SLIDE / MARINES:
I’ve done some poking around to educate myself. Marines have to know everything about ships, how to maintain and shoot artillery, how to fight on land or sea, can become pilots, maintain a constant state of emergency strike force readiness, guard embassies, and provide security on vessels and navy bases.
I knew they are tough, but I never knew they are so well rounded as warriors.
RESPECT!
The Marine Corps War Memorial in DC is even more meaningful to me now, symbolizing their unique readiness to fight, under any conditions. When I saw it, I thought it was a tribute to their resolve in that particular battle. But now I see it symbolizes their unique mission also.
My next Navy question is this: Given many centuries of history, vocabulary terms, and evolution of ships, how does a sailor learn all the terms/slang/ship layout? Is basic training longer than the other branches? PM me so we don’t clog up the thread. 🍳
BASIC is literally (littorally) only to get the new person able to function as a sailor. From there it depends on what your specialty will be. These specialties are called ratings. While there is a lot of schooling, you generally learn the most on the job. This is true for officers as well. We just don't have ratings. We do have Warfare specialties.
After Basic, many sailors go to A-school where they learn the initial starter information to function in their rating. The rest, including a good many people who have no idea what they want to do, go to their first duty station. Later they can complete "3 & 2" correspondence course for the rating they want to go into.
Navy correspondence courses are open to anyone. I checked, and find out I completed the "3 & 2" courses for 19 different ratings. This was mostly self-defense because of the large number of different ratings I had work for me over the years.
WWG1WGA
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)