Posted on Dec 30, 2013
Should former Marines who join another service give up the Title?
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I first joined the Army and after my enlistment, I joined the Marine Corps. I no longer call myself a Soldier, but a Marine. Should former Marines give up the title of Marine once they join another branch of service? It's analogous to a woman taking the name of her husband, then once the marriage has ended, she re-marries and takes her new husband's name. Me, I'm married to the Corps!
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Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 358
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This page sure does like to start arguments. I'm one of the people this article refers to. I started in the Marines on AD but am now an Army Reservist. I will always be a Marine at heart. And if the topic ever comes up, as there is no such thing as a "former marine", I refer to myself as a "Prior Marine". It doesn't say I'm no longer a Marine, it just says i became a Marine first.
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I don't think it's a matter of giving up the title, MSgt (Join to see). My understanding is that Marines come out of boot camp with the globe and anchor etched in their DNA...
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Why not claim all of it? If I joined the Marines, I'd still call myself a grunt. I'd also be a marine. Asskicker is an asskicker, it doesn't matter what job you do.
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By all technicalities, yes a marine should give up the name; HOWEVER, once a marine always a marine. You cant take the marine out of the individual... only the title. I was enlisted before i started for my commission. Even when i commission, my enlisted part will still be who i am and how i function. It is the roots of who I am. Marines who join another branch may be soldiers, airmen, or sailors by name, but the marine in them is attached to their soul and can never be taken away.
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How silly!!! Now days a women does not take or have to take her husbands last name. As a matter of fact, not even someone elses opinion takes away my title and the title of other 1,000's of Marines that have also joined the Army.
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Do I call my self an Airman now that I am a Soldier. No. I value my time in the Air Force but it is not who I am now. Of course tell a Marine he is no longer a Marine at heart....I'm not doing it.
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Oh God the plight of the "former" Marine. I think they earned the title so they can keep it. Doesn't matter to me. However please spare me the countless reminders that you were a prior service Marine. That only adds the pressure on you to live up to the myth.
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SSG (Join to see)
Its a title and a mental state. Period. I'm not hating. My son graduated from Parris Island (said it was pretty easy). If you look at the history, training and equipment of both branches there really ain't a whole lot of difference but I'm not going to get into the whole better branch argument. Based on my experience with prior service Marines while I was in the Army they were either average or sub par.
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SSG (Join to see)
Basic training? I'm talking about prior service Marines on active duty..specifically in the 101st Airborne Division. Boot camp/basic training is just a foundation. There are way more training FTXs, NTC, JRTC rotations and deployments. Boot camp is nothing.
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SSG (Join to see)
That's great SGT. I don't know about BST but ITR is during a Marine's initial entry into service. Again I'm talking about my interaction with prior service Marines during my 10 years on active duty.
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No matter if you join another branch or stay a marine you will live and die a marine. It's like, you're married to the corps, you cannot divorce the corps.
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