A Future Single-Service Military vs Branches of Service?

The bigger an organization gets, the less efficient. So what would we gain? Just take a look at how efficiently our Federal Gov't runs and that ought to break you of that notion.

<p>We are the United States Military and even though we have our individual branches, economically things should be under one.&nbsp; For exapmple Recruitment Marketing...why are there 5 pots of money for recruitment.&nbsp; What are there 10,000 Army Recruitment Offices, 9000 Navy, 6000 Marines and 1300 AF (estimating those numbers).&nbsp; A person should be able to walk in one office and be able to discuss all service opportunities.&nbsp; there is so much more that can be changed and would save the tax payer money, plus keep out benefits without getting more and more cuts.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

I think that would be a mistake--'Economies of scale' and 'Government Run' don't seem to be something you hear in the same sentence. Not to mention, there would be a huge degradation in the culture of our military which would, in turn, lead to other unintended (negative) consequences.

I think it might look good on paper, but I don't see this as being a good idea.&nbsp; We have different services for a reason, and those services all specialize in different things.&nbsp; I have been in the Army my entire career, and would imagine that it would be a big problem sticking me on a Navy destroyer or in a submarine&nbsp;because I have no idea how to function in that environment.&nbsp; I see where you could think this would be a good idea, but I don't think it will be implemented effectively.

Personally, I prefer there are "Joint Chiefs of Staff" vs "Military Adviser" to the POTUS. Yes, there are more and more joint operations, yet each branch has their own capabilities... some examples,

During Bosnia and Desert Shield as the Navy needed to assist coverage in the Gulf we left Marine Air Squadrons (that were normally aboard ship) to support the Marines in Bosnia whilst the Navy detoured for "No-Fly" enforcement during a Pacific fleet switch-over (we were Atlantic fleet)...under a consolidated military this would be more difficult to accomplish...

If you are on the ground for example, would you want an extra time delay in ordering that crucial air-support? or would you prefer to keep the time down to a minimum so you get the EVAC faster?

Another thing is we might as well join the Police, State Troopers, Fire Dept and EMT's in the civilian world as they all have the same objective to protect the citizenry at home (and already have the same dispatchers).. I'm sure you'd love to get a speeding ticket from a Fire Truck or a Police officer manning the fire-hose or scaling the ladder in a fire..

One thing I have learned both in the Military and from FEMA Incident Command Classes, is "span of control", we are all there to accomplish one mission but have different duties that accomplish that based on our specific training.

Canada's tried that. Didn't work. Amalgamated on 1968, started to return service-specific uniforms by 1985, returned everyone to their own service name in 2011, and their own insignia and in the case of the Royal Canadian Navy, ranks by 2015. Officially they're still amalgamated, but in reality, three services again.

I gave zero problem with everyone belonging to the same group as long as they follow these simple rules. Abolish all other branches of service, make all current military forces go through USMC boot camp and earn the EGA, cut all the non-hackers out, and do not lower a single standard. Once they are all Marines, then have them go back to doing whatever it was they did before. Unless you follow that to a "T", then no, I don't thing forcing everyone into the same box is a good idea. And I'm gonna bet most people don't think so, either.

Then we can all be SEALS

Sea- Ships and Subs
Air- Fixed Wing and Rotary
Land- Infantry
Support- MPs, Transportation, Supply, Maintenance, Comms

The Department of Defense can be compared to the NFL (without the anti-American Trash Behavior of the Athlete-Entertainers they employ).

Think of the DOD as a League of Armed Services. And OUR LEAGUE exists for the sole purpose of kicking the dog crap out of other “LEAGUES”, like the Chinese League, or the Russian League, or the Iranian League.

See a “Reality Pattern” here?

So overhauling the Armed Services in the name of simplifying expenditures is the “Tail Wagging the Dog.” MONEY EXPENDITURES is a LOGISTICS FUNCTION...not an ENEMY KILLING FUNCTION.

If killing while wearing a cool Beret color motivates you...then train up under those Beret Standards. If wearing an “Eagle, Globe & Anchor” insignia imbues you with a feeling of ARROGANT INVINCIBILITY, then I want those guys to be my AMPHIBIOUS BAYONET POINT with its own institutional “Economies of Force”; so having four BRANCHES of ARMED FORCES within the DOD WORLD-CLASS KILLING LEAGUE is a proven way to win.

Before we kicked off “OPERATION DESERT STORM”, the Iraqi Embassy in Beijing queried the CHINESE, “WHAT IS A U. S. Marine Corps?”

What a GREAT QUESTION. The Chinese had plenty of experiences to share with the Iraqis about being slaughtered by the Marines in both the Korean War AND Vietnam War.

Each independent Armed Service possess some capabilities that overlap, possess many complimentary capabilities or possess unique capabilities that require single-service specialization.

The USAF GPS Constellation Manager doesn’t need to know or train up for Amphibious Operations. The USMC is the Executive Agency under the Department of the Navy for that job. When necessary, we train the US Army.

That’s why you look at Military Capabilities in a HOLISTIC PICTURE.

Hope it never happens...have seen it on the horizon for way too many years (40+).