I am going to join the Military when I grow up and I can't decide if I should join the US army or Marines what do you guys think?

Answer 1

Your decision to service is very honorable, and it should be encouraged. Use this time now to become more informed. The final decision to enlist is not one to take lightly, and it will direct the rest of your life. Use the time before you join to prepare. Learn all you can. Do your best in school. Study history, math, science, and communication (English writing and speaking), gain another language or more.

Talk to a recruiter now and see what they can offer you to help guide you. That you already know what you want to do is an amazing opportunity. Find out all you can.

Finally, keep talking to those who have gone before. Listen to their warnings as the positive advise they give. And, then make up your own mind about what would be best for you.


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Reasons to join the Marine Corps:


1. Esprit de corps. The Marines have more pride in their branch than the other services--not MUCH more, but it's there. This is because it's harder to get in the Marines than the other three Defense Department services (the Coast Guard belongs to Department of Homeland Security) and it's harder to stay in once you get in.
2. Marine Dress Blues are REAL pretty. (Don't laugh: I have known Marines who chose that branch only because of that uniform.)
3. The Marines have the Embassy Security Guard mission. If you can get it, you can be stationed in lots more places than someone in another one of the services.
4. The Marines have jet fighters, so you can work with super high tech equipment without spending half your life in the middle of the ocean or joining the Air Force.


Reasons to join the Army:
1. Better equipment. The Marines get equipment last. You know what an M-1 tank is, right? The Active Army had them, followed by the National Guard, the 1st Infantry Division, our allies and finally the Marines. The Marines also keep their equipment far longer than the other services, because they can't get anything else. The Marines are still flying the CH-46 helicopter, even though those things are so old and worn-out they should all be condemned. They're still using the Amtrak, and it came out in World War II.
2. Faster promotions. There are over 500,000 soldiers and less than 200,000 Marines. More soldiers means more room for advancement.
3. Army jobs are more diverse than Marine jobs. I'll show you with the Infantry field. The Marines have fifteen infantry MOS--rifleman, riverine assault craft, LAV crewman, rigid raiding craft, combat rubber reconnaissance craft, scout sniper, reconnaissance man (in four variants--regular, parachutist, combatant diver, and both parachutist and diver), machine gunner, mortarman, infantry assaultman and antitank missileman. The Army doesn't do that--we have infantryman, which bunches together ALL the Marine MOS except for mortarman, and mortarman (they're called either "indirect fire infantrymen" or "mortar baseplate carriers") A Marine grunt could conceivably have nine or ten different MOS; an Army grunt would hold only one.
4. The Army has more bases than the Marines do. The Marines have twelve major installations in the United States. You only need two adjoining states--Virginia and Maryland--to come up with that many major Army bases. The benefit here is you have the possibility of living in a lot more places over an Army career than over a Marine one. You can join the Army and see the world, or you can join the Marines and see San Diego and Jacksonville, NC.
5. There is no Army MOS for "in-flight missile repairman."


I'm a little biased toward the Army because I spent so much time in it, but if a Marine were to add a comment he would be able to come up with five or six more ways the Marines are better than the Army.




The previous answers are biased but correct. There is only one reason to join either branch, any branch...The honorable desire to serve. Just know what you are getting into before you raise your right hand. Do your research now. There are pros on both sides of the question as well as cons. Be aware of them all. Which ever service you decide is right for you is the right choice for you. Make the most of it. Make it the greatest exerience of your life.

Finally, on that day when you look to your right and left and see your brothers in arms standing next you all dressed the same waiting in formation for some unexplainable reason and you ask yourself, "What the heck have I done?" --and you will ask yourself this question eventually--remember the answer:

Because I chose to serve.

Take pride in that. It is an honorable thing.