Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines????

Factual Questions
1

The most generalized description of what each of these forces does is:

Army - Land attack
Navy - Sea attack
Airforce - Air attack
Marines - All purpose, bad ass SH!@T

But as stated above, I’m sure this is a huge generalization, since I know that the Navy has fighter jets, and the Army has the 101 Airborne division.

So my question is two fold:

  1. What is the differences between the 4 divisions of our armed forces?

  2. If someone really wanted to be a fighter jet pilot, would it be better for them to join the airforce or navy or army??? How does it work?

2

AFAIK the army does not have any fighter jets, just helicopters.

Navy fighter jets are usually launched from aircraft carriers, and airforce jets are launched from land. That’s the main difference between the two.

3

The U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps both have fighter/attack jets. Oh yeah, so does the Air Force. :smiley:

The primary focus of naval aviation is forward projection, without the requirement of forward air bases. Navy fighter and attack pilots learn to take off and land from aircraft carriers. The Navy also has anti-submarine warfare (ASW) patrol aircraft, both land and carrier-based.

The primary focus of Marine aviation is support of Marine ground troops. For whatever reason, Marines prefer to have Marines provide air support. Marine jets include the F/A-18 Hornet (which the Navy also flies); this aircraft may be based on an aircraft carrier or a land base. They also have the AV-8B Harrier, a V/STOL aircraft that may be land based, or come off of an amphibious assault ship.

The Army has no fighter jets that I’m aware of. The Army’s 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) uses helicopters as their primary means of transportation. If they need fighter/attack jet air cover, they call in the Air Force or one of the other services.

All of the services do have helicopters, BTW.

As to what service you should choose to become a fighter pilot–first of all, don’t join the Army. Second of all, you need to be an officer, which requires college, and ideally an officer accession program right off the bat.

I can offer a personal anecdote: I wanted to be a pilot as I graduated from high school. I had ROTC scholarships for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. I was also accepted to the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy. (Yes, I believe in covering all of my bases.) Unfortunately, my entrance DODMERB physical revealed that my vision, unbeknownst to me, was not 20/20. I was hopeful that my eyes might “get better” (they didn’t), but I also had to prepare for an alternative. I didn’t see much opportunity in the Air Force for non-pilots. I therefore took the Navy ROTC scholarship. IMHO, the Naval Academy and NROTC gives you the most flexibility. Want to fly? Go Navy or Marine air. Want to be a ground-pounder. Go Marines. You’ve also got surface ships and submarines, the latter of which I went into.

4

The difference of the branches is the official mission/purpose each has. And the way manpower is distributed.

The Marine Corps also has fighter pilots.

The official mission of the Marine Corps is established in the National Security Act of 1947, amended in 1952. Marines are trained, organized, and equipped for offensive amphibious employment and as a “force in readiness.” According to the Act, Marines stand prepared to meet mission requirements.

The seven elements of the Marine Corps mission:

a. Provide Fleet Marine Forces with combined arms and supporting air components for service with the United Stated Fleet in the seizure of defense of advanced naval bases and for the conduct of such land operations as may be essential to the execution of naval campaign.

b. Provide detachments and organizations for service on armed vessels of the Navy and security detachments for the protection of naval property at naval stations and bases.

c. Develop, in coordination with the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the doctrine tactics, techniques, and equipment employed by landing forces in amphibious operations.

d. Provide Marine forces for airborne operations, in coordination with the Army, Navy, and Air Force, according to the doctrine established by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

e. Develop, in coordination Army, Navy, and Air Force, the doctrine procedures, and equipment for airborne operations.

f. Expand peacetime components to meet wartime needs according the joint mobilization plans.

g. Perform such other duties as the President my direct.

5

Broadly speaking, the roles have evolved the same way across many countries. For example, the split in the UK is the same in the US.

The army generally deals with offensive, defensive and miscellaneous (e.g. peacekeeping) ground operations, and includes rotary-wing units to support such missions. I assume that the inclusion of helicopters in army units is due to the need for close liaison.

The air force deals with the whole range of fixed-wing air operations, and in some nations may include some helicopter units for support reasons (e.g. search and rescue).

The navy deals with maritime offense, defence and support. Air units are integral to this, for offensive (anti-shipping and land attack from naval platforms), defensive (protecting ships from air attack) and support (resupply, early warning, reconnaissance etc) roles.

The marines (both US and Royal) are responsible for shipboard defence, and in larger numbers for establishing beach-heads for army units to exploit. Marine units can specialise in amphibious assault where it would not be cost-effective for army units to do likewise (and vice versa; marines don’t need to be specially trained in mountain or airborne operations).

6

I should have added that marine air units are fairly unique to the US Marine Corps, and are intended to provide rapid-response air support for USMC troops. Mind you, I see that WillSantini has gone into far more detail, and doubtless better than me (no military experience here)!.

7

To generalize:
The Army’s mission is to take and occupy land.
The Navy’s mission is to project power from the sea.
The Air Force’s mission is to control the air.
The Marines’ mission is amphibious invasion.

That depends. If you want to fly F-15s, F-16s, or F/A-22s, go Air Force. If you want to fly F/A-18s, go Navy. If you want to fly the JSF, either will do.

If you want to fly off the decks of carriers, go Navy. If you want to land on a runway, go Air Force.

8

robby - THANK YOU, for the input. I have a few more follow up questions:

  1. What if you really wanted to be a pilot, and defn. not in a submarine…would you tell the Navy recruiter that? Does he have any control, (like are there separate areas of the Navy to enlist into, or do you just go to boot camp and then try to specialize?

  2. I’ve always heard you needed 20/20 vision, but with today’s lazer eye surgery, can’t you get that done first before enlisting?

9

I’m no sort of authority on this, but here’s my impressions:

The Army’s our main land based force. I believe different units have different focuses and equipment. For instance, the 3rd Infantry is a mechanized infantry unit, which means it generally travels into battle in armored Bradley Fighting Vehicles and has significant tank support. The 101st Infantry is an air assualt division, whose primary focus is its ability be delivered into battle by helicopters. It has a lot less support from heavy armor. The 3rd is well equipped to meet the armored forces of the Iraqui Republican Guard, while the 101st would be less effective in that situation. The army has helicopters (and light aircraft, I believe) to support its mission.

The Navy’s our main sea based force. It has surface ships, aircraft carriers and submarines. It’s aviation arm generally consists of carrier-capable aircraft, anti-submarine aircraft, and other overwater aircraft (e.g. patrol craft).

The Air Force is our main air based force. It has land-based aircraft, including fighters, bombers and transports. It also controls strategic missiles and other miscellaneous air functions.

The Marine Corps is a light infantry force concentrating on fighting/invasion in coastal regions. Administratively, it is part of the Department of the Navy, and it is capable of being embarked on naval ships. It has aircraft focused on close air support of ground forces, though some carrier-based Marine air squadrons are nearly identical to the Navy air squadrons they serve alongside.

Each of these forces have some overlapping functions, and the current military doctrine is to have them all work closely together.

10

As stated before, if you want to fly jets, you’ll have to be an officer, which requires college. Be very careful of recruiters who tell you otherwise. These guys have quotas they have to meet and they will often give you a song and dance about how you can enlist now and later get selected for officer training. While this is technically true, there is no guarantee at all, so it’s a risky plan at best.

The vision requirements vary a bit from service to service. When I was applying to OCS, the Marines only required vision correctable to 20/30, as long as uncorrected it wasn’t worse than 20/100 or something like that. Whereas the Navy required straight up uncorrected 20/20.

Be careful with that laser eye surgery, as of a few years ago it was not an approved procedure. I’m not sure what the current status is, but my brother was nearly kicked out of Ranger school for having it.

11

I was in the Air Force, and I don’t believe we had helicopters.

12

Frankly, if you really want to be a pilot; you don’t want to enlist. You need to get into an officer accession program. Your choices are an academy, an ROTC program, and OCS. You can apply for the first two out of high school; the latter if you already have a college degree.

If you enlist, there are no guarantees that you will get into an officer program. Also, you’re wasting time, if your goal is to fly.

Yes, I believe you now can get corrective eye surgery and still qualify. (It was not allowed when I was in the pipeline.) You have to find out what procedures are allowed, though.

13

The definition of CAS (close air support) varies from branch to branch. The Air Force’s CAS in no way resembles Marine CAS. The Marine Corps will take a pilot, put him with a ground unit and billet him as a FAC (forward air controller), this improves CAS, as the FAC knows what the pilots are doing and knows exactly what info the pilots need to perform the mission. I’ve heard of a few Marine generals getting into arguments with Air Force generals when an Air Force unit is in support of a Marine ground unit. Due to the different way of training for CAS, the Air Force pilots were of little use to the Marines.

While the Army was still planning on how to invade Afghanistan, the Marine Corps took charge and invaded Afghanistan’s coastal region. :dubious:

14

Sure they do.

From this Air Force site:

Here’s a story about some Air Force helicopter pilots from that unit:
“Air Force helicopter pilots make daring rescue”

15

CLOSE Air Support, anyway. Marine Pilots spend six months in grunt training in Quantico, VA, alongside Marine officers of every MOS. They dig fighting positions in the rain and cold, hump a full pack and weapon 25 miles in 8 hours, conduct amphibious raids, and call for mortar fire. They sweat and curse alongside the future Motor Transport, Artillery, and Infantry Officers. They take the same tests, run the same Endurance Course, and spend the same long hours Friday nights cleaning weapons in the armory after a week slogging through the mud of Virginia. If I had the enemy in my wire, I want the pilot providing support to be humming the Marine’s Hymn as he lines up.

I had this all written and the Fedayeen Saddam Hamsters stole it.

16

Semper Fi

17

The vision requirement for the USMC is no worse than 20/40 and correctable to 20/20.

Lasik is definitely a no go, PRK you can get a waiver for.

S/F

18

Not only does the Air Force have helicopters, they have some of best helo aircrews in the world. IIRC, the AF version of the H60 is the Pave Hawk. The combat SAR helo crews and PJ’s are exceptional units, to say the least. They go in and rescue folks, often times behind enemy lines. In addition, the responsibility of all US inland SAR, even in peacetime, falls with the USAF.

“This We Do, That Others May Live”

19

To show my brainwashing is wearing off, I agree the PJ’s and SpecOps Helos in the Air Force are the best we have.

20

Speaking as a Naval ROTC midshipmen, you can get a waiver from to have your eyes corrected by PRK; Lasik has not yet been approved, so don’t get that. Of course, I plan on going into subs, so it doesn’t matter that much to me. If you want to fly, don’t enlist, go officer- this means either Air Force or Naval ROTC, or their respective academies. With the Army, you would be lucky to get to fly helicopters.