[Untamed]

Originally Posted by Ian

marine corps basic training is a little more intense than army boot camp. the marines learn a different style of martial arts (MCMAP: Marine Corps Martial Arts Program). Marines also qualify with their rifles out to 500 yards where the army only qualifies out to 300 yards. every marine is a rifleman.

Semper Fi is short for Semper Fidelis, which is latin for "always faithful"

I dont know much about the combat ratings, but I do know that everyone gets the bare minimum and after that you have to go to school for advancement.

The requirements may have changed since I was in, however we had 2, 400 meter shots we had to take during BRQUAL (Battle Rifle Qualification), circa 1992. (EDIT: Army 12B - Combat Engineer, Ft Leonard Wood, Summer 1992)

What's the reason for the "better than" questions? Each branch, and each type of unit, has a specific mission for which they were formed. The level of skill of each unit is only as good as it's weakest member. So while the standard unarmed training for a unit may seem more intense than another, each soldier is encouraged to train on skills outside of the standard regimen of training.

For example - many soldiers I knew, who were in the infantry, went out and got jump qualified in a civilian school, because their unit was mechanized, not jump qualified. They wold never get their military jump wings, but they would get a civilian certificate for doing free-fall parachuting. The same could be said for unarmed combat - taking martial arts classes during your off hours is encouraged, so the individual skill of the soldier would be better than the same type of soldier only training with the military.

The Navy Seals spend a lot of time in training, heeding the call to duty to perform specific missions. Some of them are extended, but most go out, perform the mission, then return to their barracks. The Rangers perform in a similar fashion, with the occasional extended mission keping them in the field for weeks at a time. The Army Special Forces (Green Berets) however will spend months in the field, conducting all sorts of missions while they are out there. They don't get the benefit of repeat training in controlled environments like others, but they do apply their skills continuously. So with the question about unarmed combat, which is better - practical application or controlled training? Depends on your point of view, but at some point, you need to apply what you've learned.

Let me close with the question above - why the question about unarmed combat training?