Why is there an Air Force, a Navy, an Army, and in some cases a Marine Corp?

Question

..When the Airforce and the Marines also deploy ground troops, the Army, Navy and Marines also fly, etc. Why are they not in a unified service, instead of these slightly different mixed bags?

Answer 1

Ever wish you could get sensible answers out of people on here, rather than half-baked drivel?
The reason is party due to history, partly due to common sense. As an example, the Canadians tried merging their 3 services (the Marines don't count as they are part of the Navy) into one which was known as a 'purple' or joint defence service. It didn't work. The 3 services just have different aims and ethos. Esprit d'corps was lacking in the canadian experiment and it took just as many people to run everything as it did before. It was so unpopular that they went back to the old system.
When you say the marines and navy fly, yes they do, but they act in support (generally speaking) of their individual service.
The distinction between different services is becoming more blurred as joint operations become more prevalent.
For the person that thinks the US are the only people in the world who have a system like theirs - are u thick? The American military structure is broadly based on that of the United Kingdom's - mainly because they have common roots.

Answer 2

The UK is attempting this joint forces now, and it's a very difficult process, with paperwork for all tasks (for any trade) being different for each of the services. The Navy use one form, the Army use another, and the RAF use yet another. That's just one aspect. All of the forces traditions and drills clash, and the rank systems are so drastically different that compatibility is very difficult. They don't actually do the same roles either. You mentioned infantry. The marines specialise in coastal assault, the Army do general soldering. The RAF Regiment carry out air defence and site defence. These are too specialised to be rolled into one. The engineers follow different principles in relation to the type of vehicles they maintain (including differences between Naval and Air force aircraft). The differences between the forces and their roles are countless.

Answer 3

Each branch has it's own specialty. And to all the people talking about joining branches together you might want to consider something. The Marine Corp is an offshoot of the Navy. The Air Force used to be the Army Air Corp, but since then separeted into their specialized areas.

Answer 4

The missions are different, and each must do there jobs. The Air Force deploys ground troops in support of air craft, and troop build ups. They are not trained as heavy as the Army and Marines in close support Fighting

Answer 5

I don't know, but I think the American military is the only one built this way in the world. All other countries have one army which is divided into the navy, air force, marines, etc., and the air force would not have ground troops and the navy would not have planes.

Answer 6

Probably following the history of the British Forces where we have an Army, a Navy, an Airforce and The Royal Marine Commandos.
In the uk we are proud of them all.

Imatation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Answer 7

There have been "Marine Soldiers" for as long as there have been Navies. Simply put, they were, and still are, infantry soldiers based on ships. The idea being that the seamen get them to where they are needed so they can do their work. In the U.S. Military they have developed into an autonimous fighting force, operating their own ships, planes, helicopters, landing craft etc. In the British Services Marines are posted to active Naval vessels as gunners (or at least they were in WW2).

Answer 8

Well, I think it is because each branch has it's own different responsibilities toward protecting this country. A long time ago the army and air force were one.

Answer 9

All in all they are just one. Each is assigned different duties. On your thoughts, why do we have a police department, Fire department, parks department, streets department, inspections department...... and the list goes on and on. They are like a tree with branches, and that's why they are called branches of the military. Oh, I thought as you did at one time until I sat down and finally figured it out. They are special teams all working together. And yes, there is a lot of competition between them but they all stand for one goal.... to protect ALL American people.

Answer 10

They all belong to The Military, they often work as one. Each have unique training in their particular field. If they were not called, army, navy, etc., they would have to be called something else anyway.