Air force or Marines?

t_samford

TSamford
Nov 3, 2008
145
10
16
Which is a better branch to join USAF or USMC? What are the benefits of both and which has better jobs?
 
Depends. If you have REAL good scores and want a lock on jobs, go Air Force. Of Course the Air Force is very picky.

If you want to actually BE in the military and not be in the civilian sorta military go Marine Corps.

Make sure if you go Marine Corps you get what ever deals you make IN WRITING and TAKE THEM to boot camp with you. Make sure the deal actually says what you think it says too.

Air Force is very people orientated. They take good care of their people. Marine Corps takes care of their people also BUT mission comes first ALWAYS.

An Example if you will...

Air Force builds a new Base with Airfield, first thing they build is all the housing, rec facilities, barracks, chow halls and support structures. When they run out of money they then ask for more and point out they haven't built the air field yet.

Marine Corps Builds a new Base. First thing they build is all the training facilities, Ranges, Repair facilities , armories, Work Facilities and if they run out of money ( which they usually don't) then they get more for the barracks and the rec facilities ( Chow Halls were in the first batch as a mission requirement).
 
What would you suggest for someone with a score of 86 on the ASVAB?
 
What would you suggest for someone with a score of 86 on the ASVAB?

What do you want? Marine Corps has technical Jobs and support jobs of course and they are very good, but they probably want the combat arms people more.

The Air Force is VERY picky, see if you can even get an appointment to see the recruiter.

Bonus money is gonna be in Combat Arms for Marine Corps if there is any while the Air force may not even have bonus money.
 
My husband is Air Force, so I am biased. I agree with what RGS is saying though in the idea that the Air Force is going to be more laid-back, people-oriented than the Marines. That being said, the military is still the military...the Air Force will still treat you like a commodity if it needs to (My husband had his leave to come home for our wedding canceled a week before our wedding - he had to go to the base Colonel to have it reinstated and I didn't know if I'd have a groom until 3 days prior, lol).

RGS is also correct about bases...AF has some of the nicest, but be careful - I spent 4 years in North Dakota and it doesn't really matter how nice your BX is when its -46 in October!
 
Boo....

An Air Force Officer and a Marine were in the bathroom at the urinal. The Marine finished first, washed his hands, and was drying them when the AF Officer finished, zipped up, and started to walk out of the bathroom.

The Marine said to the Airman, "You know, in the Marines they teach us to wash our hands after going to the bathroom."

The Airman smiled over his shoulder and replies, "You know, in the Air Force they teach us not to piss on our hands."
 
Boo....

An Air Force Officer and a Marine were in the bathroom at the urinal. The Marine finished first, washed his hands, and was drying them when the AF Officer finished, zipped up, and started to walk out of the bathroom.

The Marine said to the Airman, "You know, in the Marines they teach us to wash our hands after going to the bathroom."

The Airman smiled over his shoulder and replies, "You know, in the Air Force they teach us not to piss on our hands."

Haha!!! thats funny well i just recently sent in my discharge in to the usmc because i feel like the air force is better for me. Its not tht i'm scared its just that i wanna do whats best for me.
 
True story. I went to the USMC recruiter back in 1982 (one year out of H.S.) and asked him: Why should I join the Marines? What can they do for me?" His answer:
"You need to join the Corp. The Corp is the best!"
I said: "Yeah I know. That's why I'm here talking to you first. But tell me, what can I do in the corp? What can the Corp do for me?"
Again he answered: "You just need to join the Corp. The Corp is the best!"
I then said: "Uh, I'm gonna go next door and talk to the Air Force for a minute, I'll be right back". I had already decided against the Army and Navy.
I went next door, walked up to an Air Force guy and said I was interested in joining but I wanted to know "Why should I join the Air Force? What can the Air Force do for me?"
The guy was a little shorter than me, had a paunch, his hair was touching his ears and he had a coffee cup in his hand. I remember all this very clearly.
He replied: "Look man, I don't care if you join if you join the Air Force or not". I knew right then, the AF was for me! :D
Like a previous poster said, The AF is more like civilians but let me tell you this: The Marine Corp wears it's people out! Compare and contrast ANY two retired AF and Marine service people. Marines look 10-20 years older. What would you rather be?

Don't get me wrong I'm not knockin' the Marines. Any branch of service is a good move for your future. But I'm really glad I didn't join the Marines. The Air Force is a much better service for quality of life issues. Yearly surveys on quality of life always show that to be true.
Ask any service member on this board and they'll agree with me.
Everywhere I was deployed either for a remote tour or temporary duty, the chow was always great! And the AF never sent me any place I couldn't get laid. Think about it.
PM me if you wanna' talk some more.
 
I'm an Air Force brat, so I have to say Air Force.

My father used to say that Marines should have training before they get out of the service, just so they can become people again.
 
True story. I went to the USMC recruiter back in 1982 (one year out of H.S.) and asked him: Why should I join the Marines? What can they do for me?" His answer:
"You need to join the Corp. The Corp is the best!"
I said: "Yeah I know. That's why I'm here talking to you first. But tell me, what can I do in the corp? What can the Corp do for me?"
Again he answered: "You just need to join the Corp. The Corp is the best!"
I then said: "Uh, I'm gonna go next door and talk to the Air Force for a minute, I'll be right back". I had already decided against the Army and Navy.
I went next door, walked up to an Air Force guy and said I was interested in joining but I wanted to know "Why should I join the Air Force? What can the Air Force do for me?"
The guy was a little shorter than me, had a paunch, his hair was touching his ears and he had a coffee cup in his hand. I remember all this very clearly.
He replied: "Look man, I don't care if you join if you join the Air Force or not". I knew right then, the AF was for me! :D
Like a previous poster said, The AF is more like civilians but let me tell you this: The Marine Corp wears it's people out! Compare and contrast ANY two retired AF and Marine service people. Marines look 10-20 years older. What would you rather be?

Don't get me wrong I'm not knockin' the Marines. Any branch of service is a good move for your future. But I'm really glad I didn't join the Marines. The Air Force is a much better service for quality of life issues. Yearly surveys on quality of life always show that to be true.
Ask any service member on this board and they'll agree with me.
Everywhere I was deployed either for a remote tour or temporary duty, the chow was always great! And the AF never sent me any place I couldn't get laid. Think about it.
PM me if you wanna' talk some more.

Thanks man I really appreciate your help. USAF all the way.
 
Boo....

An Air Force Officer and a Marine were in the bathroom at the urinal. The Marine finished first, washed his hands, and was drying them when the AF Officer finished, zipped up, and started to walk out of the bathroom.

The Marine said to the Airman, "You know, in the Marines they teach us to wash our hands after going to the bathroom."

The Airman smiled over his shoulder and replies, "You know, in the Air Force they teach us not to piss on our hands."

You forgot the rest ... the Marine then grabbed the Airman's head by the jaw giving it a violent jerk to the right and solved ALL his pissing problems.:eusa_whistle:
 
I'm an Air Force brat, so I have to say Air Force.

My father used to say that Marines should have training before they get out of the service, just so they can become people again.

That's no reason to join a service. I'm an Air Force brat AND retired Marine. Your father has a typical, snooty elistist Air Force mentality. They all acted like that toward us. I was usually most offended because I had spent the first 18 years of my life on one Air Force base or another.

The answer to the question is as simple as this:

If you want to be a Marine, you join the Marines.

If you're just looking for a job, join the Air Force.
 
That's no reason to join a service. I'm an Air Force brat AND retired Marine. Your father has a typical, snooty elistist Air Force mentality. They all acted like that toward us. I was usually most offended because I had spent the first 18 years of my life on one Air Force base or another.

The answer to the question is as simple as this:

If you want to be a Marine, you join the Marines.

If you're just looking for a job, join the Air Force.

I think his point was that marines were trained so well to fight, that they needed time to be transitioned back into the civilian world. It never came off as a crack against the marines to me, rather one of respect for them.

My father is gone...has been since shortly after 9/11. He retired from the Air force in the late 60's and spent the rest of his life making two other careers. One as an accountant and another as a professor.

BTW, my father joined the Air Force when it was the ARMY. Yep, he joined the Army and retired from the Air Force without changing jobs. He started as an enlisted man and worked his way up to officer, he retired as a Major. Do you know how few people do that? I don't think you could call him "snooty" and It upsets me that you would try when you don't know him at all. I'm sorry if I offended you, it wasn't intended, and yes, I do take your attack on my father personally.

BTW, I lived most of my life OFF of the Air Force bases, I did meet a lot of snooty people on base. One girl treated me like garbage until she discovered my father was a Major, suddenly, I was good enough to be her friend. yeah, I didn't give her the time of day.

My parents always taught us to treat everyone the same. That's why they had friends all around the world. It's also a good reason why I have friends in so many different countries.
 
I will say this, as a former enlisted Marine, I worked with great people from all branches of service. The real question, and Guns started to get at it, is 'do I want to stand apart?'. Many of these folks have pointed out some real great reasons to join the Air Force. Yes the over all quality of life is better. However, I can say that there is no equal to the pride of service you see amongst Marines. yes in some certain units of the other branches of service you will find great Esprit de Corps, but no other entire service is as proud as we few. To say that one wants to be a Marine is to say that you want to belong to a new and seperate family, a Clan, almost another Race of people. One other note, in my working with other services the one thing that stood out is the lack of politics in the promotion and advancement of Marines. In sister services it is often about who you know and how they can help. The Marine Corps might represent the last true Meritocracy amongst the services.


I do have one question for the poster, and I might have missed the answer somewhere in here but what is it you want to do in the service? that is a huge consideration.
 
That's no reason to join a service. I'm an Air Force brat AND retired Marine. Your father has a typical, snooty elistist Air Force mentality. They all acted like that toward us. I was usually most offended because I had spent the first 18 years of my life on one Air Force base or another.

The answer to the question is as simple as this:

If you want to be a Marine, you join the Marines.

If you're just looking for a job, join the Air Force.

There is nothing wrong with the air force. Every branch of the military will do you right.
 

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