# Why are Marines (US) not "soldiers"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254>\
**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")\
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**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 22, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-marines-us-not-soldiers/1023254/129 "2025-09-22T21:30:03Z")

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Back to that U.S. Army Style Guide I linked to above. It talks about the term “troops” as well that we discussed upthread.

> [@U.S. Army Style Guide](#):
>
> **troop** Lowercase. A troop in its singular form is a group of people, often military or animals. Troops, in the plural, means several such groups. But when the plural appears with a large number, it is understood to mean individuals: _There were an estimated 150,000 troops in Iraq._ But not: _Three troops were injured._

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