Why does the Army not have as much pride as the Marines?

I. From what I've seen since I left, Army pride seems (from the outside looking back in), to have improved dramatically in the Army since I was in. The Army's marketing/branding seems to have gotten a bit better. I am glad to see it.
II. The USMC seems to have a much higher priority on marketing and branding than the Army, and it seems to me, perhaps out of ignorance on my part, that this is from the USMC being keenly aware of its apparent similarity to the Army and therefore perceiving a need to differentiate and maintain broad-based public support to ward off any attempt to merge the two.
III. The Army is gigantic. So, serving in the Army seems "less unique" than serving in the Marine Corps.

Answer-to-Follow-Up: The Army is so humongous and covers such a wide swath of subject matter in its competencies that it would really had to develop the same sense of identity that the USMC has developed. If I had the job of trying to do it, though, I would draw upon the most clearly resounding periods in U.S. Army history, the most universally-impressive of which I think is probably WW2 in the mind of the public. Even the most left-leaning millennial is likely to agree with fighting the Nazis with great ferocity. The Marines make use of their history of having a good reputation with the public - it's like a reputation based on reputation. By leveraging history, the Army could try to get similar mileage.

UPDATE to Follow-Up: For increasing pride internally, reduce the amount of Soldier time spent doing details unrelated to their unit mission. Soldiers have a special job. Don't use them in peacetime like a landscaping crew that can throw hand grenades in the unlikely event of a war. Train for war, not for landscaping or crossing guard duty or picking up unwanted furniture in the housing areas. If Soldiers are treated like skilled professionals, they will see themselves that way.

I agree. My son joined the ARMY to make a career for it. Because he was looking for togetherness unity, and pride. What he found is E4s and above not caring using their rank to have fun at the PVTs. expense. He believes they just want the pay check [E6s] The SSGT. He has now will not let the Sgts. take them too the gym oe train in hand to hand on down time, so they sit around waiting for quitting time to go back too quarters. unless the SSGT volunteers them for clean up duty at another work station on base. He has lost his desire to make a career of it. His pride right now is lost.











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I'm an "Army brat;" my father was a soldier for 31 years, I spent all but two years of my childhood growing up on a succession of Army bases, surrounded by soldiers and Army culture. I also did 4 years in the Corps; my older brother is a career Marine officer who just started his 31st years in the Corps. And I keep up with my former shipmates through the technological wonder of social media.

For openers: I wouldn't read too much into the 'bitching" thing. Marines bitch about anything and everything, *especially* "field Marines." It's just a "thing" with troops, especially when out on a field op where it seems like everything-- God, fate, Mother Nature-- has it in for you (and that's usually how it feels). Then again, you could send a company of "field Marines" on a Carnival Cruise to Cabo San Lucas, and rest assured, they'd find some s**t to complain about.

But rarely is it grounded in genuine enmity; it's just the only thing you can do. I mean, it's not as if you can just say "F**k this job, I quit!' (Well, you can, but you'll most likely end up in jail for awhile). Bitching, dark humor, and cigarettes are the only coping mechanisms a "field Marine" has, and it's so pervasive, that one of the symptoms of a serious morale problem is when everyone is *NOT* pissing and moaning about everything. Marines who go through the NCO academy are taught "A bitchy Marine is a happy Marine," and if everyone is just moping around silently, then it immediately falls to you to start shaking them up and getting them re-focused.

As for the Army having "less pride," I wouldn't say it's quite that. The Army is a *much* larger service, with a greater breadth of specialties; as such, soldiers tend to be a bit more tribal. Soldiers can have just as much pride in what they do as any Marine, but their sense of identity is usually rooted first in their MOS, and then as soldiers; soldiers see themselves as grunts/tankers/technicians/logisticians/aircraft mechanics first, and members of the Army second. It's further manifested in their uniforms (as it is with the Navy and the Air Force); distinctive collar devices, unit flashes, shoulder patches that ID both MOS *and* unit membership, shoulder braids, and in some cases different boots and headgear (i.e. berets). Army Rangers, when they wear a soft cover in lieu of a beret, have a distinctive way of wearing it called a "Ranger roll."

The Marine Corps is, by virtue of it's role and mandate within the US Armed Forces, is comparatively much smaller; it has the luxury of being selective. It also makes it much easier to establish a common culture and collective identity; Marines aren't tribal, because the Marine Corps *IS* the tribe. From Day #1 of boot camp, all aspiring Marines have it hammered into them they are all grunt riflemen before anything else; I'd say that's a big part of it. Every Marine, whether the tool of his trade is an M-4 or a typewriter, must requalify every year with the rifle, running the same qualification course with the same standards; moreoever, your level of qualification (Marksman, Sharpshooter, Expert) factors significantly into your eligibility for promotion, even if you only touch a rifle once a year (to qualify with it) by virtue of your job.

The Marine uniform-- be it "ODs" or dress blues-- is very spartan, and identical across the Corps; if you look at a Marine in uniform, all you can tell right away is their name, rank, and that they're a Marine-- period. If it's a dress uniform, the only additional things you know is how long they've been in and what they've been doing in that time based on their ribbon bars.

Back when I was in, you didn't even have "name;" your utility uniform had rank insignia and a black iron-on decal denoting your membership in the Corps. If you ever asked some old lifer why the Marine Corps didn't have name tapes on their utilities, the typical answer was "Who gives a s**t what your name is? You're a Marine, that's good enough. If I want you to do something, I'll just say 'HEY!! MARINE!!" and tell you what to do."

If you asked why no Marine units had berets: "Why the f**k would you want to wear some silly-assed French hat? Berets are used in the other services to denote membership in an elite unit; being a Marine *automatically* makes you a member of an elite unit! That ought to be good enough."

I think another significant factor is that the Marine Corps, relative to the other branches, is absolutely *zealous* about preserving and passing on it's lore, history, traditions, great battles, and notable alumni. Marines are given hours and hours of classroom instruction on that stuff during recruit training, and often subjected to "pop quizzes" by their Drill Instructors. At any moment, a DI may ambush a recruit with some trivia question like "Who were the two Marines that were twice awarded the Medal Of Honor?"; woe betide that recruit if he doesn't have the answer in an instant. If you make it into the Corps, you can still be hit with such questions during formal inspections and meritorious promotion boards. Which I'm pretty sure is why I still know the answer to that one, without even have to think about it, 30 years after Parris Island, and 26 years since last I had a compelling reason to even care.

I believe that further reinforces an all-encompassing sense of identity and commonality, not to mention shared history; it practically re-sequences your DNA into some new helix only Marines have. Sometimes, I can meet a guy for the first time, and in a few minutes begin picking up subtle clues-- i.e. how they dress, how they carry themselves, affectations of their speech-- and figure out the guy is a fellow former Jarhead; I've had other former Jarheads read me the same way. Once established, we're often like two brothers who've not seen each other in awhile.

And it can come in quite handy. My favorite example: I was once having dinner at some swank-tacular five-star steak house on the other side of the river from Cincinnati, and the maître d'hôtel asked me about my Marine Corps tie bar; I still have the one I wore with my dress uniform, and usually wear it when I wear a tie. It tends to be a detail that only other Marines pick up on right away.

I told him I'd spent a few years in the Corps, and he produces a "challenge coin" from his pocket emblazoned with the logo for the 5th Marine Regiment.

Yes, that's right: the the maître d'hôtel at the Chez Whitey Frou-Frou steakhouse was a grunt rifleman in the Marine Corps in a previous life. A few amicable words later, and he was hooking us up with a free bottle of wine and creme brulee for dessert. Go figure.

Just posing a question; not looking to be rabidly attacked: Are you absolutely certain that just because you hear verbal complaints, that there isn't still a deep core of pride of service running through the Army?

It is a civilian question, everyone that serves automatically puts themselves in harm's way for something bigger than themselves with selflessness, civilians cannot comprehend.

The size and diversity of missions that the Army is tasked with might have something to do with this issue. Army basic training is about getting the man power levels up to par. Don't get me wrong I love my Army. Just pointing out that from the onset there exists a difference in goals and philosophy.

I grew up watching the Marines glorified on the Movie screen.Though I was drafted into the Army,I never lost the glitter of the Marines. Don't get me wrong.I'm Army all the way. Though all branches teach pride in unit history,I went in at a time when priorities were a little different.In 1966,it was assumed that everyone was going to Nam. Most of our training was by E5's and 6's. that had just returned. Not much talk of Army pride or history.

I think the answer to this is: do I have pride in myself? We look at the Marines pride and that comes from there training and what they do when it comes to a battle. Today's Army to me is so lax, I mean when I entered the Army in 1971 it was drilled into us that when you travel either by leave or TDY you traveled in your dress greens, sure we took a lot of hits from the public, baby killer to spitting at us and I even was escorted from a airport once because we were considered scum and lower than dirt so for me that made me stronger and more proud of that uniform. I never traveled in civilian clothes so that pride comes from within each individual for your branch of service.

Because we let our standards go to shit.

Yeah the Army doesn't have time to worry that much about itself, it's too busy dealing with everyone elses crap.