I was just wondering about the average american and forgein perception of United States Marines. Around the world there's been responses from the "best and the bravest" "blood thirsty monsters" (not true, most of the marines I know are beer drinkers) and in a notable case in WW1 the dogs of the devil himself.

So what do you think? blood thirsty killers? american spartans? or just another mod of soldiers with pretty uniforms?

I know this is long dead, but I just have to give Amp a hard time: GO army! hooah!

but yea, Amp is right, the ACU's are a cost cut maneuver. The best way I can explain them is Jack of all trades, master of none. And to Chaos: you ahve to agree that the the ABU is kinda funny. When I pass by an airman in ABU's, I confuse them with army for a split sec and check the chest to figure if I should salute them or not haha.

not that the same tones as ACUs is much better.

Do you know why ACUs are the color they are? It's a cost cutting manuver. That way they don't have to issue troops desert and woodland camo patterns they just toss them ACUs and tell them to have at it.

Hey! The Air Force does have to maintain bases *somewhere*.

At least the ABU's aren't that horrible blue color.

actually that story gets worse, the design team was on LSD that much is true but ibviously the supply general was on crack because they actually went through with the new ABUs* Which look like an odd mix between vietnam era tiger stripes and army ACUs the combines for a massive pile of fail

*ABU=Airman Battle Uniform, not only is that a horrible acronym but any one who actually knows anything about, or any one in the airforce knows that it's more then mildly a fallacy. To qoute a USAF buddy "What are we going to battle? papercuts? Or has the mysterious stain on the 4th floor carpet returned?"

Your polls aren't as cool as mine.

And hey, if you think the Army is due to alcohol, remember the new Airman idea they were coming out with? God, they must have been on LSD>

given the majority of my polling (that is to say all) was conducted with out alcohol present your point is invalidated

however it may explain the new army uniforms...

Also according to studies, people 99% stupider in the presence of alcohol.

Correlation?
I think so.

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Also, I think the marines have a totally stupid looking uniform. Blue and black and yellow and red? And the hat? I don't know...

I find this kinda funny because even people I know in the other services branches agree that the Marine Corps Dress Blues are the best looking uniforms between the branches.
The majority of women also agree, USMC Blues = Dead Sexy*

*Data compiled from massive amounts of bars and clubs across the country over the 232 years of the Corps existance

I don't really know much about the Marines, but my perception of the army is that a large percentage of it is people who are there to get money for college, who might not even get as much as they were promised. I don't feel like the war in Iraq is protecting the US, so I feel like anyone fighting over there who thinks that is having a giant injustice done to them, because they may die for nothing.
I do think that it's necessary for a military presence to be in Iraq if we want it to shift into a functioning democracy, it's just too bad that the majority of the soldiers are from lower class families, are pretty much all from a single country, and may be fighting an enemy that grows angrier and more numerous every day America occupies Iraq, AKA a war they cannot win.

I don't know how much of that applies to the marines, because I don't really know their role in comparison with the Army's.

Also, I think the marines have a totally stupid looking uniform. Blue and black and yellow and red? And the hat? I don't know...

Besides that, I have a lot of respect for everyone in Iraq who is brave enough to put their life in danger.

I guess it's just one of those things that I keep "hear" about, but I have seriously never seen a marine that accurate.

Now Canadian snipers on the other hand, with our 2.4 kilometer kills...

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Don't brag about your combat prowess until you actually prove it on the battlefield, or something like that.

Marines have and the majority of militaries that chaos has been talking about, haven't had a decent war since WW2

with the exception of our candadian friends of course, I know folks in Princess Pat's Light Infantry, it's a good outfit by any standard

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But looking for the video of an RPG soldier in the open, getting gunned down by an M249. They take... I think I can count off six shots, before actually realizing the guy is down.

that's usually what happens when your killing something with an automatic weapon, you just donate it a shit load of round until your absolutely sure it's down, especially if "it"
happens to have an RPG-7 (which I hear hurt rather alot)

My guess for a reason for that would be so people wouldn't know how accurate they are. I can't think of a good reason for that, but it sounds like something a military would do. Don't brag about your combat prowess until you actually prove it on the battlefield, or something like that.

Covering fire, I can understand. But looking for the video of an RPG soldier in the open, getting gunned down by an M249. They take... I think I can count off six shots, before actually realizing the guy is down.

I don't doubt they're accurate. I'm just saying, everything I've seen, even being on military bases, doesn't put them as being that accurate.

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Yeah, even watching combat footage, half of the time it looks like marines are shooting into thin air. Especially watching stuff from Fallujah.

for that situation they just want to keep the other guy's head down so they can move with out getting shot. I know a guy who was at that little bundle of joy and he explained all that to me. And that's a tactic in everyone's military you may have heard of "covering fire"

Yeah, even watching combat footage, half of the time it looks like marines are shooting into thin air. Especially watching stuff from Fallujah. If I can find the combat footage, I'll show you.

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They're famous for being accurate? The stereotype I get is that most of them would rather have M249's and just unload.

Every Marine is trained to be an excellent markman and have to re-qualify constantly. Marine Marksmanship Qualification is the most difficult of the four US service branches. For high-precision (snipers) Marine Scout-Sniper training is rightly regarded as some of the best in the world. The stereotype movies want to give you is everyone is "spray and pray" but precise, accurate rifle fire has been a hallmark of marine corps operations since the 1700s

They're famous for being accurate? The stereotype I get is that most of them would rather have M249's and just unload.

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Teach them precision marksmanship. Teach them how to use the common rocket launchers, like an RPG-7. I think all forces would be much better off.

Marine's are famous world-wide for being immpecable marksmen and every marine is at least basicly familier with rocket launchers (primarily the US LAW but with cross training occuring on the AT-4 and other various systems)

Yeah, and I like that. I would still prefer more cross training. As you mentioned, they can fire light and medium machine guns. What about going straight from that to using a M47 Dragon, and from a M47 Dragon to an Eryx?

This is what I think modern militaries, including the Marines, should work towards. You need people to be able to switch weapons and roles on the fly. An infantryman doesn't cut it. Teach them precision marksmanship. Teach them how to use the common rocket launchers, like an RPG-7. I think all forces would be much better off.