Honestly, either are a great way if you're unsure of what to do. I've got a buddy in Ranger school and a buddy in the Marines on his 3rd tour in Iraq. The Army Ranger graduated from UC berkeley, while the Marine went to UCSB. Both enlisted after they graduated. No ROTC either. They've never been happier and I've never been prouder.

 

i told him that too... guizes scurrrred of water

 

+1 for going into the marines aaron!

 

Well think of it this way. If some came into yout country with 130K plus troops. Planes, heavy equipment, tanks, list goes on and on. Plus pretty much unlimited funding and resources. All you have is small arms, grenade launchers and whole bunch of old explosives. Can you fight a conventional war? Not really. So this is the war of the 21st century. And to be honest the insurgents are doing a hell of a job give the best army of the world a run for their money. Remember when someone wants to kill you and he is willing to die in the process there is not very much you can do to stop him.

cheers and good luck whatever you decide.

Nick

 

go Army! I am in the army..... if you want to become an infantry man by all means go for it..from there you can move on to become a ranger and if your up for it special forces. remember sf and rangers own the night. Let me tell you a true story about the 82nd that not a lot of people know about when the 82nd first took over fallujah in iraq they maintained high security and discipline throughout there deployment. when the marines took over they questioned us why we had our guard so high after the 82nd pulled out the marines decided all the extra security was overkill and decided to bring it down and guess what happened the insurgents used this opportunity to kill a few good marines because their leaders thought different and did not decide to follow army standards. army or marine makes no difference in my book but action speaks louder than words. i personally say go special forces these guys are the unseen heroes.

 

I have been thinking about rangers but im not sure i could make it. I would love to be rangers. And what you said about Fallujah, when i was at the marine he said it was the opposite. That they took it over then the army put their guard down. Not calling you a liar or anything just telling you what he said.

 

WRONG. Rangers + all SF units deploy regularly without approval.

 

Rangers + SF are not a branch of the military. They are specific units.

He's right in that the marines are the only full branch to do whatever they want.

 

OK so basically your point does apply to him at all. If he is going to go infantry I'm sure he'll at least attempt Ranger school and if he passes the fact that all Marines can deploy without Congressional approval becomes completely irrelevant. SF is the way to go. Nearly all SF members enlisted or not have at least a bachelors degree and they are without question the most educated group of combat fighters in the US military.

 

that is a negative the army was the first into fallujah. i'm not going to make this into some pissing contest but i know what i know for a fact. and besides the numbers dont lie the marines lost more in fallujah than the army did

 

I was an Airborne Infantryman for 4yrs (Primary MOS 11B w/ASI's) during my much skinnier days. As an ex-Army infantryman, I have trained with numerous 0311's (Marine Infantry Rifleman), 0321's (Recon Marines) and a dash of 8541's (USMC Scout Sniper). Trained with some of them at Advanced Airborne school and also had the privilege of attending their HRST Master (Helicopter Rope Suspension Training Master) course courtesy of my brother-in-law (then HRST instructor and 0311, 0321).

I can tell you anything you need to know down to the stuff you've been afraid to ask. Just PM me and I’d be happy to talk. Also, Oaf, svxr8dr, gpatmac and a few others are either ex-infantry or currently serving. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind telling you their stories.

OR just ask me questions here. i can tell you about the bull**** , which schools will get you what and when, options, training, etc.

 

i would have to disagree with you on that one about nearly all sf members having bachelors or above. yes this would be true about officers but as far as enlisted barely half have any kind of eduaction. you would be suprised of what sf is made up of and most of the enlisted are mid twenties hoorah individuals that dont need a degree on pulling a trigger, setting up ambushes, night ops, etc etc etc

 

Barely? Let’s give them some credit. I can think of a handful of 18x's excluding alphas that have degrees right now. In fact, most of them I personally know/knew had degrees as opposed to those that didn't.

 

Every SF officer obviously has a degree and every E-7 I have met has a degree. Most E-6s are either working on or have their degree but if you do go SF for any amount of time rest assured you will get a degree.

 

i can agree with that. but the lowest grade they will take spc or spc promotable(not sure what the standards are right now due to them always changing policies) probably has barely touched a college course.

but either way to stay on topic, A 04 GUIZE when and if you decide to join the military it makes no difference to me what branch as long as you are fighting along next to me as a fellow american thats all that matters and by doing so you would have done more for your country than most americans ever will have done. MY HATS OFF TO ALL THAT HAVE SERVED!!! BIG MAHALOS!! (THANK YOU)