Marine 0311 vs Army 11b?

Question

I've been thinking about joining the military, and been doing about a month of research. Overall, I want to begin my service with the MOS of infantry, and I've narrowed it down to the USMC and the Army.


My main concerns, questions, etc.:


1. I understand the culture is different, but why is it that the Marines seem to be under much more stress than the army? Again, I'm going off generalizations from research, but it seems like that the Marine corps heavily emphasizes treating recruits like meat. What's so special about this specific aspect of the Marine Corps? Esepcially since it seems like 11b and 0311 do virtually the same job.

2. Why is it that there seems to be a lot of people who hated being in the marine corps vs other branches? I don't mean to be biased, judgemental, etc., but it seems like there are a lot of people who regret joining the corps as apposed to those who join the navy, AF, army, etc.

3. What are the key differences in recruit training/bootcamp for both?

4. I plan on serving on active duty, what are some common/major differences on active duty between the 2 branches?

The reason I mention the extreme mental stress of what marines experience is because I want to fully understand what I'm getting myself into before I join any branch in the military. It's pretty much a guarantee that I want to be infantry in 1 of these 2 branches, but I still have a vague sense of what REALLY differentiates these 2 branches.

Marines are first to fight, smaller, and have this brotherhood sense of gleaming pride.

The Army is larger, ultimately the backbone of The US military I guess.


Those last 2 sentences pretty much sum up what I truly understand.

Please try and keep the answers UNBIASED, meaning I don't care if you think your branch is better, I want to know straight up FACTS or at least common generalities for each branch that I can expect once I do join. Personal experience and personal opinion, is also highly appreciated. Meaning what you FEEL you got out of your time in service is also valuable to me.

I know it's long, but this is my last resort to really getting down to understanding my choices. I talked to a marine recruiter today and It was nothing more than talking to a car salesman. I took a practice asvab and the computer said I got a 77.


It means the world to me that you guys give me some honest, mature, and I guess intelligent answers because most of what I find through research is "HELLYEAH MARINES ARE THE BEST" and "LOLMARINES ARE JARHEADS BRAINWASHEDDURR" it's just distorting my sense of choice and makes me not want to join the military at all.

Thank you

Answer 1

1. The biggest difference as far as you as an individual are concerned is that the Army has several different types of infantry units, while the Marines are all more or less the same. Only the Army has Stryker, Mechanized, Airborne and Light Infantry, all of which are intended to be used a little bit differently. As far as fighting is concerned, there isn't a huge difference man for man. It's really all about capabilities.



2. You'll find dissatisfied servicemen from every branch. The Marines have a very aggressive recruiting campaign in comparison to the other branches though, so a lot of recruits join it with a poor understanding of what they're getting into. End of the day, the military is the military, and if you loathe one branch, you probably aren't going to be much if at all better off in another branch.



3. Army BCT and Marine Bootcamp both serve the exact same purpose - turning civilians into trainable Soldiers/Marines. Neither course is designed to fail the non-spartans, and neither course adequately prepares the recruit for deployment. Some basic philosophical differences exist though. For example, the Army goes straight into practical skills and covers considerably more of it than the other branches, while the Marines spend a lot of time learning history, marching drills, spend a whole week swimming (which the Army doesn't do) etc. You could say that the Army emphasizes skills early, while the Marines emphasize discipline. The training that really matters comes after these courses. At Army Infantry AIT, it's pretty much an all-around infantry training course (except airborne training), while the Marine infantry are trained to be amphibious infantry. For whatever reason, the Army's course has a slightly higher attrition rate (almost entirely from injuries).



4. If you're going in for just the minimum 4 years, it doesn't make a big difference. If you think there's a chance you will stick around longer or even turn the military into a career, then the Army is a better choice due to faster promotion rates, more access to advanced training courses (most of which are run by the Army, meaning they give themselves preference), etc.



FYI, "Marines are the first to fight" is flat out wrong, and none of the 10 units that directly or indirectly claim to be the first into action have been in decades. Don't let some ridiculous has-been recruiting slogan sway your decision.



So, here's my advice: The first question you should ask yourself is whether or not you want to be airborne. If the answer is yes, then the Army is your only option. If you do not want to go airborne, or you simply don't care, then you might as well flip a coin unless #4 applies to you. Although the Army mostly allows recruits to choose their specific MOS, this is not the case with infantry. Infantrymen are assigned either 11B or 11C at OSUT, and there are no ifs or buts. The Marines will give you the satisfaction of filling out a meaningless "dream sheet" that automatically gets overridden by the needs of the Corps, so you're pretty much in the same boat. There are also a few books written by infantrymen from both branches that may give you some insights in the form of heavily biased opinions based on personal experience, but you're still doing the same job in mostly the exact same way.

Answer 2

Stopped reading after "the marines are first to fight."



Do better research.



All of your questions could be answered if you did do more research anyway.

Answer 3

My feeling is you are too crazy to be accepted into the military.



Time to stop with all the questions you gay retard.