Should Army and Marines (or components of) consolidate?

I have read the entire load of comments on this subject to date. Mostly I see people with prejudices and egos that would prevent it from working no matter what. It CAN work with a little thinking, some training, and planning. And all those egos need to go down the piss tube. In the end we still need the same capabilities, transport, and positioning, but we do not need the self-important fluff. In Viet Nam the Army called Marines "walking sandbags". At that time it might have had some truth in it. Today both services have gained professionalism. I had some dealings with Navy NCOs and I found their attitudes piss-poor. I had better relations with the Corps. By the way, I was the Commandant of an MOS producing school that trained all 5 branches and I really found nobody to be better than anybody else. I was also a Senior Drill Sgt. for two years, and I know very well that I can train troops as well as you can. That all said; cheers to one and all.

The question above is political in nature, I believe politicians want to merged the two, I have seen comments on these pages, after veterans and active-duty comments, the powers that be makes it happen. If the comments are all yes, look for these changes to be made. Why don't they just say we are tired of the Marine Corps, we could save a lot of money by merging it. Whether we want it are not, look at the number of Military Bases being closed, the military itself is the smallest since World War 1. Lets wait and see what happens with the USMC.

Yes because each can train together. The Marines were America's force against the Barbary pirates about two-hundred years ago, hence "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli."

thus displaying total ignorance of the modern battle field

was a Corporal at 19 so yes

Totally support this. I have a great idea. Let's take everybody in the Army and make them go through Marine Corps boot camp so they can upgrade. For all those non-Army people out there, did you know they have different grades of basic training? Yes, it's true, they have basic training for combat arms types and basic training lite for everyone else. I couldn't believe it when my son who went in the Army explained it to me. That's one major difference from the Corps, where every single recruit goes through the same punishment no matter their MOS.

Honestly, I do not think we should. Even if you lay the proud tradition in both Branches aside, the two have different missions. The Army is designed to fight over land (excluding their specialized components), and the Marines are designed for amphibious warfare. There would be no point in joining either one specifically if they combined. What would we label that consolidation anyway? The Aquatic Army? Or the Landlocked Marine Corps? It just doesn't work. The two Branches were made different because they are needed for different things.

Look at it from a practical point of view, not I'm a Marine or Soilder, yeah quick strike force etc. I'm a grunt, grunts would still do grunt stuff, mp do mp stuff etc. just makes good sense. I'm sure there would be certain unit that specialize in certain aspects etc

I think it could work if everyone stopped and think about what is good for our country. Marines and Army personal work together on training exercises all the time. There could be a higher command that overseas the Army and Marine branches. Each branch could still exist and have there respective traditions but work more closely on training exercises and deployments. Each branch has their own specialties that we all can utilize and expand on to help our military to fight in today's battlefields.