Posted on Feb 16, 2014
MSG Martinis Butler
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When people ask which branch is the most disciplined, the response is always the Marines and then the Army and then debates on the Navy and Airforce as a strong third. We are all  suppose to be an elite force so why is the standard watered down for some branches whereas others are held to a higher standard? Truthfully, why don't you consider your branch #1?
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MSgt First Sergeant
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SFC Butler,  to cut down to the bone, I would say this.  A little sibling rivalry is healthy.

The discipline needed for the Army and Marine Corps to lead troops under fire is much greater than in the AF and the Navy.  On the whole, we have much fewer front line warfighters than the Army and MC.  We don't ask most of our people to operate as a unit to maintain fire control measures, stay on line, advance or retrograde while underfire. And we tend to not have nearly as many people at FOBs, keeping our forces back at MOBs away from most imminent danger, so our support forces don't operate under that knowledge that they could become another rifleman at any moment. The strict discipline needed for that is not nearly so critical for AF and Navy forces, and so as a force we tend to be more relaxed in that aspect.

That is not to say we don't have immense pride in what we do and how we achieve our goals. We are all critical to the fight and have to be separate so we can achieve that objective in the way best suited to the mission.  I would never ask a super sonic B1B bomber pilot to lead an infantry battalion, and I would not be happy having a combat engineer try to lead and manage my Space Operations folks. Oil and water.

We're all #1 when compared to the world view and compared to other forces within our special area of operations.
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Lt Col Luis A. Rojas
Lt Col Luis A. Rojas
10 y
MSgt Green, Well said.  Thanks.
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MSG Martinis Butler
MSG Martinis Butler
10 y
That was well broken down and shined a light on many points. I respect all branches as well and truly feel that they all are needed but discipline and structure is needed by all the branches. My point was which one do you believe is the most discipline and if you said another branch that is not yours why is that the case? There are jobs in the navy and Airforce that are very crucial to the mission in comparison to some jobs in the Marines or Army. I just want to know at what point did the other branches feel that they can be so relaxed?
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MSgt First Sergeant
MSgt (Join to see)
10 y
I cannot truly say one is more disciplined than another.  It's all shades of grey.

How many people can drive an $80B ship without sinking it? 

If army mechanics fail to follow a Tech Order when fixing a tank, does it fall out of the sky with 40 people on board?

Do you trust a sniper, that can stay put for days and hit a target within inches, to program an ICBM with a nuclear payload to hit its target within feet, every time? I don't trust that mechanic to place a shot within yards of me let alone inches if need be, but i'll trust that he's done his job right every time when millions of lives are on the line.

For the AF, we are so technically driven, and ask our members to think outside of the box so often, it can be counterproductive to ask that same Airman to blindly follow AFI without questioning the how and why.

As a Security Forces member, I can truly say that no one branch is better than the other, I've had to apprehend all services for equally asinine reasons, at just about equal ratios to the population where i served. If discipline was so much better in one branch than another, I'd never see soldiers in my station, and I wouldn't even know what Marines looked like.
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MSG Martinis Butler
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Edited 10 y ago
Many have brought up great defenses especially for the branches they are in. I love the Army and feel as if we contribute just as much as any other branch, but truthfully when it comes to discipline hands down I have to say the Marines take the ribbon for it.
If the Marines kick a Marine out of the military he could potentially go to any other branch and continue his/her career but no other branch can kick someone out of their branch and send them to the Marines.When a group of individuals are walking together no other branch makes it mandatory to march together from place to place like the marines. When going out in public in their civilian attire the Marines ensure to look presentable before going out into a public establishment whereas I've seen individuals in other branches walk out in public with anything on ie ripped jeans, sandals, pajamas bottoms or even shirts with vulgar writing on them. I've seen males from other branches not shave on the weekend but you won't see that from a Marine and those are my points about being a disciplined branch and that has nothing to do with the jobs that are being done that's soely on the structure and foundation that the Marines are given, now that's what I call discipline!
Again I believe in Loyalty to my branch (ARMY) but I will never have my Integrity questioned because I wasn't honest.
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GySgt (Other / Not listed)
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All the branches of service create their men in a certain way for a certain function.  Every branch of service focuses on different things and the main focus of those services is what they are disciplined in.  
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MSG Martinis Butler
MSG Martinis Butler
10 y
I totally agree but when you accept low standards then you will have low result for example the army and marines physical fitness program is pretty intense but you see the air force not being held to no standard. They are the only ones running around listening to music during pt they wear whatever they want to wear to workout in many of their airmen are overweight and are ok with it.
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