Army or Marine Corps

The Army told me to be all I can be, so I joined the Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps is a family. Our primary mission is to find the enemy and destroy them. Every Marine is a rifleman first and foremost.

I never served in the Army and I am sure they are a great bunch of guys.
 
Just a few thoughts based on some of the things you said I will delineate by service.

Army
If you want Armor/Stryker than the Army is the way to go. There are approximately 10 Armored Brigade Combat Teams in the Army built around Armor formations. There are 6 Stryker Brigades in the Army. They are dispersed in Georgia, Kansas, Texas (2 locations), Washington state, Colorado and Alaska. The Marines have 3 Divisions (Army has 10 and an additional headquarters). The Marine armored forces are approximately 1 battalion per division which means that you would only have 1 equivalent brigade of armor to serve in. Additionally, the LAV is I believe 1 battalion per Division but a Marine can correct me on that. BLUF: More armor in the Army than Marines whose mission is focused more toward amphibious operations and light infantry.

Marines
Ethos is typically the selling point of the Marine Corps. A much greater sense of service identity. In the Army that spirit typically resides in communities/regimental/battalion level. So the camaraderie for a paratrooper or Ranger is probably as high as a Marine but aligned with his field/subordinate unit rather than the Army. A Marine identity is focused on the service than unit. The Marines will have 3 Divisions spread mainly in the Carolinas (2nd MAR DIV with supporting elements), California (1st MAR DIV) and Hawaii/Okinawa (3rd MAR DIV).

Again do good research and understand mission and intent of each service.
 
WPCandidate21 said:
I recently received an email that said I won a 4 year MO NROTC scholarship. I'm currently leaning towards marines over the Army ROTC scholarship.
Click to expand...

Sincere congratulations on winning a Marine scholarship! You are one of only ten kids selected in this round (my daughter is also one of them), and you should be really proud of your accomplishment. Many applied, very very few were chosen. More kids will be chosen at the later board, but you should pay attention to the fact that the Marines think highly enough of you to select you first.

As was stated above, the Marine Corps is really more of a "calling", and only you can decide if it is YOUR calling. I wish you all the best in whichever path you choose!
 
Marine Corps is a response to decades of decent, repetitive marketing... that, yes, has cost millions and millions and millions of dollars.
 
As one who has worn the USMC uniform, it is a great service for the right person. Like all services it has its nuances. It is about finding the service that best fits your personality, goals, etc. The parts I really like about the USMC were being the field, pushing myself physically and being a part of the team. All the services have this though, and you just need to find the one that best fits you. Yes, Marines love to be Marines and they are cocky about it. It is was drives the image of the Marine Corps and great marketing/recruiting. I was in a MOS in the USMC where I spent almost my short tenure deployed in Joint environments. Just based on my personal opinion (and nothing else, not here to start a food fight)... Marines are the most professional service. When I say professional I mean, we always use rank/last names, military decorum, and professional standards. It doesn't mean the other services aren't, Marines just do it their way. Its why many will call the USAFA the business department. The usage for first names drove me nuts when working with them, but its how they do business. USMC physical standards are high. It doesn't mean there aren't fit people in other services or out of shape Marines. Your average infantryman in the USA and USMC have to be a certain level of fit regardless of service. The USMC believes that every Marine is a rifleman. They spend alot of their training dollars on this regardless of MOS. It is an ethos they push. Sure there is inner service rivalry of POGs vs. Grunts, but in the end some of the craziest people I saw on the battle field were truck drivers who ran convoy routes day in and day out in Iraq. I had mad respect for those guys. It was like playing frogger (if you were born in the 90s you will need to google that) for a living with IEDs. I am more than happy to answer specific questions about the USMC if you have them. I try my best to give a very even, non-biased view, the good and the bad of the USMC.
 
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