Marines vs Navies

The reason for the enmity

The article was posted: 12/2/2019| 10 min read

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No, the post is not about President Trump. I work in the e-commerce tech support department and receive lots of complaints to deal with. Most of them are typical and boring — discrepancies in price, inventory issues, wrong fitment, or incorrect descriptions. But occasionally, I get unusual ones. This one is from an ex-Marine who visited your e-store looking for a military discount to apply and get a reduced price. What he saw made him drop his jaw. The problem, in a few words, is "Order of precedence." Here's what he sent us:

Short explanation from me: Eagle, Globe, and Anchor are the symbols on the Marine Corps flag. A fork seal is a replacement part for a bike or bicycle—Google it, and you'll see what it is.

Here’s an explanation from a sales agent who spoke with the Marine: "Please change the order of Military emblems according to the screenshot provided above. Reason: One of the forum members, ex marine, noticed that the order of military logos is incorrect and he seems to be offended that our page violates the order of precedence. The correct order is this: U.S. Army, Marines Corps, U.S. Navy and so on. The same order of flags is described in this Wiki page: Order of Military Flags Wiki. More about the use of military seals and logos from the Defense Department (the same order described): Rules from Defense Department. Thank you!"

Different military services in the US serve and fight together, but they often argue about who is the most important. They always tend to show off during parades, when marches of different services are played, when flags are flown, and even on Memorial Day, commemorating those who died in combat.

Last week, President Trump announced the death of the infamous Islamic State leader Al-Baghdadi as a result of a successful US special operations mission. What interests us is the arrangement of flags and their positioning. Look closely at the photo above!

The order of precedence when displaying military flags together is Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, as shown in the photo. However, during wartime, the Coast Guard flag moves up, taking a place between the Navy and the Air Force because it is considered part of the Navy. Currently, the Coast Guard is not under the Department of Defense but under the Department of Homeland Security. They stop illegal migrants, deter drug-trafficking submarines, and rescue people in the waters. Therefore, in times of peace, the Coast Guard is more closely aligned with police and lifeguards.

So, inceptions of all the departments:

1. Army - June 14, 1775.
2. Navy - October 13, 1775.
3. Marine Corps - November 10, 1775.
4. Coast Guard - August 4, 1790.
5. Air Forces - August 1, 1907.

Actually, there is the "Big Four": Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force. The Army comes first because it was created first—June 14, 1775.

According to logic, the Navy should have been second, but after the War of Independence, the ships were sold and sailors released. The same was true for the Marines, who were disbanded. However, the infantry never disbanded. So, my logic that the order of precedence is related to the dates when the departments were officially formed doesn’t apply here. Let’s move on and find out more.

By the end of the 1890s, there was already a protocol that placed the Marines' flag in a more honorable position to the right when Marines and the Navy paraded together.

As mentioned, all the services want to show who is the most important, but the rivalry between the Navy and Marines is especially strong. Marines call the Navy "Squids," while the Navy calls Marines "Jarheads." The nickname "Jarheads" appeared first during WWII, presumably because of their distinctive haircut. Split the word "Jarhead," and you'll see why. "Squids" emerged closer to the Vietnam War and was used to describe sailors who would spend their deployment money on fast Japanese motorcycles and booze. They would drown their sorrows in rum and then crash their motorcycles like squids (an aquatic animal that swims fast but crashes into everything).

This version of the nickname has become so ingrained in US culture that there are numerous memes about Squids and bikes across the internet even today.

There's a stereotype that a jarhead is brave but not bright and a squid is always tipsy and makes stupid things more easily.

Squids have always been known for throwing away their money on women and booze, often causing trouble by breaking furniture and scaring away other patrons. Some pub owners preferred to keep squids out of their establishments. There are even signs from the times when squids were not welcomed in certain pubs.

These stereotypes were even ridiculed in the 1949 cartoon "Sailor and the Seagull," which was produced by the Navy itself.

From about 1960 to 1975, a sailor calling a Marine a "jarhead" or a Marine calling a sailor a "squid" was actually using code words for "I want you to start a fight." Another interesting fact is that the crew of amphibious ships, who transported Marines to their battle zones, would side with the Marines and against the sailors during bar fights, even though they were sailors themselves.

I've been reading forums on Quora and discovered that another way to annoy a Marine who prides himself on his supremacy over sailors is to ask him to show his military ID, which clearly reads "Department of the United States Navy."

These nicknames have become so deeply rooted in culture that they are the subject of numerous jokes and funny videos. I visited the official Wikipedia pages for the military services and even spotted "Jarheads" mentioned there (but not "squids," though).

But this mutual enmity stops abruptly when there are Airmen in a bar and a fight begins. In that case, Marines and sailors back each other up.

Oh, and we almost forgot about the infantrymen. They are respected because they are always in close combat with the enemy and suffer the highest human losses, but they are ironically called "Grunts," which refers to the sound a hog makes.

GI - a shortened form of "Government Issue" which means "a soldier". You can find more info on this matter on the G.I. Wiki page.

Truth be told, different military services in various countries don't always get along well.

I clearly remember a story told by my professor about a huge and violent fight between the Luftwaffe and the Panzerwaffe, which took place in the "Drei Ferkels und Sieben Gnomen Bar" in Berlin in May 1944. The fight was triggered by an SS Standartenführer, who was never identified by the investigation (injured Luftwaffe pilots in the hospital recalled that the name was Otto or Otto von). This Otto, who had been drinking in the pub with the pilots, sent a set of empty plates arranged in a chessboard pattern to the tank crew who were also in the pub. This bizarre gesture so enraged them that a battle erupted. Firehoses were used to break up the fight, and the participants didn’t even notice an American air raid of 1,000 bombers.

As for the plates arranged in a chess pattern—what was so insulting? The introduction of the "Panzer VI," more commonly known as the "Tiger," in 1942 was a significant development in heavy tanks. However, it had a fatal flaw, much like Achilles. Its chassis was designed to distribute the tank's weight evenly across the ground, which made driving smoother and extended the lifespan of the rubber on the wheels. But this suspension system was complex to produce and maintain. For example, it took an entire day for the crew to replace just one wheel from the inner row. In the harsh conditions of the Russian fall and spring, with thawing mud during the day and freezing temperatures at night, the accumulated mud would freeze overnight. The tanks would be immobilized because the wheels were stuck. The only solution was to heat up the wheels and use a crowbar to clean them. Tank crews never forgot that nightmare.

In the Soviet Army during WWII, there were numerous examples of enmity between different services, especially between infantry, artillery, and tank units. Artillery was often blamed for "friendly fire" incidents that caused many Soviet soldiers' deaths. This was due to the practice of launching suicidal offensives not after, but during preliminary bombardments of enemy positions.

In post-Soviet countries today, it's noticeable that airborne forces (paratroopers) see themselves as distinct from the others, as evidenced by their motto "Nobody but us!" and their annual tradition of cooling off in fountains.