# Why US Marines are 'different'



## Bill Mattocks

It starts at the beginning.

And yeah, that's accurate as far as I can tell.  My own experience in Marine Corps boot camp from 1979 looked exactly like that, except we all had long hair back then.






Oh, this brings back some memories.

You see why Marines and soldiers just don't see eye-to-eye about many things.  The whole experience is different, right from the get-go.


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## Big Don

I wanted to be a Marine. But, I could read and my parents weren't brother and sister.


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## Bill Mattocks

Big Don said:


> I wanted to be a Marine. But, I could read and my parents weren't brother and sister.



:rofl:

That reminds me of the soldier who saw a Marine leave the head without washing his hands after urinating.  The soldier said _"In the Army, they teach us to wash our hands after we pee."_  The Marine replied, _"In the Marines, they teach us not to pee on our hands."_


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## Sukerkin

:chuckles:  I raise my hand and say without hesitation that I would not have even made it through the induction for the Marines :lol:.  Too much 'attitude' of the wrong kind I am sad to say .


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## Bill Mattocks

Sukerkin said:


> :chuckles:  I raise my hand and say without hesitation that I would not have even made it through the induction for the Marines :lol:.  Too much 'attitude' of the wrong kind I am sad to say .



Ah, it's not that big of a deal to get through.  My dad was also a Marine, he told me how to get through it.  _"Son,"_ he said, _"it's all just an act.  The Drill Instructors don't actually hate you, they just want you to think you do, it's a psychological trick to break up your concept of reality, to tear down your self-image so that they can rebuild it the way they want you to be.  Just go along with the program and you'll be fine."_  I said, _"Gee, thanks, dad."_  And then he added, _"And besides, they can kill you, but they won't really eat you.  They just say they will.  I never saw anyone actually eaten."_


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## Big Don

Two jarheads walked past a bar.


What? It _could _happen.


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## Bill Mattocks

Big Don said:


> Two jarheads walked past a bar.
> 
> 
> What? It _could _happen.



A Navy psychiatrist had been interviewing potential Marine Corps Drill Instructors all day long and he was tired of dealing with one psychopath after another.  As the last candidate of the day reported in, the shrink sighed, cradled his head in his hands, and said _"OK, let's just cut to the chase, Sergeant.  How many recruits do you think you can stuff in a Dempster Dumpster?"_  The candidate cocked his head, thought for a moment, and said _"You mean whole or cut up?"_


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## Big Don

A soldier in a bar leans over to the guy next to him and says, ''Wanna hear a MARINE joke?'' 
The guy next to him replies, ''Well, before you tell that joke, you  should know something. I'm 6' tall, 200 lbs, and I'm a MARINE. The guy  sitting next to me is 6'2'' tall, weighs 225, and he's a MARINE. The  fella next to him is 6'5'' tall, weighs 250, and he's also a MARINE.  Now, you still wanna tell that joke?'' 

The soldier says, ''Nah, I don't want to have to explain it three times.''


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## fangjian

I went to Basic Combat Training at Ft Sill, OK, and I see no difference between my stay there,  and the marines'.


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## crushing

fangjian said:


> I went to Basic Combat Training at Ft Sill, OK, and I see no difference between my stay there, and the marines'.


 
When I saw the video in the OP I thought, "If Michael Moore were a Marine..."  That's _the awful truth._


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## Bill Mattocks

fangjian said:


> I went to Basic Combat Training at Ft Sill, OK, and I see no difference between my stay there,  and the marines'.



Soldiers never do see the difference.  But it is there.

Even basic things are different.  We don't have co-ed training.  We have 13 weeks of boot camp, not 6 weeks.  We don't get paid, we don't get liberty (not even base liberty), we don't go anywhere, even on base, by ourselves during that time.  We pay for items at the PX with 'script' and we can only buy what we're allowed to buy by our Drill Instructors.  We get 4 hours of 'base liberty' the Sunday before boot camp graduation, and we get our back pay for boot camp after we arrive at our first duty station.

We don't refer to ourselves in the first person, because we are not individuals in boot camp, we are a team or we are nothing.  We are not Marines in boot camp, we are 'recruits'.  We only earn the title of "Marine" on graduation from boot camp and then we hold that title for life.

Beyond the pushups, situps, running and other physical activity, there is a fundamental psychological difference between the way the Marine Corps makes Marines and how any other service trains their recruits.  It's not just yelling and pushups - the difference is at the core.  Marine recruits are not _'people'_.  They're things.  It sounds harsh, but Marine Corps methods work and have for over 200 years.  Some of my friends refer to it as that _'Ooh-Rah BS'_ or _'brainwashing'_.  Yep, sure is.  We're not an _"army of one,"_ we're a _"band of brothers."_

That's why you see so many Marine Corps bumper stickers on cars and trucks compared to Army or Navy or Air Force, even though the Marine Corps is about 1/10 the size of the other Armed Forces.  We're arrogantly proud of who we are.  We're nothing until we're Marines, and then we are everything.

We are fundamentally different.  But that's cool.


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## Bill Mattocks

Big Don said:


> A soldier in a bar leans over to the guy next to him and says, ''Wanna hear a MARINE joke?''
> The guy next to him replies, ''Well, before you tell that joke, you  should know something. I'm 6' tall, 200 lbs, and I'm a MARINE. The guy  sitting next to me is 6'2'' tall, weighs 225, and he's a MARINE. The  fella next to him is 6'5'' tall, weighs 250, and he's also a MARINE.  Now, you still wanna tell that joke?''
> 
> The soldier says, ''Nah, I don't want to have to explain it three times.''



You know what they say.  You can always tell a Marine.  You just can't tell him much.


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## fangjian

Bill Mattocks said:


> Soldiers never do see the difference.  But it is there.
> 
> Even basic things are different.  We don't have co-ed training.  We have 13 weeks of boot camp, not 6 weeks.



My BCT was not coed, and it was 9 weeks of absolute mayhem. During MOS training, our drill instructors were kicked out of the cycle for 'inappropriate conduct'. They beat the piss out of us for 3 months. 

Basic is 6 weeks now in the Army?  hahaa  


> Beyond the pushups, situps, running and other physical activity, there is a fundamental psychological difference between the way the Marine Corps makes Marines and how any other service trains their recruits.



Marines:

" We are the BEST 'cause we friggin say SO!!!    Our cooks are pretty much US Army Rangers".  

Don't get me wrong. I love this attitude.   hahaahaha


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## Empty Hands

fangjian said:


> Marines:
> 
> " We are the BEST 'cause we friggin say SO!!!    Our cooks are pretty much US Army Rangers".
> 
> Don't get me wrong. I love this attitude.   hahaahaha



Attitude goes a long way when you are asked to accomplish the impossible and stay alive doing it.


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## elder999

Needless to say, warning for strong language, and not work safe:

[yt]t8Nf1MK7lts[/yt]


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## jks9199

There's a different training method in place.  Every Marine is a rifleman.  So Marine Corps Basic includes basic infantry training, then they go to advanced training for their actual military duties.  In most of the other services, training consists of two phases: a "militarization" phase, where civilians learn the core of being soldiers/airmen/sailors, and then training for the actual primary military duties.  

That said -- there also is a very different mindset in the Marine Corps.  _Esprit de corps_ for a Marine isn't just about his unit -- it's the whole Corps.  And that starts from day -1; you can still see Marine recruits that are waiting to go to Basic being expected to show up at the recruiter's office regularly for PT and other training.  Not so much with the other services...


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## fangjian

jks9199 said:


> there also is a very different mindset in the Marine Corps.  _Esprit de corps_ for a Marine isn't just about his unit -- it's the whole Corps.  And that starts from day -1; you can still see Marine recruits that are waiting to go to Basic being expected to show up at the recruiter's office regularly for PT and other training.  Not so much with the other services...



_Esprit de corps_ is the biggest difference it appears. The Army is more segregated when it comes to _spirit_. Wether it MOS or a specific unit etc. Also one big problem is that there is too much going on on the uniform. Everybody wants to be special. Air Assault badge, airborne badge, combat patch, ranger tab, etc........  I always preferred the Marines' uniform. Uncluttered with none of that nonsense. They do have an airborne badge I think, though.


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## Sukerkin

I absolutely love this!


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## Bill Mattocks

fangjian said:


> _Esprit de corps_ is the biggest difference it appears. The Army is more segregated when it comes to _spirit_. Wether it MOS or a specific unit etc. Also one big problem is that there is too much going on on the uniform. Everybody wants to be special. Air Assault badge, airborne badge, combat patch, ranger tab, etc........  I always preferred the Marines' uniform. Uncluttered with none of that nonsense. They do have an airborne badge I think, though.



Jump wings and Diver insignia, I think.  And not worn on the utilities (BDU to you guys).  In my time, we also didn't wear nametapes on the field blouse (BDU shirt to you guys), only a USMC and Eagle, Globe and Anchor iron-on insignia on the left breast pocket.

The Marine 5th and 6th Regiments wear a rope on their dress uniform signifying the award of the French _Fourragere._


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## Big Don

Sukerkin said:


> I absolutely love this!


Puller was one hell of a man.


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## Bill Mattocks

Big Don said:


> Puller was one hell of a man.



He was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesty_Puller

On Guadalcanal, his 1/7 battalion against a full regiment of Japanese soldiers, he took 70 causulaties and inflicted 1700 KIA Japanese.  Do you have any idea how long it would take to just line up and shoot 1700 men with a single battalion of riflemen?  Oh, and he was shot twice - by two different snipers - while doing it - and receive three grenade wounds.

The man was hell on wheels.


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## Empty Hands

Bill Mattocks said:


> He was.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesty_Puller
> 
> On Guadalcanal, his 1/7 battalion against a full regiment of Japanese soldiers, he took 70 causulaties and inflicted 1700 KIA Japanese.  Do you have any idea how long it would take to just line up and shoot 1700 men with a single battalion of riflemen?  Oh, and he was shot twice - by two different snipers - while doing it - and receive three grenade wounds.
> 
> The man was hell on wheels.



:asian:


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## Dirty Dog

Bill Mattocks said:


> You know what they say. You can always tell a Marine. You just can't tell him much.


 
You know why the Navy carries Marines on their ships?

Because sheep would be too obvious....


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## fangjian

My favorite military joke. 


Ok so a platoon size element of each branch of the military gets orders to 'secure a building'. 

The Marines get the order:

They make their way to the building set up positions all around it. Throw grenades into all openings and *BANG*.      

"Sir, the building is secure. "

The Army gets the order:

They make their way to the building, set up positions all around it and....well.....clear the building (the way you'd imagine).

"Sir the building's secure."

The Navy gets the order:

The get the building. Sweep, mop strip and buff the floors.  Lock it up. 

"Sir the building's secure."

The Air Force gets the order:

They get to the building. Move in some furniture, tv and microwave. Order some pizzas. 

"Sir the building's secure. "


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## SenseiMattKlein

Bill Mattocks said:


> You know what they say.  You can always tell a Marine.  You just can't tell him much.


Known a few of em in my time, including one who fed and clothed me since I was a tiny tike. And this comment is the gospel truth.


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