Special operations might be the tip of the spear, but the normal infantry is the Hammer!

If your in Marine Infantryman and Army Infantry, they don’t get a break, they don’t have a gym back in the rear, they live and operate in the most austere environments, and in many cases come to the aid of special ops guys who inadvertently gotten in over their heads. Nothing better than to have an infantry platoon having your back. At the end of the day it’s all about Fire Superiority.

Former 11B here, warms my heart for Jocko to say this....

Every other mos in the military was developed as support for the infantry

Some of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. History were regular infantry. Alvin York, Gino Merli, Audy Murphy to name a few.

It’s mainly civilians that throw shade at grunts. But everyone has their jobs. Special operations is just that, for special missions ex hitting a hvt,hostage rescue etc. infantry is to solely to destroy the enemy.

Thanks for saying that JOCKO. I was an 11 bang bang with the 82nd Airborne for a while, needed to hear somebody say they believe in us. I genuinely met a lot of smart people. My unit was riddled with guys from 75th Ranger who were kicked out for stupid things, as a result I lived and worked with some real freaks. I’ll never forget it.

I was in the infantry in the streets of Iraq in 2004. I now have a blue cord tattooed on my body. God bless the infantry.

I remember a SEAL on Shawn Ryan podcast saying that his first tour in Iraq didn't see any real combat but that a line infantry unit just down the road from them were in constant firefights and IED strikes.

god bless the infantry

A lot of high iq people go into infantry, because they want to fight and challenge themselves. Nothing wrong with infantry. It’s badass. Similar to how police get better training than most military jobs (outside of sof) but they are talked down upon.

SF major told me on mission once that the most important job that had the most riding on its success in any war is the infantry. He said all jobs in the military, are there to directly or indirectly support those men both army and marines so they can move in and destroy the enemy. Surprised me that an SF soldier thought of us that way. Best brotherhood ever.

People think that out of ignorance. Any big battle ever. Infantry was involved. Special opps is like sniper rifle for precision targets. Infantry is like a machine gun there to fuck shit up.

Most special forces soldiers start out as infantry.

Heart felt appreciation Jocko from me a combat veteran 11B grunt and I did all 22 years a grunt bad times a good ones. Trust me I felt the same way as that letter. We don't get all the cool toys and coolest missions , and we do get the shit jobs but we pride in being grunts the ones then nation sends into the worst situations . Because grunts can take anything and keep going and we aim to win.

God bless all who served

There's an Excellent book that details Army and Marine Corps Infantry fighting alongside Navy SEALs in AL Anbar Province, Iraq. It's called The Sheriff of Ramadi.

Navy seals are a platoon level fighting force. You have to go green beret if you want to be in charge of everything on the mission

I am the Infantry!

It's the ground pounder that wins the intire war. It's the ground pounders whos blood regrows the grass , the trees, it's the grunts who made you free. All those that died by the hundreds of thousands for freedom where all grunts who pushed right on through despite the horrors in front of them.

One great advantage special operations units have over conventional forces is their budgets. I don’t know if it ‘s true, but I heard the Navy Seals have the same budget for ammo as the entire Marine Corps. This alone will make the spec ops troops better. This is not meant as a slight to conventional United States infantry troops, they are among the most highly trained soldiers in the world.

Infantry is the first step to teir 3. Infantry has a 30% graduation rate. That course will take most good men down hard.

All the SF guys I know were former infantry dudes except for one.

Coming from a 11B who got the privilege to lead a weapons team we looked up to SF and Rangers like literal gods of the battlefield. Got to do work some high speed guys. No crazy stories just a little shooting training cause we used thier range to zero about half way through deployment and help with setting up perimeters and shit around targets but i always felt elite as fuck. Beat all the patrols by a mile.

I was only a reservist but I always believed my job was to give the best advantage possible to 11 bravos. I always revere anyone who serves in the infantry. Both of my grandpas were Army infantry in WW2, one with a Purple Heart from fighting in the Philippines. I would never look down on the guys doing the grunt work.

The infantryman has always Bourne the brunt of the casualties in war. Still do.

Go grunts🙌 former 0311 combat wounded with a Purple Heart

11b 2008 I was in Ramadi. We got attached to 1 marine exp force air ground team. I remember there was a part called shark base where the beards hung out. Best time of my life. Kinda gotta be a little sick in the head to say it.

The Iraq and Afghanistan wars being portrayed as "police action" and/or "occupation" missions has redefined how the public views the Army. Ask most civilians and they will tell you that the Army is a "defensive/occupational force" that follows the elite units into conflict and then "holds" territory for them. This is just false. Regular Army infantry leads the way--if the fight is a war that calls for major infantry ops. It's true that Iraq and Afghanistan turned into occupational fights, and so that's what the Army did, but they started out with big offensive combat ops led by regular Army infantry and armor primarily. As an aside, Marine PR pushes this too, and it's the one thing that bothers me most about the Marines--a lot of their good PR is at the Army's expense, a lot of it includes straight up misinformation about what the Army's offensive combat force does during wartime.

Honestly, half the reason why infantry are unpopular is jealousy. As a remf myself, laying my head down at night, I knew I was a soldier, but I'm never getting a bronze star. They're exceptionally well trained compared to every other army. I have a Green Beret buddy I ran into in Korea and he was training with their SF. I asked how they compared to our guys. He said: "American Infantry is at the level South Korea's Special Forces are at." Because the Infantry trains in a very specific, limited skill set they get extremely good at it. "I fear not the man that knows 10,000 kicks, but he that trained one kick 10,000 times." After seeing what they've gone through overseas, melting all day in full-battle rattle humping their house around, that's tough and they did it all day every day. Infantry guys may be harder to motivate than my intel peeps, but once they get the scent of the enemy they will not stop until they complete their objectives. The other reason infantry is unpopular is their alpha male attitude. But in order to be combat arms you need that edge, that overconfidence. That's what keeps you in the fight. It makes total sense. My Drill Sergeant was infantry and he taught us WAY more cool stuff than any of the pog drill sergeants. The sky is blue because God loves the Infantry.

B co 1/506 INF ........fucking door kicker iraq 2004-2005

In the Army the Infantry is looked up on. Everyone wants to be a grunt until you have to do grunt shit.

I personally never felt that SOF guys exalt themselves into the limelight. I don’t know a lot of them but the few I had the privilege to serve with and run operations with were nothing short of professional and proficient in their skills. I never got treated like a “grunt” or a nobody they always embraced our involvement and yes if shit was fucked up, they would very humbly correct it on the spot. No drama, no complaining, no bullshit. if someone within our ranks on the conventional side couldn’t get it together, well then that guy just won’t run ops with our platoon, keep that fucker by the trucks or something. It was always an honor being around them and there is nothing like having those guys next to you in a gun fight. When they were around we knew shit was gonna get done period.

I was a cav guy and the people who bash conventional army are just chumps who know nothing about combat.

lets go Jocko!!! I want arm wrestling challange...this old broken 11Bravo grunt wants some!!!!!!!!!!! 10mnt!!! baby!!

By order of cool factor: pogs > infantry > medics > pilots > operators

Ya know as a POG who is finally getting my Purple Heart it’s good to hear this, I was in Ramadi 15 months living on Combat outpost Grant that was rigged with IEDs & propane tanks, also received a combat action badge for an IED that knocked me out 2008, and coded out my M88. I wonder what operators thought of us regular Army bastard slaves.

Jocko asks, When did special operations become so popular? I's say John Wayne, especially "The Green Berets" to first bring attention to Special Forces. Or maybe the underwater battle scene from "James Bond - Thunder Ball".

#Currahee

Is the Army 82nd Airborne Division a well known and good force ?

Anybody that's been in the army, in any western country, knows what the guy asking the question is talking about. Sad.

hes lying his ass off