Posted on Jan 12, 2016
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
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Do you feel there is still an "inner service rivalry" between the Service Branches or that any one branch thinks they are Superior?

RP Members what do you think - be honest and professional in your responses please! Thank you

With all the deployments and joint operations that we have been involved in over the last 15 plus years of war and prior to that as well, aren't we all part of something a little bigger than our own service branches? We represent the United States of America in so many ways! We represent the freedom that all of the American citizens enjoy, to include ourselves!

For myself, I think is great to that we have the Navy/Army/Air Force rivalry on the football field and other sports, but I think it is important to realize the importance of joint operations and synchronization among the service branches.

I don't think that anyone branch is better than the other. That is my personal feeling.

They all have their specific missions, training philosophies, challenges, and characteristics that make them unique and special, but does that make them inferior or superior to the other service branches?

I'm sorry if I didn't tag some of the specific service branches!
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Lt Col Aerospace Planner
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Edited 10 y ago
My experience is no. I work in a joint command with a Marine Infantry Officer as my direct supervisor with a Navy Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) as our element's vice commander and an Army Ranger as our element lead. Our whole organization is commanded by a USAFR B-52 pilot.

In that experience I have never got the vibe so far that one is better than the other. Each service provides a specific function that is integral to a mission. The Marines can do a lot initially without the AF or the Army. But chances are that they get crucial intel from all of the above. The MEU's are poised for rapid response, but the Army is poised for long term engagement. The Air Force provides a good deal of long range persistent surveillance as well as the ability to conduct deep strike interdiction with our B'2s. In addition the AF provides crucial rapid global mobility mobility capabilities.

In the joint planning world I have the opportunity to see where all of the pieces fit together. It is never a one size fits all or else we wouldn't have a job. We find that in most cases to solve a problem it involves the engagement of several parts that include the whole spectrum of the DOD's capability.
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CWO3 Us Marine
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Sounds like your typical Purple Gang. Joint-ness.
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SFC Joseph Weber
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Of course. More boats than the Navy, more aircraft than the Air Force, more Infantry than the Marine Corps...the Greatest Fighting Force the world has ever seen!
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Cpl Gabriel F.
Cpl Gabriel F.
>1 y
Boats small, rubber, wood and pontoon. Aircraft rotor wing very state of the art, piper cub, old C-130 and all the fancy rides of the brass would make a air force. Yes, it is called a Corps because of having 3 divisions. U.S. Marine's the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen. Thank you for your service SFC. Weber.
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A1C Application Developer
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Every branch thinks they're superior in some way, shape, or form. And in some aspects they are. USAF in cyber and being stuck up, Army in fuck fuck games, Marine Corps in ground warfare and dicking around, and Navy in floating endless across the seas. (Sir).
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
10 y
A1C (Join to see) Please clean up the language in the posts - thanks
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SFC Terry Fortune
SFC Terry Fortune
10 y
Each service thinks they are the best. But when it time to roll, it is One Team and One Fight.
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SSgt Michael Cox
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Working in Veteran services at my college i would say yes there is. That being said we all respect the other services and know they have a different mission. But being in an office full of Army and Marines I do here them rag on my Air Force all the time. They do cut me some slack though since I was in AFSOC which meant my boss was still a 4 star Army general.
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MSgt Keith Dewitt
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I agree.
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MSgt Anthony Grimm
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It is a good fun rivalry between the services. When it comes to our beloved nation all services on the same page.
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CPT Multifunctional Logistician
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There is always going to be a rivalry among the branches, especially among lower enlisted. As I served with the Marines in Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, this became more apparent. I was able to get along with the officers within the Marines and they even let me play on their softball team during a stand down day. While, just about every time an Army Soldier had to interact with a Marine to provide logistical support there were words exchanged about the rival branch. One time it even came to blows.
I started out as a private in the Infantry and I can see why there is such a passionate and uneducated view of the other branches. We were indoctrinated in basic training to believe we were the baddest MoFos on the planet, and so are Marines, Navy, and even the Air Force (ok, maybe not the Air Force...just kidding). That 9-13 weeks of complete submersion in the propaganda is tough to get out of your head, but as we are exposed to more Joint Operations, it is easy to see (if we let our guard down) that all branches have some pretty amazing service members doing some pretty amazing things to protect this country.
Perspective is hard to change if you don't allow yourself to move to a different viewpoint.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
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CPT Multifunctional Logistician
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10 y
Thank you, sir.
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While each service likes to boast they're better than the others, the Marines are the only ones who actually believe it.
Cpl Gabriel F.
Cpl Gabriel F.
>1 y
As a expensively trained air plane driver Marines believe they can come and pull you out when you go down.
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PO2 Donald Walsh
PO2 Donald Walsh
>1 y
Shhh...let them keep believing it. That's what motivates them to get such difficult missions done as if they are the only ones who can do them. Usually, missions none of the rest of us envy them doing. OOORAH!
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I don't disagree, PO2 Donald Walsh. The more you think you can do, the more you're willing to put up with, the more actually gets done. They're definitely a tough bunch. If them believing they're better than us leads to them doing the jobs we'd rather not do, I'm fine with that.
SGT David Emme
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If you have pride you are always going to have a sense of inner service rivalry as much as there is one between Cavalry and Infantry units within the US Army. On the other hand, I think for those who have deployed to a war-zone and been in combat-it is less of a thing that matters to people. When it comes between the Army and Marines-the most gung-ho people tend to be the ones who never saw a combat deployment. At least this has been my experience and my perception.
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LTC Lewis Cox
LTC Lewis Cox
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Yep! That's sort of similar to to Army's Close with and Kill or Capture mission!!!
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PFC Heather W.
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There's definitely a rivalry but it's all in good fun.
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MCPO Roger Collins
MCPO Roger Collins
10 y
I know I'm enjoying it.
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