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Difference in Army Ranger and US Marine

12K views 36 replies 19 participants last post by  427L88 
#1 ·
Got to speaking with a co worker today about the military. His son is a US Army Ranger. He said he was turned down by the Marines and the Army took him and gave him a slot for Ranger school. Been in the Rangers for over 10 years now. Had me thinking about the two. I know the Marines seem to get more pub about things and the Rangers are more of a secret unit. I know Rangers must be Airborne qualified and the Marines only have Recon as Airborne qualified. They seem pretty equal in the jobs they do with the Rangers getting more of the elite special stuff while the Marines get the dirty jobs. Im asking the Army and Marines here to tell me the basic differences.
 
#3 ·
Dan

I have heard that before. I do understand that the Marines are the police force for the Navy.
 
#7 ·
LOL Oh ok!

Yes, they are very prideful and loyal...great attributes about their service. Nothing but respect for them.
 
#8 ·
:cool: Army Rangers are an elite Airborne, Light Infantry Regiment. The term "Ranger" indicates their job is small unit patrolling actions. In Vietnam they were called Long Range Recon Patrols (LRRP) -- bringing the fight to the enemy on the enemy's turf.

US Marines are specialists in waterborne invasions of the littoral. There are 3 Marine Divisions (each made up of 3 regiments), each of which have their own air wings plus naval transport ships. The USMC (and the navy units that transport them) are larger than most countries armed forces.
 
#9 ·
US Marines are specialists in waterborne invasions of the littoral. There are 3 Marine Divisions (each made up of 3 regiments), each of which have their own air wings plus naval transport ships. The USMC (and the navy units that transport them) are larger than most countries armed forces.
With most Marines performing duty in the desert for the length of their career (20 years) the Marine Corps brass are worried that they're losing their edge and expertise in regards to amphibious invasions.
The Marine Corps was never intended to be an occupying force. Thats the Army's traditional role.


The Army is unusual in the fact that they have two elite units. The Green Beret and Rangers. My brother-n-law was a Green Beret in Vietnam. I asked him what was the difference between the two. He just pointed to his head and said "Intelligence" ;)
 
#11 ·
Ed, he was correct. Later on I knew really good Ranger qualified infantry types , that couldnt speak a bit of foreign jibberish, hence couldnt get into SF.

I'd say that Army Ranger school is very much like Marine Recon school, and that the average Marine gets a bit stiffer "boot camp" than the regular Army does. Yet all of us regular Army types had to sing this while running all the time..... I STILL know the words by heart.... I was the cadence caller in pT formations........

 
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#18 ·
US Army Ranger Cadence - If I Die In A Drop Zone (cadence only) - YouTube[/url]
I remember singing something similar. Probably shouldn't post any that we sung on a regular basis, though. I remember one song in particular. We were in the gas chamber and they told us to pull off our masks. No problem, I'll just take a deep breath and hold it. WRONG!!! Once we all had them off, they made us sing the Marine Corps Hymm. Never seem so many guys with snot sagging down to their knees in my life!
 
#12 ·
Mama told Sally not to go downtown ……. (fall-in and dress right, then see if you can post the next line, then someone else, and so on)

Man, that brought back some good memories brother. Had to call my 13 year old in to hear that tune. That cadence helped me get through a few 12 mile runs.

To all my military brothers and sisters out there, Thank You for what you gave, especially including those who gave it all.

In memory of my brother, a former Marine.

Former Army
Bluesky
 
#14 ·
US Marines are specialists in waterborne invasions of the littoral. There are 3 Marine Divisions (each made up of 3 regiments), each of which have their own air wings plus naval transport ships. The USMC (and the navy units that transport them) are larger than most countries armed forces.[/QUOTE]

Not a bad description Bruce, but the last time I checked, there were 4 Marine Corps divisions. And we call it, amphibious operations. Waterborne invasions sound a bit too Army. It's all good. :thumbsup: just trying to help out the OP.

ps. Nice car. Great color.

MGySgt
USMC, ret.
 
#17 ·
None taken brother, I am sure that is what my brother would have told me. I have dropped and gave 20, so thank you for conditioning my mind and my body, I request permission to recover.

On a 67 Chevelle note. I'm new here and am looking for the best place to start my build here. This one is going pro-touring style, with a touch of pro-street. Any recommendations are welcome and needed.

Bluesky
 
#22 ·
This discussion has taken me to the task to study a little. It appears that the likenesses outweight the differnces in comparing the Marines to the Rangers.

Likeness

1. Both seem to have spirit de corp.
2. Both seem to very aggressive in their work.
3. Both place PT very high.
4. Both seem to see action before other units.
5. Both are first in combat.
6. Both seem to value their fellow members.
7. Both seem to deploy very fast when called upon.

Differences

1. Marines are placed in Divisions where as Rangers are in battalions.
2. Marines are consider conventional forces versus spec ops for the Rangers.
3. Marines don't receive the better equipment like the Rangers do UNLESS they are member of a Raiders and or Recon element.
4. Marines don't do Airborne and Rangers don't do Amp. landings.
5. Marines seem to place more emphasis on marksmanship where as Rangers places it on stealth.


This leads to a more in depth discussion

1. Rangers get their heritage from Point de Hoc in France, Merrill Maurders in Burma, and the LRRPS in Vietnam.....seems that the Rangers are more a recon and special mission version of a soldier.

2. Marines get their heritage in fighting very aggressively in the likes of terrorism dating back to the Briabry Pirates in the late 1700's.

3. Once you study the Marines and Rangers they are entirely different.

4. Marines and Rangers are often thrown together due to the fact of their training. Marines don't have Special Ops in their ranks so to speak, they do currently have Raiders and Special Recon elements, maybe then you can link the two together by comparing those units with each other.

For some reason Special Ops is confused with the Marines, what this leads to ask is this.

1. Why do Marines conventional forces get the dirty jobs?

It appears on the outside , that the Army does not have any aggressive units like the Marines.

If you currently look at the modern conflicts...Vietnam and up....Marines are almost always given such assignments as street fighting, house to house, and search and destroy....this is wanted to be done as soon as possible. Conventional Army units don't appear....in modern warfare...to have aggressive units for this....they tend to fight more deliberately and slower....such things as surrounding a city or town for a time period and slowly but surely squeeze the town into submission....two different tactics. I maybe off in this assessment of Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It appears that conventional infantry forces in the Army fight this way. It appears that Marines versus 1st Calvary, 1st Infantry, 3rd Infantry, 4th Infantry or 25th Infantry would be better comparison.

Even light infantry units cant be really compared to Marines. 10th mountain, 101 Airborne, 82 Airborne, don't use tanks or mechanized infantry...so you cant compare there.


SO.....with all this being said......I stand more confused than I was before... LOL

THANKS to all who served in the Army or Marines....I have great respect for the both of you!

Just for the record, I was turned down by the Marines twice as a candidate for OCS. One at age 24 and another at age 38. I was turned down by the Army for OCS at age 38 as well. However, the Navy was very receptive to me at 38, but Im not a ship liking person....so I stayed a civilian.

Please correct me here where Im wrong as well
 
#23 ·
As I said, Army Ranger is more like Marine Force Recon training, both are considered "special operations" these days, Regular Army and Marines are not.

Aaron, I too turned down "squidly" duty. It wasnt the boats that did it, it was sitting in the back of a supersonic bird taking pictures. Yeech.
 
#24 ·
I think your assessment is pretty good Aaron. As a dirt Sailor (Navy Seabees) I served and/or trained with the Marines for a number of years.
As a conventional force, the Marines are known for quick deployment. They have RoRo ships deployed around the world at strategic points which can arrive in just a few days to unload enough material and equipment to support a landing force for thirty days.
While the politicians are still debating, the Marines are already on the ground.
 
#27 ·
Thanks Ed. I tried to do a good fair assessment. Oh ok, yeah the Seabees...that's a cool outfit...tried to get my brother in law to enlist with them. Do Seabees see any boat duty?
 
#26 ·
The Marines have done so much with so little for so long, they feel like they can do everything with nothing forever!
 
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