Alright im 17 year's old. Ill be turning 18 in January. Im a senior in highschool and this is my last year and I plan on joining the military. I have narrowed it down to eigther the Marines or ARMY (eventually to become a Ranger). Im unsure of which to join. I know there will be alot of biased information here because Marine's are better than the ARMY, no the ARMY is better than the Marines and all of that bs, but please ask me question's that could possibly guide me in the right direction. Are the Marine's mainly at Sea? I do not want anything to do with bodies of water other than traveling to a different base, etc. Im just very confused at this point and I have 6 month's left until Graduation.

Welcome to the site. The decision you are making is a difficult one to make. Join the Army or join the Marines.

First ask yourself, how you envision service to your nation, and doing what to help you make that choice.

Do you see yourself a part of an Army that is 502,000 active duty or part of the Marines at 175,000 active duty level?

Myself being prior service Marine, I'm a little on the biased side, but my friends that are prior service Army will make up for that in thier responses, so I'll limit my comments to my own experiences with the Marine Corps.

Are the Marines better than our brothers in arms serving in the Army? No. We just do more with less. Does that make us better? Again no, just different. One comment you made about Marines and the sea deserves mention. That Marines go to sea is part of our methods for simply getting to where we can perform at our best. The Navy generally gets us to where the action is with all of the equipment we require to do what we do best. The Air Force helps get some of us and limited amounts of equipment to those locations where a fast reaction force is needed in a short timeframe. The Marines have long held the distinction of being the first to fight.

All combined the US has a very effective method of force projection in just about any part of the globe.

Now back to the meat of the issue...which way to turn?

Marine training is second to none. It is longer, and much more intense than any other branch of our military. This makes it more difficult on those wanting to earn the title of US Marine. Note the term, EARN the TITLE. In the Marines, you have to earn this title as it isn't handed to you for just attending training. One can't just go through the motions with your simple presence. In the Army, you are assigned as a Soldier. I will say this though, as you made comment about Rangers. The one thing about the Army that has a simularity with the Marines, you will also have to EARN the title of RANGER. It ain't easy. A vast majority of Marines have and hold a great deal of respect for Rangers.

Want to be a grunt, we have that. Want to work with Armor, we have that as well. Want to work on fighter jets? Yeah we have plenty of them too. Want to work with large caliber guns? We even have guns that are capable of delivering nuke shells. Wanna be a cook? Hey we like to eat too. Just about any job that one could do, is available in the Corps for those that qualify.

Your best bet in making this choice is to visit your local recruiters. Note the plural as it indicates that you need to visit both the Army recruiter and the Marine recruiter.

Good luck and feel free to ask specific questions that may pop up.

Thanks for the input, also Force Recon is Marine's Special Forces correct? If so, is it of higher caliber than becomeing a Ranger? Because I really want to be involved in Special Forces, eigther way I am going to bust my ass to become something great for my country. I respect the fact that to become a Marine you have to earn it rather than the title being handed to you. Marine Basic Training seem's simliar to that of becoming a Ranger. I think within the next few day's I will visit some recruiters in the area and hopefully will have made my decision soon. As of now, im leaning towards that ARMY then heading off to Ranger school.

I really appreciate all the information.

Well I wouldn't put Force Recon in those terms, but for the sake of agruement.... yeah.Marine Recon are our equivilent to US Navy Seals and yes, Army Rangers.

Each have thier own unique history and flavor. They are all considered as the experts of thier respective branches of service.

Good luck in your endeavor in becoming an Army Ranger.

ehh. Force Recon isnt really better or worse than Green Berets, SEALS, Rangers, its just different.