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

I think that is a command decision in the pentagon and it would not make a bunch of difference in 20 years down in the ranks. It will all depend on how the leadership at local levels portray it. The patch does not make the man nor the man make the patch.

The Marine Corps actually has some Division Patches that have very significant history and they are very proud of those patches. In fact I have known a couple of Soldiers who served in those units as Soldiers and earned the right to wear those Division Patches as FWT SSIs (Combat Patch) By the way, a bit of history, the US Army 2ID patch was worn by Marines in WWI and the USA 2ID was commanded by a USMC MG during WWI.

As a long time wearer of the oldest patch in the Army (the 81st wildcat), unit patches help to establish a sense of ownershjp, elan and pride in an often otherwise mundane existence. As a long time officer recruiter, I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that unit patches have nothing to do with our recruiting woes. The marines have right at 200,000 members, the Army has more than a million - it's hard to have a sense of identity in a million man organization.

How many "catch phrases" have we had since 2000? "an Army of one", "Army Strong" two right? What happened to "Army of One"? Some genius realized that is was counter to the idea of teamwork that we work so hard to instill. Now "Army Strong" is on the way out the door because our media specialist tell us that the word "strong" is more associated with the Marine Corps. One day someone may realize that the official motto of the Army is good enough and sort of says it all "This We'll Defend". Building a ad campaign around "This We'll Defend" would be ridiculously easy but we've got to have something new and sexy (that media specialists can charge us an arm and a leg for). Ever compared our clothing bag to the Marines - theirs hasn't changed a whole hell of a lot, we're on the third uniform since the demise of the completely functional BDUs - Jarheads are still wearing the same cammies just in two colors. We've gone through three iterations of "Class A's since I enlisted 30+ years ago - Jarheads are still wearing the same uniforms. They had a major melt down recently over headgear with their blues - we've adopted a stupid freaking beret that a french gigolo wouldn't wear while still insisting that bus driver hats were still necessary but never wearing them... I could go on and on but it isn't patches that cause you problems - in fact you correctly opined that they are conversation starters. The source of your problem is our idiotic desire to "keep up with the cool kids" instead of just being what we are.

Unit patches are part of the army's history and traditions. keep them and get sewn on the shoulder

The Army is a hugh organization unlike the Marine Corps, I think we lack pride in who we are, this needs to change not patches. I have three combat patches and would not change them out for just one universal patch. Each patch has a history and thousands of stories behind them. Let's keep our identity intact and histories alive.

Yes and no. The Army has an identity issue and has for decades. Branches, units, specialties, etc. place soldiers in subgroups. There is an OPSEC issue with the patches. On the other side, the Army is so big and has a much larger mission than the other service. Subgrouping is almost a need. Personally I like the idea of unit identification. It build cohesion down at the lower levels. Maybe the answer is to keep the patches except name, rank and service of the field uniforms but on the dress ones.

I agree with SSGT Charles, the patches for the different Army units always tells a different story whether it is good or bad, those stories are what makes some people actually want to join and experience even though most civilians would not understand the meaning or the reason as long as we know and can share those just means it will add to the rich history of the military itself.

No. The Army makes a living on motivation through patches, badges and tabs. And everyone that thinks this is ridiculous usually still takes note of the unit patch on a Soldiers right shoulder, the badges stacked up to their ear, and of course the tab mountain on the left shoulder. It my "put our ERB/ORB on our uniform", but it gives us an identity as a member of a unit and as an individual. Soldiers will push significantly harder and further when they know that others will visually see their hardships and fruits of their effort on a daily basis for the rest of their careers.

So while we tend to say "be like the Marines" and "enough with the ribbons, badges, and tabs", the majority of the Army buys into it in one form or another and this results in more motivation and a sense of belonging. So I say... Why the hell not. Keep the unit patches. Your men want that deployment patch.

No

I feel like we get beat by marine recruiting because their slogan is good and hasnt changed 10 times in the last 20 years. And they have a better add campaign than the army does. Hell everytime i see a Marine Corps comercial I want to join the Marines.