An Army officer sums up what makes Marines different

I instructed at a Noncommissioned Officers Academy to promotable Staff Sergeants for 3 years. I have to agree with this article, but would like to note that the Army is adapting better and changing (slowly) towards decentralizing leadership and encouraging innovation. I've seen some articles discussing about adding "design" to the planning process. I've had to many junior NCOs who weren't given opportunities to make mistakes and learn from them because the Senior leadership pushed to hard for specific results versus "getting results". I have much respect for the Marines and great respect for Army leaders. Another factor to be considered is the size of our services and overarching mission. The Marines are our strike-force from the shores, the Navy gets them there and takes care of them. The Army holds wide area security and sustains itself for extended periods and assists with rebuilding countries. Finally, I give much praise to the Air Force for owning the skies. Without overhead, none of us would be as effective as we are today. All in all, it's a great article and makes me proud to serve with all my brothers and sisters at arms. Last thing, a "shout-out" to the Coast Guard who have quietly protected our coast lines for generations.

When I attended Army MP school in 1981 at Fort McClellan, Alabama, both the Navy and Marines sent their troops to Army MP School. The Navy attended a two week portion of the school, while the Marines attended the entire school and lived, ate, and slept with us "Army types." I had two Marines in my platoon. On top of attending the training along with us Army troops every day, they also had to meet with their Gunny every single day (their training day was longer than ours). The reason they had to meet with the Gunny was to make sure they "didn't forget how to be Marines." It was very eye opening for me as to the culture of the Marines. They are Marines first and everything else second.

I was active in the marines from 91-95, and in the guard from 08-10. The main difference I noticed between the USMC and the Army is in the Army everything has to be done by the book, and they don't handle change very well. The Marines thrive on change. Improvise, adapt, and overcome is our motto. We just do whatever it takes to make it happen. On this one training exercise when I was in the guard, we were out on a patrol practicing how to react to an ambush. When we got hit, my squad leader wanted to go sit behind some cover and make a detailed plan on what we were going to do. I just grabbed a couple soldiers and took off through the woods. We out flanked the ambush and took them out very quickly. One of my Sgt's came up to me later and said "You must be the Marine I've been hearing about. Only a Marine would run right at a machine gun."