Should basic training be the same across all Branches of service?

SFC Harry H. - I would vote you down, but seeing as I'm not an influencer, that isn't possible at this time.

Your comment is definitely based on ignorance of the Marine Corps.

The concept is to tear you down so that you can be built back up with the confidence that you can do anything that you put your mind to. Marines are not turned into automatons, but into thinkers who are expected to use initiative.

I can make a comment because I was in the Marine Corp 4yrs and in the army 3yrs,. With my last year in Vietnam. I was in an Ammo Co. on Okinawa in the Marine corp Every 4th night 1/4 of us had to be in the Company Area. We were a combat ready division ready to move out if needed. No Marine dependents allowed. In the army I spent a year in Vietnam, in an Ammo Plt. that moved around setting up ASP,s wherever they were needed. The Army doesn't have the discipline the Marine Corp does. Lower ranks have more responsibility. The army had specialists which I didn't like. A SP/5 was treated like an NCO if one was needed or a peon if one was needed. In the Marine Corp it took 4yrs to make CPL. If you shipped over you could Make Sgt. In the Army I went from E--3 to E-5 in 13months. In the Marine Corp we qualified with the rifle every year. In the Army I don't think anybody fired their weapon after basic training. I never seen anyone clean a weapon in the 3yrs that I was in. I prefer the Marine Corp in combat. Semper Fi.

As the marine that fired the highest score in my platoon on the rifle range in boot camp in 1959, I can tell you that firing at targets at unmarked distances and different backgrounds was much more difficult than firing at still targets. At that time we fired the M-1 grand, which was a superior weapon at long distance, and in a clear line of fire, but only held 8 rounds. In an area like Nam, much more firepower was needed.

The combination of all of the best attributes of each branch should be combined into one standard land sea or air!

Nonsense! All services should receive "Basic Combat Training". What happens when a Navy helicopter on a rescue mission is shot down over an Island jungle with hostiles present? Or when airmen are forced to abandon their plane over hostile territory? Do we simply throw them to the wolves because they’re too laid back and terrified of intense training? No! We force them to be warriors! Where’s the spirit of the American Frontiersmen, those who fought the French and Indian and the Revolutionary wars? The elite group of Patriots who not only ended British tyranny, but built a formable force to be reckon with, all from citizen minutemen. No universal “Combat Training” would be the epitome of preparedness and absolute necessity.

MSG Louis Alexander -
All troops are trained for scenarios they may encounter during their duties. If that's the case, let's all become Green Beret / Navy Seals.

SrA Edward Vong - or, simply, Marines!

MSG Louis Alexander - As a guy who spent 20 years working in the engine room I can state with authority that at no time was I placed in a helicopter over the jungle. Pretty much sure too that I didn't need an M-16 to properly run the valves on an ALCO 16-251C main propulsion diesel either. As to the spirit of the American Frontiersman, John Paul Jones did just fine with the spirit of the American Seaman... Nutting but respect tho...

Even though, as Marines, we will pick on the Navy. I absolutely respect what your training is. I had 2 brothers server in the Navy (which is why I went in the Marines) and, as a result, was informed of what their training included and why it was taught.
Marines have no need of learning the details of fighting fire on board ship as that is not their mission. However, we did need to know the customs and courtesies of the Navy as we might be aboard ship.
By the same token, sailors have no need of shooting 500 meters, unless they are going to be acting as ground pounders, which they aren't.
Army has it function as well. They are geared more to holding and overwhelming by numbers.
And as much as I may pick on my friends who have served in the Air Force, once again, they have their mission. Other than understanding escape and evasion, which is taught to those persons who may need it, they have no need of understanding ground tactics.

Let each branch of the service be proud of what it does, but at the same time, don't look down on the other branches because they don't do the same thing.

I will say this, if your in the Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy or Coast Guard. Men and women should have equal standards regardless of sex. If the women want the same pay and jobs, then they should have to do exactly what their male counterparts have to do to earn that Mos, and rank. And yes that means cutting off the females hair when they go through boot camp. No more female specific jewelry in females ears when in uniform, cause males are not allowed to wear earrings in their ears. So here’s another example of showing bias towards females in the Military. One Standard for all and nothing more..... all for the same Pay.....

MSG Clyde Mills - It seems like maybe the point was missed here; looking back at this (extremely old) post, it seems like the question was more about content of training, not equitable standards between sexes.

But to you own point, other than serving some arbitrary standard of equality, with no regard to people or societal behavior, is there some purpose that is served in your suggestions? Put it this way: other than your personal preference, how would the military be able to complete its mission more effectively if women had to cut their hair in boot camp? Is it really biased to allow females to maintain a different grooming standard, when those grooming standards are based on the American culture we live in?

Absolutely it is, the Females want everything to be equal so make it all equal across the board..... Hair in boot camp, no more ear rings in uniform period, no more makeup while in uniform, same standards on PT tests. Equal pay for same job performance nothing more, nothing less.....PO1 Michael G.