rolling around in your very own 60 ton casket . j/k |
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[duck]The Army has adult supervision....[/duck]
At one field exercise, we shared a mess facility with some Marines. They offered a few PFCs and PVTs for KP. One of the PFCs was instructed to light the griddle. He just turns the gas on...after 10 minutes, he asks why it isn't getting hot. He was then told by the SSG that he needed to IGNITE the BURNER but to WAIT 10 minutes for the GAS to dissipate. To this PFC, 10 minutes ~= 10 seconds. Yep, POOF! Gone was the PFC's eyebrows and half his high and tight. Second PFC then grabs a POUND of unsalted butter from the 'fridge and prepares the grilled PFC's burns as if they were fine toast. Enter SPC Keith_J. The Staff Sarge has me transport the crispy PFC to the TMC where I get chewed a new one by the butterbar PA for slathering the burns with butter. |
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every service has the lowest common denominator. We call ours Airman Basics..... you're going to find retards anywhere you go though that story was really fucking funny |
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Every joint exercise I have been on, the PAO shop has always been augmented by Marine PAOs. They have a shit load of those dudes running around. Hey, it works. Its part of the Marine mystique they sell very well. Their troops buy into it and they fight hard to maintain the pride of "The Corps" Army has never had to fight for its existence so we never worried about it. Marines in uniform don't bother me. its the ones who pull one tour, get out, and then talk shit for the rest of their lives that get annoying. I mean, if its so shit hot, why did ya bail out? |
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10 pages of "IBTL" and and "DUPE" before anyone actually answers.
Army good. Marines Dumb. If you are smart, join the army. If you are dumb, join the marines. |
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I was in the Marine Corps and my brother is in the Army so I'll say what I've noticed...
I AM NOT PUTTING DOWN ANY SERVICE My graduation everyone there was perfectly aligned and all the Drill Instructors are all groomed up and looking awesome. My brothers graduation... Well, it looked like shit. There were Drill Seargents with those long wallets hanging out of their back pocket and uniforms not ironed... The new solders generally looked ok. After my graduation we met our parents and we did what we wanted. After my brothers he had to march back to the barracks...clean up...do this...do that. It was bull shit. If you gave a solder and a marine the same uniform and told them to put it on, you could pick out the Marine. After boot camp while in school... After the school day we could do anything we wanted unless you were on duty section. Just be back in time to make it to school... My brother: has to ask permission to leave the area, has to be back at a certain time, has to ask to do this, has to ask to do that... They even call the instructors Drill Seargents??????? Explain that to me... The Army babysits grown men. It seems to me that when I was in the Marines I was treated like a man, not a boy that needed to be watched 24 hrs a day. I see myself and other marines and then I look at some of the army guys and it's night and day. Whatever you decide it good... I certainly recomend the Marine Corps. Sure it harder and longer but that's part of it. |
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What is long and hard on a Marine?
4th grade. Ouch, told to me by a Marine. |
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Simple answer:
The Army calls in an airstrike when they are surrounded. The Marines fix bayonets. |
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Can't believe I have never heard that one before! ETA I was AD Army for about 10 years. The avg marine is more squared away than the avg soldier. But since the Army is larger, more opportunity to do more. How good a soldier, sailor or marine you are depends more on the person than the branch. You can do a kick@ss job in any of them. Or you can be dead weight as well. |
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you've been aember since feb 01 and have never heard it?? |
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Sorry, I have a job, wife, kids and life. I'm not sure you would understand. |
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Well youve been a member since Feb 06 and already seem to know it all . |
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I dont know shit! I just post a lot |
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The main difference is that the Marines cut out a lot of the bullshit the Army keeps on doing.
They get in and get the job done, no matter what they're doing (field wise). The army pussyfoots around and makes up all these gay rules and gay training schedules and whatnot. |
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I would agree with Sylvan's post almost to the letter. If you're in the right (light) unit in the Army the "huah-ness" is just as high as in a marine infantry unit. But if your not a Paratrooper gettting in the right unit is a pain. Everyone else in the Army can be a POS and get away with it pretty much, at least that's my experience and I'm not saying that everyone is.
This applies to the mostly peacetime forces...from what I understand talking to friends that have gone to the sandbox pretty much everyone is dedicated to the job. Has to be, in a situation like that the turds rapidly float to the top and can be scooped off (in my day the same thing happened during deployment to Korea) I would say one thing from my enlistment experience...why I chose the Army over the Marines.... the Marines would not promis any job joining up.... they, as a smaller force, put you where they wanted you. But joining the Army you could get things like Infantry and Airborn school in the contract. You need to check in to what they do today...and whateverr you join, if the recruiter says they are going to do something GET IT IN THE CONTRACT. |
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Sounds like the Marine Corps would suit you perfectly. |
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I have zero experience with either the army or air force, but I do with the USMC and the navy. From what I have observed from my own service, and from what I have heard about the others, is that Marines are given more prestige and respect from their leaders. This empowers us to deal with our delegated responsibilities at the lowest possible level. It also arguably increases job satisfaction.
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The Marines have snazzier uniforms.
The Army has more tanks. Marine DIs are way scarier. Army chicks are way fatter. The Army has those cool berets. The Marines have a color called "Coyote Brown". The Army tucks their trousers into their boots. The Marines have shorter hair. |
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And yet another argument in favor of the Army. [George C. Scott]No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it, by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. [/George C. Scott] Tactical patience. Live it, learn it, love it. Rather a live every day soldier than a dead hero. |
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In Taji, Soldiers put their rifles on the floor while they eat. The few Marines there keep their weapons slung across their chests. Soldiers who eat in Marine Chow Halls, are scolded for putting their rifles on the deck. |
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If you have to debate the issue....Join the Army.
For real. Not a jab or a poke. But an honest answer. |
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Very well said |
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If you decide to go Army, make sure you go Airborne/Infantry.
Best time of my life. |
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As an observer, with friends in both services, I will try to sum it up.
The Marines are a small service with an incredible heritage. From the cook in the chow hall to the scout sniper, they are ALL riflemen, and ALL trained to be WARRIORS. They are ready and eager to fight. Their esprit de corps is probably the best of all of the services. They are relatively poorly funded, but make up for it with aggressiveness and a willingness to risk life and limb to ride a 40 year old airframe into battle, just so they can get their fight. The Marines meet their recruiting goals more regularly than any other service. A buddy of mine is an E5 in the USMCR. He has been a mortarman, infantryman and is with a landing support battalion in Fallujah. He says when he was an infantryman, 40% of his comrades were ASVAB waivers (dumbasses) who he would not trust with his gear or money....but he wanted no one else next to him in a fight. The Army is a mixed bag. They have a lot of REMF types that joined for the college money and don't want to be there. The light infantry types especially have an esprit de corps to match the Marines. They get more money to operate on, have a bigger budget and a bigger slice of the pie. A buddy of mine was in the 82nd ABN (went through the ABN course in his early 30s). He is a fuckin' warrior. He lived and breathed that shit, and only once got to fire at the enemy, after he got back into the Cav. I could tell he had wanted more action. All of my friends in the service have a high respect for the combat arms units of each service. |
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Yeah but look at what it is today. It's but a mere shell of what was once luster and honor. They have seriously managed to singlehandedly kill off anything even remotely related to the days of Rangers rappelling off cliffs in Normandy or units like the 1/506 being surrounded and holding off. Or soldiers like Col. Moore and his honorable men that perished in the Ia Drang Valley or LZ X-ray. (not saying that any other battles or units or soldiers arent worthy, they are, these are just some that stick out in my mind right at this second) |
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The Marines is where they put people who misspell Army on there application.
J/K |
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It all depends on what perspective you are asking for... Due to the 'specialization' of the USMC in certain areas, an infantryman's perspective is going to be different from a tanker's or pilot's... First point - the Army is bigger. MUCH bigger... This creates many of the noted differences - much of the Army has been trained that they are a (insert MOS here), and that's what they're in to do... The Marines, OTOH, do not have quite as many people, and their training results in 'I'm a Marine who also does (job)' .... This also means that if you want to, say, learn how to fall out of a plane & live to tell, you're better off in the Army (as you will have a better chance of getting a school slot).... Second, the Army has a much larger heavy/mechanized component, whereas the Marines focus more on light infantry... The difference here is part size and part historical mission - Army being built to slug it out across a continent vs a similar force, and the Marines being built as an expiditionary force trained to push their way in, & either solve the problem or make way for a follow on force to do so... Thus, the USMC is a self-contained 'Mini-military' (they have their own (fixed wing) airforce, their own ships, etc) with an emphasis on mobility & versitility (see expeditionary force), whereas the Army is a huge organization designed to have some-part-some-where that specializes in (whatever you need), all you have to do is get that part where you need it, and don't expect, say, 1st Armored to be the best folks to send into the mountains after Taliban (though they could do it) or 25th ID to go head-to-head with a '90-vintage Iraqi tank division in the open desert)... That's my take on it, anyway... Folks with experience on the USMC side (or more experience on the Army side) will have more to add.... Myself? Army... But that whas when I thought I'd be an Armor LT instead of an E-4 helo mechanic... It all depends on what you want to do... |
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