if those are the only two choices you're offering I'm afraid I cant give any suggestions

also, *Afghanistan*

sorry

I'm with Sic on this. Although I would add "Don't go!".

Be safe and good luck to you, you do us proud.

Myself I would say army paratroopers, because they are army.

I hope you don't make such an important decision based on the comments of an internet forum.

Do what you think is best for you.

My opinion would be that you go to be an officer rather than straight up enlist.

"you do us proud."

who is us

Think of the Air Force, that's where I served. AFROTC, to be exact. If you're really firm on the Paras or the Marines, I would encourage you to join the Marines. You're less likely to get killed. (Army: 72% Iraq & Afghanistan dead. Marines: 25%. Navy: 2%. Air Force: 1%. Coast Guard & Merchant Marines 0%)

But if you are going to serve, get a commission! I can't stress that enough. ROTC is a good program, and not as hard to get into as the academies.

Oh, and best of luck. I'm lucky to be a noncombat veteran.

cub scouts dont count man

You suck, Sicarius.

Don't be a tool...

"You suck, Sicarius."

Invictus + Infinity! (the exclamation point being a math expression)

Well thanks for the opinions. Surely, I simply wouldn't decide based on them, as mentioned above. I'm not even considering pay or anything at all monetary. Sense high school I've studied abroad in both India and China, also traveling throughout a few other Asian nations. I say that to say that my decision to join certainly doesn't have anything to do with cost effectiveness or anything like that. I want to join for purpose and direction and for the sake of the journey. I posted this because I would like to get others perspectives, it will help me better understand mine.

I think that's wise of you there's nothing wrong with discussing it in a number of media.

Sicarius: "us" is everyone who has benefited from Americans in military service, which is most decidedly you and me as well as millions of others. One of the reasons militaries are not private sector services is because though the armed services protect the whole population, not the whole population is not willing to pay for it, so it is done through taxes.

Also... 72% of army killed in Afghanistan? That seems outrageous, where did you get that number?

I will say the vast majority of americans benefit from the american military, as well as some europeans.
but us is very broad, especially on an international website.
they may protect the population in this country, but in other countries.... well, not so much.
also military is becoming more and more privatized with the rise of mercenaries sucj as cochise, wackenhut, securitas, blackwater international (now named Xe) and many many many more

This is true, but it has always been a perversion of the true purpose of a military. Personally I oppose the existence of such organizations.

Marine Corps! The few, the proud, the MARINES! Arrrugh!

He means 72% of the casulties were Army (and the other 28% other services). He made it clear enough by listing all the branches and the percentage of each towards the total.

@Invictus - there are three ways to become an officer. One, go to college first. Two, go to one of the academies. Three, pay your dues and work your way up to warrant officer status and get into OCS. 1 and 2 mean school up front, and 3 means a long career. You can't just sign up and say "I want to go to OCS".

Like Sicarius, I can't offer you any advice here. But I offer my hopes that you come back safe and sound, both physically and spiritually.

thank you

First off, there's a quote that comes to mind when I read some of the comments here: there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. While there may be more army casualties in Afghanistan than other branches, there are also more army *units* in Afganistan than other people on the sharp end.- as of 2008, there were 22,500 army solders, and 2,500 marines. Not saying the intent was to mislead, but let's get real here.

Secondly, what branch you should pursue also depends upon your goals. Are you looking to make the military your career, or just putting in a tour or two?


Keep in mind that while you can join either branch, there's no guarantee that you'll get the posting you're looking for, especially if you're going for an elite force like one of the airborne divisions. The recruiter can certainly give you advice on how to maximize your chances to get what you want, but (if I recall correctly) they lack the authority to make posting decisions.

I would urge you to do some research on the whole 'recruitment' process before you make your choice. I don't have any idea of where to start that, however.

"(Army: 72% Iraq & Afghanistan dead. Marines: 25%. Navy: 2%. Air Force: 1%. Coast Guard & Merchant Marines 0%)"

What a ridiculous stat! Without knowing troop levels from each service, this information is meaningless. That's like saying 75% of all murderers in the US are Christian, therefore... But since Christians are 78% of the public in the US.... (BTW, the % murderers stat is made up to prove a point.)

DJ - look here. As a percentage of deployed troops, the Marines took disproportionate losses - being in the army was relatively safe

http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/MILITARY/history/hst0803.pdf

Even more ridiculous was the "non combat veteran" claim. That boy must either have a time machine or be living his life Benjamin Button style.

Fine. Disrespect me. Don't be a patriot. It's heartbreaking to see how the generation after me turned out.

Not as heartbreaking as for us to so how the previous one turned out...

(In your case)

I believe that the 10th Mountain Division (my son in law was in that unit for 4 years and was deployed to Afghanastan) is the heaviest committed unit casualty wise in Afghanastan.

Your choice of where to go in the armed forces might be helped by thinking of where you want to go afterwards. Is this going to be a 20 year career or something else? If so what is the 'else'?

Once you have an idea of what you want in the perspective of the long term then you might have a better idea of your choice options.

If you are simply not looking that far ahead, then you want to take the choice that gives you the most options both within the armed forces and outside of it. Therefore in that regard from which branch/section do you have the most options to transfer out to? The Army is larger and has more capacity at training and positions than the Marines, I would think, but I am not an expert here in that regard.