Ideas for new classes of starships

[Lt. Staplic]

sounds like fun

[Mikey]

Yeah, and "How I killed a man with my ka-bar" is a great tale to hear from the father of the girl you've just started to date.

[Mark]

Yeah.......that WOULD be a bit nerve racking I'd imagine.

[Lt. Staplic]

kind of like that joke of Bill Engvall's:

when that guy comes over to get her for prom, I'll just hold him by the soulder and pull him in reel close so only he and I can here the conversation.

"Listen to me bud. You see that little girl over there, that's my only little girl, so if you have any thoughts about doing anything with my little girl you better remember something first...I ain't got no problem going back to prison!

[Sionnach Glic]

Exactly. My friend in the Corps said himself: Marines are not for defense. They're for attacking enemy positions, and flattening anything that gets in their way. They make lousy garrisons, which is where the Army comes in.

Out of curiosity, why is this?

[Aaron]

Out of curiosity, why is this?

The US Marines are trained primarily as an assault force, sort of a first in, first out deal. They are generally higher quality soldiers than are in the Army and their limited numbers simply make their employment in anything but that role to be a bloody waste of time and money. Then there's simply just the fact that garrison duty sucks donkey balls and erodes your edge.

[Sionnach Glic]

Okay, thanks. I wasn't aware the USMC have better gear than the army.

[Aaron]

Okay, thanks. I wasn't aware the USMC have better gear than the army.

Not exactly better, better training certainly. Their gear is naturally more orientated towards amphib assault but they are actually funded by the Navy so they have often lagged behind the Army in kit. They used the M-60 after it had been phased out in the Army and continued to use the M-60 tank for a good deal longer as well.

[Sionnach Glic]

Sorry, I somehow misread "The US Marines are trained primarily as an assault force, sort of a first in, first out deal. They are generally higher quality soldiers than are in the Army[...]" as "They have better equipment".
Just ignore me, it's one of those days.

[Deepcrush]

Nice to see that Rochey is still as quick as ever...

[Mikey]

Well, for specific things like amphibious assault, they do have better (situationally) gear. Marines in the South Pacific, for example, were the first to encounter Japanese pillboxes, and thus were the first to be equipped with the new man-portable flamethrowers that were being developed. However, USMC training tends to be more rigorous than Army basic, and is focussed on assault and advance. As Kendall said, the numbers don't support static or defensive strategies. In that aspect, it's not much different than if you had asked, "Why don't the Brits replace their entire army with RM's?"

[Sonic Glitch]

Out of curiosity, why is this?

The US Marines are trained primarily as an assault force, sort of a first in, first out deal. They are generally higher quality soldiers than are in the Army and their limited numbers simply make their employment in anything but that role to be a bloody waste of time and money. Then there's simply just the fact that garrison duty sucks donkey balls and erodes your edge.

I thought the marines had more of a first in, last out mentality?

[Mikey]

Individually, yes. They're trained in an atmosphere of self-sacrifice. However, the USMC's mission goals do not generally include garrisoning or holding territory. The Army has the numbers for that.

[Sonic Glitch]

Individually, yes. They're trained in an atmosphere of self-sacrifice. However, the USMC's mission goals do not generally include garrisoning or holding territory. The Army has the numbers for that.

Fair enough. So if they're put in the situation of a withdrawal, they will be the last out but they may not be the ones who are occupying the territory?

[Aaron]

I thought the marines had more of a first in, last out mentality?

Like Mikey said, that's more of an indivdual thing. The Marines are quite high on themselves but their numbers and role simply do not allow for that to take place in the real world, unless someone is screwing the pooch. One does not sacrifice a special ops capable unit to a rear guard.