Should Army and Marines (or components of) consolidate?

No they should not combine. Marines have created a history of neanderthal mentality and poor planning. Also many countries hate the Marines due to the high rate of sex crimes against nationals. The Army plans better and has a broader spectrum of how to deal with issues.

No way would I want to have the U.S. Marines lose that unique identity they have. I was in the SOF community when the decision to change the beret was made. It created more than a stir amongst everyone in our midst and in our brotherhood to the point where morale could easily have become an issue. My take: YOU DO NOT SCREW AROUND WITH GREAT TRADITIONS. Period, that is all.

I certainly think it warrants a look. A lot of redundancy that could be eliminated, which would be more efficient and cost effective.

First, the notion that there are some sort of skills that the Army has compared to the Marines or vice versa is absurd. What skills? Getting off of a boat onto a beach? The Army seemed to do that just fine during Operation Uphold Democracy, just as a more contemporary example that I was personally involved with.

Equipment wise yes, the Marines currently have a more amphibious capability than the Army with their LAVs and AAVs and they have their own combat support fast movers but that's about it and that is more of an equipment capability than any real "skills" held.

If I am coming off insulting to anyone in any way I apologize, it is not my intention, I am simply trying to be objective. Also if there are actual skills that Marines possess that Army Soldiers do not I would honestly like to be educated on them as I am not above learning from my own misconceptions.

The above being said, I do not think it would be an effective merger anyway. All that would happen is you would have an Army with marine or amphibious divisions, regiments, battalions, whatever echelon they would organize them as. Just as we have Armored, Light, Airborne, and Air Assault divisions. A larger budget would be made to accommodate the new units under the Army so I don't think there would be much of a budgetary advantage to it. The same equipment would need to be maintained in order to be effectively "amphibious" for the new marine units in the Army so no real savings in equipment. Our weapons are all the same anyway, no savings there. I don't really see the advantage of a merger.

It is said here to put tradition and history aside but in this instance I don't think that is really possible. Tradition, pride, honor, these are things that BOTH services are steeped in. To merge them would be to drastically alter or subdue one or both of them and this would create more friction, bad sentiment and a more than likely hostile environment for a long time. When you have forces with histories that stretch back as far as these do, you do not simply "merge" them. Not to mention the logistical and administrative nightmares that would come with all of it and all of this with no real gain that I can see.

The old adage still comes to mind..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

I believe the answer is never! The Marine Corps is too rich with tradition to ever lose it's identity. Becoming a Marine was the biggest accomplishment in my life. Marines are forever in a brother or sisterhood that should never be broken apart. Our reputation is one of fierce warriors to people in and outside of the United States. We need to preserve it for all time.

Consolidation if its practical.

No. And this argument is as old as the Nation. As soon as the war for Independence was over there was a call to abolish the Marines. Same after the War of 1812, WW1... even after Viet Nam. The Brookings Institute, that glorified Washington think tank, has recommended on more than one occasion that the military can save money by having one branch of service. Bottom line, is that the Marines, the Army and Navy..and even the Air Force, are not commodities that should be bought and sold as a fiscal alternative to a budget crisis...and that's all the argument is ever about... money. It's not that the branches do what they do extremely well, it's not a redundancy of air power, it's not even about uniforms.. it's always about money. So leave out the BS notion that the US would be better off by merging our services and ask yourself when it comes to playing the fiscal accountability card, the arguement more to the point should be .. do we need a House of Representatives AND a Senate?

Not at all. I love and respect the Marines and have worked with them many times but we are different entities. We have different jobs and from my point of view most of the NCOs let alone the Soldiers around me could hack it as a Marine. Maybe 17 years ago when Soldiers weren't so soft but now, no way.

I would not recommend this. There is a very different culture in each that would clash. For an excellent description, I would recommend "Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps" by Aaron O'Connell.

I see no reason why they can not, yes you will always have different jobs, and specialties, but at the core both elements are the same. The esprit de corps is no different I have worked with both, and the high level job is the same.. Merging the two would streamline the back end of the house, and that would have benefits to all.