Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/difference between us army and usmc

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Expert: Rod Powers - 8/9/2006


Question
i am interested in going into the military, but i dont know which to go for army or usmc. the field that really interests me the most is scout/sniper. what is the difference between army snipers, and usmc snipers?  

Answer
Hi Cody,

For the day-to-day mission, there's not a whole lot of difference.  Each are trained to sneak up on the enemy and take important members of the enemy out, one person at a time.

Nobody can tell you which service is the best for you. In both the Army and the Marine Corps, you *cannot* get a guarantee, in your enlistment contract for sniper duty. In both services, you would very likely have to join as Infantry, then hope -- at a later time -- your request for sniper training is approved.  No guarantees, in either service.

Again, nobody can say (except you) which service would be best for your personality.  I recommend you read two of my articles, which can possibly help you decide:

(1) U.S. Military 101, at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/military101.htm and

(2) What the Recruiter Never Told You, at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/recruiter.htm especially Part I of the article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/recruiter1.htm

For more information about joining the United States Military, feel free to visit my military information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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Rod Powers

Expertise

Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.

Experience

Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.

Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).

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