Actually, not so much of a special case, I served with many AF officers and more than a few enlisted who started their careers in the Marines. Overall, the AF with a mostly different mission than the Marines is not all that prissy. That idea has carried over from WWII when ground troops considered the bomber and fighter crews to be “privileged” because they went back to warm food and beds at night. The infantry guys didn’t know about the fatality statistics of the bomber/fighters crews. Air crews were many times more likely to die than the guys on the ground. One raid with only 200 bombers that suffered 50% losses meant that up to 1000 men died, were injured or taken prisoner for each bomber with a 10 man crew. Each service plays a critical role in the combined arms operations.
So true!
But, inter-service rivalry can sometimes be its own reward. ;-D
I was in the Army. I was commissioned in 1972, but never deployed since the Vietnam War was winding down at the time.
Seeing Marines in action raised my eyebrows.