Advantages of Marines over other services.

[Gray94]

Hi all,

I've been looking at the joining the Corps for a while now, but I was wondering what are the advantages of joining the Marines over the army?
I apologize if this has been asked before.


Thanks
Gray

Oh, yes I do live outside the U.S. but I am a U.S citizen.

[Old Marine]

The element of suprise.

[SGT7477]

Hi all,

I've been looking at the joining the Corps for a while now, but I was wondering what are the advantages of joining the Marines over the army?
I apologize if this has been asked before.


Thanks
Gray

Oh, yes I do live outside the U.S. but I am a U.S citizen.
PRIDE.:evilgrin:

[Rocky C]

Once a Marine, Always a Marine...

[spotts]

The real question is why wouldnt you want to be a Marine.

[SGT7477]

The real question is why wouldnt you want to be a Marine.
The army would be the easy way.:D

[Lisa 23]

In my opinion, if you have to ask what the advantages of being a Marine are compared to the Army, then maybe the Marines isn't for you. Seems to me that you're looking for opinions to sway your decision on what branch to join.
Either you want to be a Marine, or you don't.

I joined because it was something I knew that I wanted to do since I was a kid.

The PRIDE of being a Marine is priceless!
Once A Marine, Always A Marine! :usmc:

[Rocky C]

I joined because it was something I knew that I wanted to do since I was a kid.

The PRIDE of being a Marine is priceless!
Once A Marine, Always A Marine! :usmc:

:thumbup: :flag:

[Marine84]

Cause I was looking for a few good men myself! (I love it when I get to use that)

I chose the Corps because of the uniform, the sharp moves when drilling, we don't train our males & females together in boot camp (hopefully THAT hasn't changed), and, if I decided later to go to another branch, I wouldn't have to go through their boot camp (coming into the Corps from another branch you have to go through boot camp).

[RLE0352]

"You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced to the point of arrogance, that they are the most ferocious fighters on earth- and the amusing thing about it is that they are."

Father Kevin Keaney
1st Marine Division Chaplain
Korean War

[Rocky C]

Kim, I love your New Signature Quote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marine84]

thanks rocky!

[echo3oscar1833]

"The Marines…will never disappoint the most sanguine expectations of their country—never! I have never known one who would not readily advance in battle."
—Capt C. W. Morgan, USN in a letter to Brevet BGen Archibald Henderson, (5th CMC) 1852

[NCOPOWER]

You'll learn that the Corps is a religion unto itself where Chesty is held
in the highest regard, wisdom is sought from Archibald Henderson and men
that wear bursting bombs are heralded as demi-gods placed on Earth to be the
baddest men around.

[Komenko]

In my opinion, if you have to ask what the advantages of being a Marine are compared to the Army, then maybe the Marines isn't for you. Seems to me that you're looking for opinions to sway your decision on what branch to join.
Either you want to be a Marine, or you don't.

I joined because it was something I knew that I wanted to do since I was a kid.

The PRIDE of being a Marine is priceless!
Once A Marine, Always A Marine! :usmc:

Funny thing is I never wanted to be a Marine but I did want to join the Military and at first I wanted to go with the Coast Guard but they never returned my call, Air force was out of the question, the Navy I knew all to well about from NJROTC. The summer before the start of my senior year of high school I went to my mother's house. Came back home and my dad said that the Army has called non-stop and the Marine recruiter called once! Didn't give the Coast Guard a second chance and I pretty much knew that army was desperate, so I went and talked to SSgt Sonny Osborne (funny all these years later I remember his name). He did his thing with the ASVAB and where I wanted to go in life and was pretty much like a mentor with me. The last time I saw him was in the PX on Camp Hansen, Okinawa. I stopped dead in my tracks and stood there looking at him. He walked up to me and said "Well Marine?" Next thing I knew I was uttering the words "Good Afternoon Staff Sergeant." He smiled and shook my hand and told me "its been a long time".

And to the OP its a small world in the Marines. You'll run into Marines that you went through boot camp with. You'll be part of the best group that the Military has to offer. You will train how to properly use your rifle no matter what MOS you have unlike other services. We take care of our own and leave no Marine behind!

[awbrown1462]

ask someone from the Army to tell you the history of the Army and see what you get most do not know it then ask a Marine for the history of the Marine Corps and prepare for a history lesson also ther are alot of former Soldiers and Sailors and Airman but no former Marines. When you join the Army your first day you are Soldier you are not a Marine till you finsh Boot Camp 3 months later and are one till you die

[Sgt Leprechaun]

"I like Marines, because being a Marine is serious business. We're not a social club or a fraternal organization and we don't pretend to be one. We're a Brotherhood of "Warriors" -- Nothing more, nothing less, pure and simple. We are in the a$s-kicking business, and unfortunately, these days business is good."

Colonel James M. Lowe, Commander, Marine Corps Base Quantico, 2004


"I come in peace...I didn't bring artillery. But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuvck with me, I'll kill you all." General James Mattis, Commanding General, 1st MarDiv, Fall 2003, to Iraqi military leaders in his area of operations.


The man who will go where his colors go, without asking who will fight a phantom foe in the jungle and mountain range, without counting, and who will suffer and die in the midst of incredible hardship, without complaint, is still what he has always been, from Imperial Rome to sceptered Britain to democratic America. He is the stuff of which legions are made. ...His pride is in his colors and his regiment, his training hard and thorough and coldly realistic, to fit him for what he must face...and his obedience is to his orders. He has been called United States Marine.
T.R. Fehrenbach, This Kind of War

Here’s to the drunken Marine
With beer in his canteen!
You’ve heard of the Unknown Soldier
But, never an unknown Marine!
—An old toast oft repeated by Col John Ripley, Navy Cross, RVN.

[rufio14]

I joined for the great chow :beer:

[FPM]

The best answer I can give you is, As far as myself I never quit anything and neither have any Marines. You also join the most tight knit group of people on the face of the Earth. Here it is 30 years later and still whenever I meet a current or past Marine even if we've never met before we become friends. Bottom line it's not a job for 4 yrs or however long you stay in, It's a lifetime experience.

[Melancon]

We do have the best uniforms.

[dROD20]

i agree with WMarine's first post, if you really have to post about WHY you should choose the Corps over another branch, then you should probally look into another service. Do reseach and find out what will best suit you and you life. GOOD LUCK!

[BR34]

The man who will go where his colors go, without asking who will fight a phantom foe in the jungle and mountain range, without counting, and who will suffer and die in the midst of incredible hardship, without complaint, is still what he has always been, from Imperial Rome to sceptered Britain to democratic America. He is the stuff of which legions are made. ...His pride is in his colors and his regiment, his training hard and thorough and coldly realistic, to fit him for what he must face...and his obedience is to his orders. He has been called United States Marine.
T.R. Fehrenbach, This Kind of War


Nice

[Gray94]

Thanks for all the replies guys! From what you all have said about your expierences in the Corps I'm really liking the idea of being a Marine and joining you. The Espirit-de-corps you gave have is amazing. Plus you do have the best dress uniforms and your camo works.

[Lisa 23]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

How about saying....thanks for all the replies Marines, not guys.

[Gray94]

How about saying....thanks for all the replies Marines, not guys.

Sorry, thanks for all the replies Marines! I really appreciate them.

[TunTvrnWarrior]

I joined because I heard I get free meals, and a friendly camp counselor to tuck me in at night and tell me bedtime stories. They told me that the camp counselor loves to be called Drill Sergeant and if you are on his good side, you can call him Sarge, or "hey you". Also, on the back of all mail, make sure your family writes "Bends and Thrusts", "Mountain Climbers", and "Foot Locker Rifle Drill".

All kidding aside, you will be joining a brotherhood of Men and Women who you will have an instant kinship. You will do things that most kids your age will not experience in a lifetime. You will remember the day you earn the title like you will remember the birth of your kid and getting married. It is not as glamourous as you think, but you will be a part of the most prestigous outfit in America. Honor, Courage, Commitment, Loyalty, and Integrity will be forged in you like a Damascus Steel Sword is as it is created. Go for it kid.

[firedog974]

Hmmmm...good question. Well do the Marines have the best barracks? Nope. Do they have the best chow halls? Nope. Do they have the best and newest equipment? Nope. Do they let you pick your exact job out when you sign up? Nope.
What they do is give you muscles so sore you want to puke...and you will love it. They make you push yourself beyond anything you have ever experienced...and you become proud of yourself. They give you and teach you more intangible traits than any other branch. Traits like "work ethics," "pride," "leadership,""esprit de corps," and "Honor." These things stay with you until the day you die. They also offer a chance to be a part of the most esteemed brotherhood in the world....he brotherhood of United States Marines. Something NO ONE else can ever give you. There are two types of people in the world: Marines...and those who WISH they were Marines...
General Lejune said it best: "Of all the honors, postings, promotions, and medals I have received, the one I take most pride in is to be able to say "I am A United States Marine!"

[Komenko]

Hmmmm...good question. Well do the Marines have the best barracks? Nope. Do they have the best chow halls? Nope. Do they have the best and newest equipment? Nope. Do they let you pick your exact job out when you sign up? Nope.
What they do is give you muscles so sore you want to puke...and you will love it. They make you push yourself beyond anything you have ever experienced...and you become proud of yourself. They give you and teach you more intangible traits than any other branch. Traits like "work ethics," "pride," "leadership,""esprit de corps," and "Honor." These things stay with you until the day you die. They also offer a chance to be a part of the most esteemed brotherhood in the world....he brotherhood of United States Marines. Something NO ONE else can ever give you. There are two types of people in the world: Marines...and those who WISH they were Marines...
General Lejune said it best: "Of all the honors, postings, promotions, and medals I have received, the one I take most pride in is to be able to say "I am A United States Marine!"

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that lol. I've seen the new barracks they are building on Pendleton and they are by far better than what I or anyone before me had! The Equipment is getting better and better. you should see the new M-ATV, believe its to replace the Hummer in the field. And i can agree about the chow halls the Private contractors need to go and they need to bring the Marines back into the Kitchen!

[josephd]

just reading the responses in this thread brings a tear to my eye and makes me proud to a Unites States Marine....:bawlingeyesout:

[firedog974]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that lol. I've seen the new barracks they are building on Pendleton and they are by far better than what I or anyone before me had! The Equipment is getting better and better. you should see the new M-ATV, believe its to replace the Hummer in the field. And i can agree about the chow halls the Private contractors need to go and they need to bring the Marines back into the Kitchen!

I am glad to hear the barracks living is improving. It is well deserved. When I lived in the barracks at K-Bay, it was in a building that probably should have been condemned. No A/C...just jalousie windows that let in the cool night air. It was great. The hot water only worked half the time, and my room-mate and I had bunk beds and linens that were probably older than us. And ironically, some of my best times in the Corps were when I lived in the barracks and was a lance..... :usmc: You can't tell recruits why this stuff is great, they have to live it! We do more with less, and it breeds more pride and camaraderie than any other service will ever know. :thumbup:

[Komenko]

Found some great Barracks pictures to show you all.

http://images.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=tbn&q=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/xml/news/2008/05/marine_CPbarracks_052608w/052308_cpbarracks1_800.JPG&usg=AFQjCNHclxdgm1rKdqn-mmzcC8Xn0PsTPA

53 Area Camp Horno is the best example to show whats being built. I've toured this barracks when i got hired on with FMD on Pendleton and I got to tell you I was really jealous but proud to see the new changes for the Marines living on base!.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/xml/news/2008/05/marine_CPbarracks_052608w/052308_cpbarracks2_800.JPG

The Lounge, with a Kitchenette, Flat screen TVs, WI-FI, Large Laundry room with about 25 to 30 washer and dryers each, Gas BBQ outside with a bar/kitchen area, Basketball and Volly Ball courts. Also the Duty hut is in the Lounge and it comes with a video serveillance monitors with cameras on every floor. and the Marines have to use their CAC ID cards to unlock the door to their rooms.

[Komenko]

The Barrcks rooms:

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/xml/news/2008/05/marine_CPbarracks_052608w/052308_cpbarracks5_800.JPG

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/xml/news/2008/05/marine_CPbarracks_052608w/052308_cpbarracks6_800.JPG

This is the New Wall Locker. A walk in closet that each Marine has to the Two Man rooms! Alot cleaner look than the old wall lockers I used to use.

[firedog974]

Very nice!! About time!

[firedog974]

Thanks for posting that. I am amazed. You wrote "The Lounge, with a Kitchenette, Flat screen TVs, WI-FI, Large Laundry room with about 25 to 30 washer and dryers each, Gas BBQ outside with a bar/kitchen area, Basketball and Volly Ball courts. Also the Duty hut is in the Lounge and it comes with a video serveillance monitors with cameras on every floor. and the Marines have to use their CAC ID cards to unlock the door to their rooms." WOW is all I can say. We had a barracks with 100+ Marines with 2 washers, and 2 dryers. There was a board to write your name down for your spot in line to use them. Our grills were the big steel charcoal grills (you've seen 'em) and they were great. Our doors were the push button code doors (numbers 1-5, and you had a code like 24-3 to get in, push 2 and 4 at the same time, and then 3).....I knew if I punched in my code and could not get in, my roommate was either with a chick, or pulling his pud. He would always punch in 1 number on the keypad if he needed some "alone time." That way, if I came back to the room unexpectedly, I would have to punch in the code twice because the first code was always wrong because of the number he punched in. Good times! These new barracks look a lot more like what the other branches have, maybe even nicer. It is about time we started giving Marines the living conditions they have worked hard for. Again...WOW!

[TunTvrnWarrior]

Sure beats the squadbays we had in Hawaii before and after the conversion.

[Komenko]

New barracks ‘just like home’




By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 28, 2008 17:00:40 EDT

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Life for the infantrymen here is a routine of days spent in the field and a return to the barracks, to clean away the dirt and grime of training and to rest with a few days of liberty.
For the men of 1st Marine Regiment in Camp Horno, home is a nondescript barracks built when their parents were born. It’s not exactly home sweet home. But that’s about to change.
Officials at Camp Pendleton marked the grand opening May 13 of the newest addition to the landscape: a four-story, 170-room, bachelor enlisted quarters at Horno for up to 340 single junior Marines and noncommissioned officers.
The red-roofed building rises above the trees from a former football field and makes a notable presence at Horno. The $21.4 million barracks — built with energy and water efficiency in mind — was completed two months early and is the first of 29 new BEQs coming to the base in the next two years, in what’s called the “Best of Breed” design.
While a handful of barracks have been built here in recent years, the surge of new buildings at the base and at others around the Corps are designed with the single Marine in mind.
“This is a change in mind-set here. This is home,” Col. James Seaton, Camp Pendleton’s base commander, told the audience during a short ceremony to unveil the new barracks. “They can come home here in between their tours overseas.”
Seaton said the new barracks provides a “21st century living experience, rather than a 1960s living experience that our Marines here at Horno have endured for so long.”
In 2005, the Corps’ top enlisted leaders who were gathered at the Sergeants Major Symposium offered this recommendation: Give quality of life issues for single Marines the same priority given to family issues. Top officials folded those concerns into the Corps’ broader goal and a $1.7 billion plan to build new barracks and close the gap in shortages by 2012.
Officials continue to collect ideas and feedback from single Marines.
“We’ve really paid a lot of attention to bringing people together,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Lehnert, who commands Marine Corps Installations-West at Camp Pendleton. “This is being replicated throughout the Corps.”
Two dozen BEQs will be built here, plus five barracks for Wounded Warrior Regiment, officials said. And renovation continues on some existing barracks.
The new rooms are built for two junior Marines, sailors or corporals, or one sergeant. The first residents, members of 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, were slated to begin moving in May 17.
Pfc. Herbert Hartfield, 20, glanced at the barracks and was all smiles.
“This is amazing, actually. You’ve got your barbecues here, your nice basketball courts there, a kitchen,” said Hartfield, a machine gunner with Weapons Company.
Hartfield won’t be joining his fellow infantrymen in the first residents’ weekend move, though: He’s marrying his girlfriend that day.
But he won’t miss life in the really old barracks. For months, he and his single buddies have been living in squad bays at Camp San Mateo’s overflow barracks while the new barracks was being built.
“They are well worn,” Hartfield said of the old, flattop buildings, where he’s shared a space with three other junior Marines.
The newest barracks at Camp Horno answers one of the single Marine’s biggest gripes: ample storage. Wooden beds, each with three storage drawers, have “coffin racks” that lift to reveal deep storage beneath the mattress. Extra drawers and two separate walk-in closets, with lights and built-in shelves, provide residents extra room.
Rooms feature a private bathroom with a separate sink and vanity area, window blinds, ceiling fan, heater and insulated metal door with transom windows; mini-refrigerator and microwave; wooden furnishings, including computer desks, lightweight chairs and one or two beds; and color-coordinated bedspreads and carpet, blinds and double-paned windows.
And Marines may notice something new: Gone are the bare cinderblock walls of the old barracks, and the harsh glare of overhead fluorescent lights. These walls are painted in warm neutral colors.
The ‘great room’

The biggest hit, though, might be the “great room” that anchors the 5,500-square-foot building and outdoor recreation plaza.
The cozy, carpeted, air-conditioned room features movie-house seating surrounding a 50-inch flat-screen TV and DVD player.
Framed artwork and tropical plants add color and life to the large room, which has several card tables, two pool tables and a gaming area, with nine individual video game chairs and a large, flat-screen monitor. Officials plan to add Wi-Fi so Marines can access e-mail, surf the Web or take online college classes anywhere from their own laptops.
A kitchen off the entry features cherry cabinets and black GE Profile appliances. Across the room, near a computer center with eight computer stations, a duty room has a set of wooden bunks with coordinated bedding and a large double desk and work station.
Inside the ground-floor laundry room, just off the rec room, sunlight floods bright walls lined with washers and dryers — 42 washers and 84 dryers in all — and folding tables and shelves for baskets. The laundry addresses a common complaint of single Marines: Too few or inadequate washers and dryers in the barracks.
Help is on the outside, too. A half-dozen or so spigots let Marines rinse off their dirt-caked boots and sweaty utilities before they go into their rooms.
The L-shaped barracks includes parking for 270 vehicles, 17 motorcycles and six handicapped spaces. There’s a pair of stainless steel gas barbecues in a built-in cooking area and patio, a pair of lit basketball and sand volleyball courts for nighttime games, and the required pull-up bars.
The outdoors recreation area and the great room likely will become popular communal areas, much more inviting than the parking lot or busy outer corridors of existing motel-style barracks.
“It kind of brings them together ... but at the same time they can close their door and watch TV,” said Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Dixon, the base sergeant major. “The Marines will enjoy living here.”
“If you think about what the Marines do and what they are asked to do,” noted Lehnert, “they deserve this.”

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/05/marine_CPbarracks_052608w/

[Lisa 23]

WOW....this is OUTSTANDING! :thumbup: It's about time.

[RLE0352]

Outstanding!

[echo3oscar1833]

:thumbup::thumbup:

[GSEMarine94]

Those are nicer then the apartment my wife and I lived in, in Jacksonville.

[BR34]

Just more places to field day for them barracks Marines.

[sully0331]

:thumbup:

[Komenko]

Just more places to field day for them barracks Marines.


You should read the new MCO about field daying the barracks!

Check out:

http://militarytimes.com/static/projects… (http://militarytimes.com/static/projects/pages/marine_barracks_regulations82707.pdf)

It is the UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS BACHELOR ENLISTED QUARTERS (BEQ) CAMPAIGN PLAN

According to the Marine Corps Times article: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/benefits… (http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/benefits/housing/marine_beq_070917/)

It states: "The Corps’ latest overarching barracks policy — released last November — aims to give single enlisted Marines more privacy, starting with relaxing field days. The 1999 BEQ campaign plan’s policy was that field days “WILL be conducted on a weekly basis.” The 2006 plan tells unit commanders to conduct field days “on an as needed basis.”

Frequent visits to barracks rooms have been omitted from the rules. Instead, the guidance to unit commanders is periodic visits, and they are encouraged to visit or inspect “squared away” Marines less often than those with problem behavior."

Also "Chinese" field days actually have been stopped, not because it was hazing really, but because all the barracks just got new furniture and they don't want it all messed up.

So, in short, yes there are new rules, but they changed little.
Source(s):

www.marinecorpstimes.com (http://www.marinecorpstimes.com)

[echo3oscar1833]

Those are nicer then the apartment my wife and I lived in, in Jacksonville.


Haha, aint that the truth, I lived at Beacham Apt complex talk about a hole. However it was cheap rent at the time, compared to other places. I remember taking 17 all the way around to the back gate every morning for work. I assuming your talking about Jacksonville NC. Semper!!!:D

[HOWARDROARK3043]

you get a seabag full of gear,,,,,and a bad a$$ suit that the ladies dig,,,,the most dangerous animal is a marine right after deployment,,,lock up all the college ladies because it will be game on

[doc h fmf]

SPOILED BRATS!!!!!!!!!!!

Just Kidding its about time you all earned it.

Semper FI my brothers and sisters

[Rocky C]

OUTSTANDING PICTURES!!!

Semper Fi,
Rocky

[SGT7477]

Shoot with living conditions like that, where in the hell do I sign,lol.

[tdrt]

No matter how old you are or how long after you've been discharged, people are still impressed and think I can still kick their ass! <br />
<br />
And we like to drink a lot

[LordViper]

For those who do not know, Navy corpsman are Marines - they eat the same sh$t, p$ss the same acid, sleep in the same mud, hump the same terrain and dodge the same bullets - all while saving our lives. Semper Fi to the Navy Corpsman.

[crazymjb]

Someomes having a lonely christmas, or misses that Navy silver bullet. First post on the forum to derail a 6 year old thread to espouse his love for the devil-docs.

[yellowfootprint]

For information from an Active Dury Infantryman. Go to becomeamarine.comm/blog