# Why are Marines (US) not "soldiers"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2025, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254 "2025-09-21T06:31:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/41 "2025-09-21T16:13:11Z")
From a very broad (even abstract) definition of “all of a country’s military personnel” (e.g., “how many soldiers does China have?”), they are arguably all “soldiers” in that context. (And, lordy, it’s a better term than “warfighters.”) But, when one is talking about members of a specific military organization, then, as noted by many posters already, there are usually specific terms – which are often _not_ “soldier” – which are properly used to refer to members of that organization. And, hence, when talking about members of, say, the USMC, they aren’t "soldiers.’ ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/42 "2025-09-21T16:34:34Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > (And, lordy, it’s a better term than “warfighters.”) God, yes. What a cringeworthy term. I feel like it’s a term thought up by [REMF](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/REMF)s to disguise the fact that they are REMFs. So of course it’s being pushed hard by the biggest wannabe “warfighter” and REMF of all: the current SecDef. And don’t get me started on his [new moniker](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restoring-the-united-states-department-of-war/). 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/43 "2025-09-21T16:44:18Z")
Believe it or not, after the post-Thirty Years War professionalization of European armies, “soldier” became the preferred term. “Warriors” were brigands and savages who committed indiscriminately massacres. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/44 "2025-09-21T17:00:35Z")
I think this take is a bit silly. Do soldiers fly helicopters? Do they treat wounds and perform surgeries? Do they cook delicious meals? There’s the colloquial term soldier, which encompasses ground fighting forces like infantry, and I assume that’s the definition you’re using. But the US Army has pilots, doctors, and chefs, and all of them are called soldiers. Because the army wanted a collective term to refer to the servicemembers in their branch. The Marines also have doctors, pilots, and chefs, and they are all called marines. The Air Force also has doctors, pilots and chefs, and they are all called airmen. Get the gist? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/45 "2025-09-21T17:05:27Z")
I get it. I personally would call all of the above soldiers, because they wear uniforms and their job is to fight wars. I’d also refer to them by their specific job: soldier serving as infantry, soldiers serving as doctors, soldiers serving as pilots, soldiers serving as chefs and so on. They’re all equally soldiers, each with their own role to fill. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/46 "2025-09-21T17:12:50Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Again, the SEALs and Seebees consider themselves smaller, more elite sub-branches of the U.S. Navy. Almost as elite as we submariners are! > [@Bullitt](#): > > I didn’t grow up desiring to serve in the military or wanting to be a Marine. I was around ten years old when I decided I wanted to be a career soldier. I won’t bore you with the wall of text explaining how I ended up as a sailor instead 🙂 , but I spent 21.5 years as one. > [@robby](#): > > Army service members are soldiers. > Marine Corps service members are Marines. > Navy service members are sailors. > Air Force service members are airmen.\* > … > And Space Force service members are apparently referred to as “Guardians,” which sounds pretty lame to me, but not as bad as “spacemen,” I suppose. I’ve always liked Andre Norton’s “spacers”. And what about the ~~Puddle Pirates~~ Coast Guard? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/47 "2025-09-21T17:13:41Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > The Marines also have doctors, pilots, and chefs, and they are all called marines. I totally get your point, but the Marines don’t actually have doctors or medics. The physicians and nurses who treat Marines are Navy personnel, including the medics (corpsmen) on the battlefield. There are Marine lawyers, though (if _A Few Good Men_ is any guide). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/48 "2025-09-21T17:17:45Z")
The Navy also provides chaplains and their assistants for the Marines. > [@robby](#): > > There are Marine lawyers, though (if _A Few Good Men_ is any guide). MOS [44xx](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Marine_Corps_MOS#44_Legal_Services). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/49 "2025-09-21T17:19:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > But until the Seabees show up, you’re still shitting in the woods. 😆 My uncle (I had more than one) was in the seabees (CBs) and his opinion was fuck the Marines being first in…they were the first in. He told a story of him trying to prepare a beach for a landing while US battleships were pounding the shore a bit over his head and the Japanese were shooting at them. Helluva a thing to be in. Maybe he was embellishing the story but I do not think so. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/50 "2025-09-21T17:21:37Z")
“You’re a soldier first, a tradesman second” is something every British soldier has heard. In the US it’s “you’re a soldier first, a (MOS) second.” In the US Army, every A-school class is taught all day by instructors in the specialty, but they’re under the direct care and feeding of cadre noncoms imparting “soldierization,” only slightly less strict than they’d known a few weeks earlier in boot camp. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/51 "2025-09-21T17:30:38Z")
> [@robby](#): > > (Although “troops” is its own problematic word, since it is almost always referred to in the plural only. Even the singular word “troop” refers to a group, and “trooper” sounds dumb and even condescending.) Now you did it. You are making it more complicated. A trooper is a member of a cavalry unit. In the cavalry a company is called a troop and a battalion is a squadron. > [@Bullitt](#): > > As the great Ted Williams (baseball) said, and as I get older the more I feel this way — > > _“It’s a funny thing, but, as years go by, I think you appreciate more and more what a great thing it was to be a United States Marine… I am a U.S. Marine and I’ll be one till I die”._ Funny thing about Ted Williams, time has glossed over the fact that he tried very hard to get out of being called up both times. He felt that taking a great player away from baseball was a waste. Going off to war was for people who couldn’t hit a curveball. The very public resentment he showed was forgotten about and later in life he spoke fondly of his time in the Marines. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/52 "2025-09-21T17:41:29Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Funny thing about Ted Williams, time has glossed over the fact that he tried very hard to get out of being called up both times. He felt that taking a great player away from baseball was a waste. Going off to war was for people who couldn’t hit a curveball. The very public resentment he showed was forgotten about and later in life he spoke fondly of his time in the Marines. Interesting. I’ve only read one book about him and while IANA history expert of him or the military, Williams was quite abrasive towards the press and it cost him during his career. Unlike Joe DiMaggio who was more gracious and became quite beloved. Williams was more of a jerk. I love the Williams quote about the Marine Corps but what you say is very consistent with his character, especially in his younger years. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/53 "2025-09-21T17:55:06Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Interesting. I’ve only read one book about him and while IANA history expert of him or the military, Williams was quite abrasive towards the press and it cost him during his career. Unlike Joe DiMaggio who was more gracious and became quite beloved. Williams was more of a jerk. Having read quite a bit about him, as a baseball fan, this rings true. He was one of the most supremely talented hitters in baseball history, but also had an enormous ego, and often lacked filters. An an older person, he seemed to have mellowed somewhat, but still could be an abrasive jerk. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/54 "2025-09-21T18:02:01Z")
…and the Space Force decided to call themselves “Guardians” because calling themselves “Spaceman” would have been too easy an invitation for ridicule. (OR maybe Ace Frehley wanted a royalty, who knows.) (And they decided have ALL their lower enlisted grades be “specialist (grade number)” because apparently they could not figure out a gender-neutral rank title that was not being used by any of the other forces) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/55 "2025-09-21T18:25:50Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > As the great Ted Williams (baseball) said, and as I get older the more I feel this way — Another great Ted Williams quote - _If you don’t think too good, don’t think too much._ ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/56 "2025-09-21T18:37:39Z")
Nobody has answered the question of what Coast Guarders are called. I’m curious. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/57 "2025-09-21T18:48:56Z")
Coast Guardsmen and Guardswomen. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/58 "2025-09-21T18:56:21Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Nobody has answered the question of what Coast Guarders are called. I’m curious. > [@Telemark](#): > > Coast Guardsmen and Guardswomen. Or more informally as Coasties. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/59 "2025-09-21T18:56:55Z")
The Army post of my A school had a billet for one Coast Guard representative. They were ever after known as the Post Coastie. Infamously tough boot camp. Plus they have a height requirement, so they can wade back to shore if their boat sinks ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/60 "2025-09-21T19:05:40Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > And in China, the [People’s Liberation Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Liberation_Army) includes the following: > … > > - [People’s Liberation Army Navy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Liberation_Army_Navy) I always do a double-take when I see this term for the Chinese navy. Because the only other time I see the term “Army-Navy” is the annual football game between West Point and the Naval Academy: the [Army-Navy Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army%E2%80%93Navy_Game). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254.md?page=4)