Moving to another branch of service?

Well since most people are commenting on the branch aspects of a change let me focus on the career change options. I am speaking as an owner of a physical therapy practice. DPT programs in the civilian world are highly competitive! Most of the time you need a 3.7 or higher to be looked at in your undergrad program. Do you already have a science based undergrad degree? If you don't and the Navy is actually considering sending you to 8 years of schooling to get your doctorate of physical therapy and you have a desire to help people and work in this field then you should leap at the chance. I know a lot of young men and women who have not been accepted into DPT programs after four strenuous and successful undergrad years! I can't stress enough how few of these programs exist and how in demand PT's are. Also this degree translates wonderfully into the civilian world. If you have any questions about the field just PM me and I can give you my cell number and I will try to answer any questions that I can. Good luck Marine and thank you for your service!

I effected an inter-service transfer from the Army to the Navy. I was a chaplain and called the Chief of Chaplains office first. After speaking with the Chaplain in charge of this program in the Army, I put my request packet together. I had to get a full physical as well. It went through the Army's chain of command rather quickly. The Under Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve approved my request in about 3 months. Then the Navy took longer. But they approved it as well. I was in Germany at the time. I coordinated my transition with the Navy folks at the Chaplain School which was then in Newport, RI. They gave me a few days to see my family in Florida. I then went to Newport and completed the Navy's Chaplain Officer Basic Course. All in all, it was a smooth transition with no lost time in service, i.e. one day I was discharged from the Army. The next day I was on active duty in the Navy. I hope this helps some.

The Navy unlike the Marine Corps praise rank a lot more than the Marine. Unlike the Marines where leadership is taught at a low rank, most sailor will never be in a leadership position unless they are at least E7 while a small minority of the E6 having the privilege to serve as LPO (Leading Petty Officer) the same as an NCOIC will actually be in a position of power. As an officer you probably will never dine with enlisted because they have their own mess in O-country (officer country) onboard a ship, the same as the chief mess (E7-E9).

As an officer on a ship, you don't do anything such as clean even your own mess. Your stateroom (place where you sleep) usually a 2 man room for O3 and above, it is pretty much service for you by the E1-E4 just like room service in a hotel. Your sink is clean, your floor vacuum, your bed made. Your laundry is washed and press for you as well. Your meals are served by the E-1-E4; you find a seat in the mess, snap your fingers a couple of time and an E-1-E4 would come to you and you tell him/her what you want and they will bring your food to you. Once you are done, snap your fingers a couple of time and they come pick up your plate. If you're thirsty, you snap your finger and they bring you whatever beverages you want.

There are two brow on a Carrier and only one brow on every other ship. The officer usually leaves before the enlisted for liberty and there are less of a hassle because there isn't a couple of hundred E1-E6 sailor trying to leave at the same time which could take hours if you pull into a foreign port. The parking on a Navy yard/base is arrange for higher rank, with E7 and above parking right next to the ship whereas the E1-E6 park miles away and have to walk to the ship.

The two service is pretty much the same with identical terminology you learn in bootcamp. The only thing different is leadership. Just as I mention, you will never see an E4 in a leadership position, they're just overpaid E3s. E5/E6 are not like the Sgt and SSGT in the Marines. Unlike in the Marines an E5 has tremendous power, in the Navy they're nothing but highly overpaid E3. As for E6, if you're not an LPO, you're an extremely overpaid E3.

Overall, you would enjoy being in the Navy as an officer because you don't have to put up with all the BS that the enlisted has to go through. You don't have to worry about GQ (General Quarters) a weekly drill that test the response of the ship's ability to fight fire or damage. During GQ, everyone has to be up, except for the officers who is not participating whereas every enlisted has no choice. The worst are the 2am drill.

As a career Navy man (first as a Hospital Corpsman, and later as a Medical Service Corps Officer), I spent a few years with the Marine Corps in different situations. My officer assignment detailer was always willing to work with me on orders to new assignments. I had no particular preferences as Navy/Marine Corps assignments. However I knew others who did and these officers spent the majority of their careers with the Marines. Physical Therapists are commissioned in the Navy Medical Service Corps and are generally assigned to Hospitals. Several of these are co-located with Marine Corps facilties.

I don't know if you're still looking for answers or not. I'm new to this website but I was an FMF Corpsman who was accepted to the Army/Baylor PT Program back in 1999. It's a great program, you're paid as an O1-E to get an education. It's a Joint program but the Army owns it and accepts the most people. At the end of the day, it's a living. You'll work with some of the greatest and some of the not-so greatest people you've ever met and not have to worry about what to wear to work. I will say hands down the Army has more opportunity for officers to work outside of just regular PT. I've worked in TRADOC and helped influence policy; I currently work as an IG and help shape DA policy. I've had a lot of opportunities that the Navy couldn't offer.