Which Branch would you have joined if you had not chosen your current branch ?

A reasonable question. I chose the Navy. Sadly, they were so slow processing my application, I had to enlist in the Army to avoid being drafted. The Navy called four hours after I had been sworn in.

Can we give this question some love? I wanted to ask it today, myself, but didn't want to duplicate. SSG Carlos Madden

COL Mikel J. Burroughs CAPT Kevin B. LTC Kevin B. PO1 Andrew Gardiner PO1 William "Chip" Nagel MSG (Join to see) SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas PO1 (Join to see) CPL Patrick Brewbaker CW5 Jim Steddum SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4"

Now that I am retired - I think about it a little differently! If I were on active duty now - I would look for a branch that had good transferable skills to the civilian world of work! Sounds selfish - but having been retired for nearly 17 years - l now know that life goes on after the military and it can go on for a long time! I enjoyed Armor and Intelligence - but Intelligence has served me much better in retirement! Great question!

Probably Coast Guard. I have a lot of respect for the Coasties and their mission. I don't know if there's a more unforgiving and ferocious adversary than nature, weather, and the sea. Plus, they have some of the best duty stations locations - OBX, Florida, Cape Cod, Maine, Alaska, San Diego, Gulf Coast, Hawaii, etc.
LTJG (Join to see)

Navy maybe....

SPC (Join to see) and LTJG (Join to see) I didn;t check to see if there was a duplicate question yet, so I'm going answer your question. If I had a second choice or had to make a different choice I would have gone for the Marines - I was full of crap at 17 and that would have knock me right back to realty - the Army did for sure, but I liked the duty stations the Army had to offer at the time - definitely the Marines! Oohrah!

I just asked this question, and yours popped up. I can't believe this didn't have any responses. Hopefully we can get this thread the attention it deserves!

For me, I would have joined the Marine Corps, 100% no question. In fact, the only reason I joined the Navy was because I wanted to be a Navy SEAL (don't we all). Ended up fracturing my femur and getting dropped. The Navy has treated me well and I have learned many valuable skills. However, the Marine Corps, to me, suites my idea of what the military should be. Once a Marine always a Marine, right? The Marine Corps has an incredible legacy, the very best military bearing and discipline as far as formations and adherence to orders go, and your dress blues are unmistakable (much like a Sailor's dress blues). The Navy has allowed me to be more of a free thinker. Our pray grade and rank structure doesn't really exist. E6 and E7 seem to be the first bit of structure we have. E5 and below are pretty much on the same playing field. In the Marine Corps I've seen E3s stand at attention talking to E4s. I admire that.

Cost Guard... closes to Navy.

My next choice would have been the Army esp as prior to the USAF I was a Cadet at a Military Academy with an Army ROTC program. To be exact, Bordentown Military Institute, Bordentown, NJ overlooking the Delaware River with a 90 acre campus.which was near Fort Dix, NJ The Military Instruction group were active duty to include two Army Officers a Major and a Captain, and NCO's all either SFC or SSgt to instruct us in Military Science and tactics and also individual assignments as drill advisers to each Company. The Commandant of Cadets was a retired Army Colonel and a West Point Graduate. An Army CWO (Ret) was bandmaster. The Corps of Cadets was a Battalion .

As it turns out I later went to another Cadet program that was Air Force and ended up in the Air Force. If I had to do it all over again I would still go in the USAF.

Army