Should Army and Marines (or components of) consolidate?

As much as it might sound good on paper, I don't believe that it would be a good idea to merge the two branches. The Marine Corps is more geared towards amphibious operations and acting as the initial shock troops, so to speak, all while coordinating their actions with the Navy while the Army is geared more towards long-term land combat operations. Those differences aside, you would also run into the cultural conflict between the two branches. Both have their own unique customs and proud histories that each would prefer to keep intact, perhaps even more so in the case of the Corps.

No. The Army is subject to congress to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States. (you like that Creed reference? no? ok, moving on) The Marine Corps can deploy as shock troopers on the word of the PRESIDENT alone. This, in my opinion, is their greatest trait: lack of red tape to go and get things started. They do have limits on this (all of which I am likely not aware of), but it still makes the Marine Corps a necessary branch of service. If the military were to move the Corps under the Dept. of the Army from the navy that would be funny as hell though, then WE could have a turn maliciously withholding funding from them.

No. Mainly because of mission orientation and budget. The historical role of the marine corps is to open a beach head. Secure for as long as possible, move on add the army holds the ground indefinitely. The mission of the army allows it to operate as a lone entity. Plus if you combine them the impact on the budget would be insane. Each other squabbling over who needs what more for their mission.

Absolutely not. Not only was I a Marine, but I'm also a military history dork. First off, the Marine Corps and Army serve two very seperate roles when it comes to warfare. The Marines are designed to be an invasion force while the Army is uniquely capable of being an occupation/rebuilding force. Secondly, if I'm not inaccurate, the Marine Corps' size is regulated in the Constitution, which every military member swore to keep...With that said... good luck getting a Marine to leave the Corps and call themselves a "soldier" so you're screwed on that numbers thing

No, no, no, no. The Marines have a very distinct mission and purpose. If anything perhaps role the Air Force back up into the Army.

Nah, the Army and the Air Force tried it during WWII and got a divorce soon after...

I think the missions and purpose of each Group is totally different, combining them is similar to trying to make one aircraft do all missions, it can get the job done but not as effectively as ones that are built mission specific. I think a combining of them would not work.

All the services need to go back to their original missions. There are to many redundencies in the services.

The services are similar on the surface, but the fundamental roles that each play in combat are very different. The Army is our main body of the military. They advance, attack the enemy, and control the area after. While the USMC, when utilized as a land force, are shock troops. We attack the enemy in such an aggressive manner, that those we do not kill will have lost they will to fight us again. We advance, and then advance again. Each service is vital to our overall battle plan. The USMC is also our primary amphibious force that we use to establish beachheads to help deliver other elements to battle. The USMC cant do what the Army can, but neither can the Army to what Marines can.

No offense to anone but Yall are a bunch of idiots all branches are all part of the same thing DOD we all have a job to do and we do it and the reason the army and marines have the most casualties is because we are ground troops were most of the fighting is done.