Is education a big deal in the Army and Marine Corps?

Substitute the word "education" for "professional development" and see if you still agree with your sentiment.

I'll weigh in on the Marine Corps mentality when it comes to "school" having served some tours with them. They study war big time. Their school system at Quantico may seem "standard" to the casual military observer. However, the MC invests heavily into understanding history and military psychology, past and present. They constantly work on new scenarios, strategies, and test for weaknesses. Why? They want to maximize winning and minimize the dying piece. Simple as that. My own experience in my journey from E-1 to O-6 was the acceptance that you're always going to some school on a fairly predictable basis. You have to because everything is changing all the time. New stuff, new tactics, and unfortunately twice as many new restrictions. The military isn't intended to let any SM go into static mode. Those that do have very short careers. It's also part of the filtering process for promotion. If you think the commercial sector is easier, think again. Sure, you can dig ditches for the rest of your life, but most want next year to be better than last year. Learning new things. Becoming more capable. Having more control over your own life. Same thing as the military. Bottom line, if you want to grow, ongoing school work will be a part of your working life. When I retired, I continued to be a soccer referee. School work every year for the same reasons. The world moves some direction and if you don't want to be left behind, you have to keep up.

SrA (Join to see) Education is a big deal. If you want to continue advancing in the military, you need to continue your education. The civilian world also values education. There will be life after the military, so do you have the training and skills for that future career that you want? Education can take many forms. Do you know how to prepare your tax returns or make sound saving and investment choices. Education, especially if it is free, is a valuable resource that will increase your value to your current and future employers.

For the enlisted side the military studies is important. We are required to do MCI's which are books on all subjects from spelling to guerrilla warfare. Collage classes are available, but mostly done on your time unless you get into a special program.

One of my few regrets is I didn't get more education. Get everything the military has to offer....

Only if you want to be competitive for promotion. Not only that but service members should think about post military life. So many service members get out thinking just because they are a veteran all doors should be opened to them. I think this is a bad mentality that ultimately causes a lot of veterans to end up in dead end jobs. I hope to retire with a Master's degree. My education is solely for when I retire. The fact that my MOS may look good on my resume, means very little. I want a better paying job not on my feet all day.

Yes education is a big deal, but not so much that you'll get kicked out for not going to college. Most of our education revolves around annual training requirements and professional military education like Cpl's Course, Sgt's Course, etc. Now if you chose to pursue some form of higher education, then you'd get bonus points towards your promotion score as well as look favorably at for a promotion board. But no one is going to kick you out for not going to college.

On the other hand, when you reach the SNCO ranks if you choose to stay in that long, it is highly encouraged to pursue some form of a college education if you want to progress any further in your career. Otherwise, you won't get promoted and eventually will have to get out.

Education is a big deal in every service. No military service wants morons. Developing young men and women are what they are in the business of, after first and foremost being in the business of wrecking shop.

It is a big deal because it has value in promotion points. Perhaps the military could convert all that education into a degree that means something (validity) in the real world.

No it is not for an enlisted but you better be up to being an athelete and not a desk jockey. I got my college degree in Computer Science after the military but I was Intel, then SF and CI after I went to Airborne, Special Forces Training and ran 8 miles a day plus swam 2 miles across and back a lake for my water training. So a college degree does have nothing to do with that come join... yes you can do a desk job in the Army and not do that and not have to have a degree but think about that. What do you want to be?