Should the Army do away with Patches and go to one universal Symbol like the Marines EGA?

If you're worried about image, you're losing that battle already. Patches give you a sense of pride and belonging to your unit. The Air Force, for the most part, doesn't do patches. I'm lucky to be a flyer and part of the group that gets to wear patches, to show that pride in what I do and who I work with.

The difference between, "ooh, look at that army guy!" instead of "I wonder what that patch means..maybe I'll go ask" is something that I would consider good. Encourages the public to come talk to us, ask us these questions, and humanize us a bit more.

The army is so large that it is always separating into Combat fighting teams. In a organization where it is demanded that everyone is to try to excel there has to be some distinction to separate those who truly do unique things that separate them from the pack. The Marines are a smaller organization. The army has expanded its special operations units and that has further diluted the significance of wearing the berets. At some point we need to get people to understand that the army shouldn't be looked at as one large organization. But an organization made up of teams of specialized unites that work together to get the job done. Some of these small units are doing more that others. If getting recruits is the only reason to change I understand, but for two hundred and forty years soldiers have done things to separate themselves from their counterparts. Maybe the army should highlight their organization from the perspective of joining the unique units and highlight them.

This bag was given to me as a gift from my 2nd to last unit before retiring. I take pride in every patch I wore and they have often times been good conversation starters. Each has its own character and history.

No.

If one prefers how another branch does things then they should be compelled to join that branch of admiration. We are all branches from the same tree; however, still different. Respect each branch for their individual identities and histories. Please don't change them. A Marine may not appreciate being called a Soldier by one who knows better and a Soldier would have similar sentiment. The special bond still lay in the fact that neither will leave the other behind. We are all still brothers in arms.

Patches have nothing to do with it, it's marketing by the Marines...have you seen their commercials? The Marines keep people in the dark about how things work, they tell people, what you do isn't important, you are just a Marine. The Army is up front that it has many jobs. Stop feeling inferior to a bunch of folks who have a better PR firm.

just division patches is my vote.

So because it cost a lot of money to recruit a single soldier we should change the patching system that the Army has? That logic is extremely flawed. Changing the patching system is not going to reduce recruiting costs. The way to do that would be to simplify the recruiting process.

There is no way to compare the Marines to USA. Thank fact is people will always ask because the Army doesn't have the infantry first myth as a standard.

Don't you want them to ask questions? Isn't that how you use your recruiting skills? This sounds like a case of laziness on the part of recruiters to me. Having served in the Army and the Navy I can say this with no reservations - the Marine Corps is the most elite branch (notice I said "branch") in the entire US military. Always have been, always will be.

No