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My dates of service are 9/2009 to 12/2013. I was a combat medic in the 101st Airborne. I deployed twice to Afghanistan. A year long one
and a 9 month one. When I went to Penn State to begin college in 2014, I joined the school veterans organization and noticed the most
strange thing. It was filled with mostly active duty marine veterans who served the same time as me, but most never did a combat deployment
. Only two or three of them did a short single 6 month afghanistan deployment. Everyone else (and the three marine combat veterans) spent
the majority of their enlistments going around the world on the boat trips, "deploying" to safe places like Guam, embassy guard, etc.... I was shocked because
almost every Army veteran I come across from my time period has done at least a year long combat deployment, though a lot of Army veterans similair to me
have done two. By the numbers, does being a marine make you less likely to deploy to combat than a soldier? I tried researching this
information but found no data. I am asking because a young family member is interested in joining the military, and I was going to suggest
the Marines because from my observations there is a less chance to see combat, and you get to see the world (something you dont really do in the Army,
you just train and deploy to combat). Before I give him or his parents false information, I just wanted to find data on the topic.
and a 9 month one. When I went to Penn State to begin college in 2014, I joined the school veterans organization and noticed the most
strange thing. It was filled with mostly active duty marine veterans who served the same time as me, but most never did a combat deployment
. Only two or three of them did a short single 6 month afghanistan deployment. Everyone else (and the three marine combat veterans) spent
the majority of their enlistments going around the world on the boat trips, "deploying" to safe places like Guam, embassy guard, etc.... I was shocked because
almost every Army veteran I come across from my time period has done at least a year long combat deployment, though a lot of Army veterans similair to me
have done two. By the numbers, does being a marine make you less likely to deploy to combat than a soldier? I tried researching this
information but found no data. I am asking because a young family member is interested in joining the military, and I was going to suggest
the Marines because from my observations there is a less chance to see combat, and you get to see the world (something you dont really do in the Army,
you just train and deploy to combat). Before I give him or his parents false information, I just wanted to find data on the topic.
Posted in these groups: 
Deployment
Deployment
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 17
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Couple things.
Size of the force - Active Army is like 450,000 people. Active Corps is...much smaller.
Purpose of force - Marines are for bridging the gap between the Army and Navy, not an occupation force. The Army is the LAND component of the Defense force, so we hold, occupy, and fight primarily on LAND. Any maritime or air ops are in support of LAND ops. Marines fill the gap, and provide extra invasion force. They also have their specialty assignments like the embassies worldwide - that's a Marine only thing - there's many en embassy and consulate and at least 6-7 Marines at each.
So likely the Army deploys more to "combat" because it's bigger and the type of deployments. If it was a war on a country with a major coastline - there'd probably be a much bigger Marine presence.
Size of the force - Active Army is like 450,000 people. Active Corps is...much smaller.
Purpose of force - Marines are for bridging the gap between the Army and Navy, not an occupation force. The Army is the LAND component of the Defense force, so we hold, occupy, and fight primarily on LAND. Any maritime or air ops are in support of LAND ops. Marines fill the gap, and provide extra invasion force. They also have their specialty assignments like the embassies worldwide - that's a Marine only thing - there's many en embassy and consulate and at least 6-7 Marines at each.
So likely the Army deploys more to "combat" because it's bigger and the type of deployments. If it was a war on a country with a major coastline - there'd probably be a much bigger Marine presence.
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OK, how many of those Army Veterans landed in Afghanistan or Iraq in a Support or Combat Support role and how many served with Combat Units. Since the Navy provides that support for the Marines, a lot smaller footprint. I do know that Marine Combat deployments are shorter than the Army's. As you pointed out, a lot of Marine combat power is tied up in the seven (?) MEU that rotate in and out of floats their entire careers. Having that readily available combat power out there is a decision way over my pay grade, but I don't disagree with it.
One of the other things to look at is that certain Army Units deploy a lot more often than most, the 101st, 82nd, 25th, and 10th Mountain off the top of may head. Probably not going to see 1st Cav in Afghanistan or Iraq these days.
One of the other things to look at is that certain Army Units deploy a lot more often than most, the 101st, 82nd, 25th, and 10th Mountain off the top of may head. Probably not going to see 1st Cav in Afghanistan or Iraq these days.
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It’s all relative and attempting to find a ratio or formula is an impossible task.
I was in 2001-2012 and saw many times that Marines would be on 7 month on 7 month off rotations their whole 4 years. That was all of Camp Lejuene 2003-2008. Dwell time was eventually extended to 12 months but that’s still a short amount of time. Other units would be extended from 6 months to 9 on their deployments. Ground side support Marines would end up doing 15 month deployments due to shortages in their job field.
If someone is picking a branch it should be about the culture of that Military Branch. Wartime and deployment rotations are impossible to predict.
I was in 2001-2012 and saw many times that Marines would be on 7 month on 7 month off rotations their whole 4 years. That was all of Camp Lejuene 2003-2008. Dwell time was eventually extended to 12 months but that’s still a short amount of time. Other units would be extended from 6 months to 9 on their deployments. Ground side support Marines would end up doing 15 month deployments due to shortages in their job field.
If someone is picking a branch it should be about the culture of that Military Branch. Wartime and deployment rotations are impossible to predict.
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