All my veteran homies where you at? I know alot of you have been tripping about this like I have. So glad it's been clarified 😂

There's one MAJOR difference between the marines and troopers. Marines say funnier shit.

I think the marines at the end of reach wore space helmets because the air was messed up from previous glassing

I really hope 343 brings back the Hispanic/Australian Marines for Infinite

What this really showed in terms of Bungie's commitment to showing so much military stuff in Reach was really what the devs talked about when they said halo was really more a military shooter set in the future in space then really sci-fi. this really culminated in Reach, and its something I think 343 got rid of sadly for a more arcady style and feel

Did anyone else see the legendary Chips Dubbo at 5:49??

“Which is, O so positive” Nice pun

I hated the missions where I fought with the ODST. Whenever more than one of them died, I would always restart the checkpoint, or the entire mission to try and make them survive. I play a lot of MMO military games, so when someone I've been playing with for the last 6 hours dies, it feels really bad.

I think the rank discrepancies among the Marines and Air Force in Reach is due to Bungie simply not wanting to code the squad system to handle three different rank structures.

Finally, someone corrected this. If I had a penny for everytime someone called a UNSC trooper a Marine, I would be as rich as Bill Gates.

The universal symbol for denoting cavalry on a strategic map is a rectangle with a slash through it running through opposite vertices. The rectangle part isn't really important because all units are rectangles with different symbols inside. So not only is the symbol reminiscent of 1st cav, the slash very literally means cavalry.

Considering you launched an experimental prototype space fighter from a secret ONI research base, I always figured the men with you on the Long Night of Solace mission were specifically employed by the Office of Naval Intelligence. With ONI being the enigmatic, shadowy organization it is, it would make sense that the troopers under their direct command would not have identifying marks or insignia on their uniforms.

Since you and the lore mention that the UNSC Navy is now in space, wouldn't the roles conflict with the Air Force?

I implore you to make more Halo videos. 7:05, please do keep over analyzing. It’s what makes your videos so intriguing.

Army troopers look cooler than any version of the marine.

I find it funny that this video pops up in my recommended list right before I go to MEPS for the Marines. Great vid btw these details were something I had to tell everyone because everyone always assumed military uniform in Halo=Marine

I'm glad you made this video. Growing up as a child my father always told me it's an insult to refer to a Marine as a "Soldier", you where only ever to refer to them as Warriors, Marines, Devil Dogs, or Leathernecks. Nothing else. Even though this is small, as you said, ots about tradition, its about representation, and for the Marines, tradition is everything. The Marines have always been a highlight of Halo, and have always been represented to still carry the traditions today's Marine Corps still holds.

Please give it to me straight. As a Gunnery Sergeant, do I have the right badge on my cap?

I liked this video strictly because you clarified the difference between Soldiers and Marines

Halo reach had the best details. Hopefully infinite will follow from this rather than the weird spacey models from Halo 4 and 5

I mean pretty sure definitionally, a soldier is a generalist term for any paid personnel that is part of any ground-, air-, or sea-based military. The whole thing about Soldier being specifically an ARMY only thing is a small misconception. It's MAINLY used with land forces, but CAN, technically, on a definitional level, be used to refer to any paid military personnel. Here, have some fun facts to mull over: The origins of the word Soldier literally harkons back to the following two words: First there is the Middle English and Old French word soudeour, which means Mercenary, further deriving from the word soudee, which refers to a shilling's size in payment. Then there is the Medival Latin word soldarius which literally means "one being paid" further deriving from the name for the Byzantine empire's coinage; Solidus.

To clear things up: It is true that Greek Spartans will always be a part of history, although much of the embellished stories surrounding the Spartans that were influenced by leaders, and the belief in Greek Gods, all consists of Greek mythology. We have records of the Spartan's beliefs, culture, and practices, but some information such as tossing babies off of cliffs that didn't meet physical standards have been debated without conclusive evidence. That is just one example. One could relate the Spartan program in the Halo universe to reflect Greek Spartan mythology with the harsh and death-risking-initiation phase. But with records stretching from B.C.E. it is wise to not take simple information at face value and understand mythology as consisting of stories about tradition, and culture, not neccessarily assuming mythology to simply mean fake. While the UNSC is a fictional United Nations Space Command military service, it is very clear throughout Bungie's Halo games, American military was a large inspiration when writing and creating the UNSC. You can spot these inspirations clearly by looking at the rank names, the cliche dialogue at times, the remembrance of artifacts (dog tags), inspired ceremonial formations, and the backed-against-the-wall underdog story. We will be looking at this American made video game by considering the heavily-inspired source, American military. In Halo Reach, you hear "Troopers" instead of "Soldiers." This got me interested to find out why that is as the Troopers are in the UNSC Army, therefore, Troopers are Soldiers, but are referred to as Troopers seemingly as a distinction. So, looking up the term "Trooper," the definition includes "a private soldier in a cavalry." This got me interested to find out if there is an emblem that distinguishes the cavalry division, and I believe I found it in Halo Reach. I believe it is the solid diagonal black line on the Trooper's shoulder pads. In the real world military, the uniform will state in lettering the military branch, but in Halo Reach, there isn't anything like that, therefore, it seems as though Bungie put that diagonal black line to denote a cavalry division (that's my theory). While there are many different units within the UNSC Army, I'm saying Bungie looks to have wanted to include service personnel from all UNSC military branches, and the easiest way to distinguish people of different branches in a video game would be to change the look of the uniform and to utilize certain emblems such as what the Troopers have versus what the Marines have. As for the red and white chevron on the helmet, I am stating that the chevrons are "not conclusive enough" to determine if it truly denotes a cavalry division as they are a reused asset in Halo CEA, although red and white colors are used to denote cavalry in US Army, therefore, if evidence states otherwise for Halo specifically those red and white chevrons are cavalry and Saber Interactive did get that wrong in Halo CEA, please share the link of the source in the comment section. Whereas the solid diagonal black line on the Trooper is not used elsewhere on the Halo CEA Marines, therefore, the "theory" that the diagonal solid black line denoting a "cavalry" division in the UNSC Army is better supported. There have been a small group of people that have commented saying that I am pronouncing it as "Calvary" instead of "Cavalry." If you listen carefully, I am pronouncing it as cavalry without the harsh "ca" sound as I talk in paragraphs, therefore, its sounds as if I am saying calvary. I know the difference between the two words, but it is common for people to want to hear something, even if it's not being said. I put this comment out there, because someone tried to debate but misinterpreted the entire video. I'm sure many of you understand what this video is about, but there are a small few that didn't.

you know the one thing i always wish existed ? a Halo game with two campaigns where in one you play as a marine alongside with a spartan and the second as a trooper, giving emphasis in "you're a normal human, therefore, no super powers", it would be a cool touch for you to go along with your squad and every time a companion die, he gets replaced in the next mission, something much like the games Spec Ops Ranger Elite in the PS1 and Conflict Desert Storm on the PS2 and PC. Not make the game a complete simulator, give the player holographic gun sights, and make some weapons like that .50 sniper rifle or the rocket launcher impossible to fire on the move, in fact, unless you're doing a combat pace, you're standing crouching or laying prone, you cant be that accurate with your guns, a simulatir without the 100% simulation aspect.

In conclusion, I don’t think Bungie really paid much attention to the ranks and different divisions in the UNSC. I always thought the term ‘soldier’ was universal the same with ‘marine’. I called every friendly npc marines except if they’re civilians or part of a ships crew as staff. They probably need to make it more clear in future games to be able to distinguish a marine and a soldier

Being a marine irl, I’ve noticed this. I think the CE quote made by CAPT Keyes is a Oxymoron and is meant to be a joke. (It’s funny how I’ve never seen this)

12 minute video for something you could've done in less than 2 minutes, absolute legend

After being in the military, I cringe everytime the Marines are referred to as, or worse, refer to themselves as, soldiers.

Its nice to know people took interest in looking into Military branches in Halo, sub earneeed!

I love this video! One thing to keep in mind is that Halo CE Anniversary was done entirely by 343 and Saber, not Bungie like Halo Reach. The discrepancies you mentioned right at the start with the Calvary emblem and later on with the open helmets are likely because 343 and Saber are incompetent rather than actual creative decisions. As far as I’m concerned Halo Reach is the only relevant game for this comparison, where Bungie has the technology and ambition to customize the various models to such extent. This video changed how I look at Halo Reach, and it gave me one more thing to love about my favorite game. Thanks a bunch!

Excellent video Been waiting for this lol

This was really cool, thanks for doing it!

I liked the video, great job. I think the idea may be that the UNSC standardized many ranks across all of the various branches as their membership consists of people from all over Earth and the colonies. Kinda like how in New Mombasa, an African city, signs are in English. It seems that culture as well as language has kind of melded together in a lot of ways so maybe they decided to change that too? I dunno, I wish the writers had an opportunity to better establish how much humanity has changed in 500 years. Regardless, good video and I'll be on the lookout for more!

Love the video, on a side note, I'm a corpsman and I have to say having the medics being so clearly marked is a frightening idea. I mean medics and corpsman are often targets, i wouldn't want to stand out more than my medbag already makes me. Just a thought.

This is an extremely well put together video. Between the editing and the commentary. Sub gained :)

Came upon your channel by accident. Not disappointed. Subbed. Great stuff with the background music. Keep it up.

Thank God somebody made a video on this and tried to clear it up.....Thank you.....

Glad I’m not the only one who has over analyzed the detail of the troopers and marines of Reach

Man you are thorough. Honestly I love it though even if it seems insignificant. Love the way you talk

good taste in music and an informative video? you just got another sub

Wow, I always thought the hexagons on their shoulder pads were just large bolts or some other armor design.

Let's not forget that small pockets of the UNSC Army would have been ferry to off of reach during the evacuation

Highly underrated video!

This relieved me so much because I had to tell people that when they thought they were “Marines”. Thank you

I keep coming back to this vid just watch. I'm not sure exactly why its just interesting to me.

Very interesting video!

GOOD GOD FINALLY. Anyway, i'm surprised you haven't mentioned the UNSC Logo on some of the marine shoulder pads.

You can tell when games are made with love. It just gives off an unmistakable energy

10:29 i like that added comical explosion sound effect

Finally something said something about it. Subscribed

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's made the Bono joke about the Exodus civilians

I didn't realize I needed this. Oddly enough I was driving home today thinking about "why do they call them troooers?"

Also one thing in Halo 3 ODST is that in the level uplift reserve Dutch is referred to by the Colonel as trooper although this is most likely due to the fact that he's an orbital drop shock trooper which now that I think about it is also a form of calvary

Cavalry units don't always have to be on warthogs or scorpions they can be used the same as any other army unit

i've heard people say that ODSTs accept applications from all over the UNSC despite technically being a marine subdivision, which makes enough sense as you'd have to be the rare madman that wants to drop in a tin coffin from orbit behind enemy lines to sign up for the ODSTs

Bungies attention to detail is something Halo has been missing for so long.

FINALLY! A video that breaks the down difference. 👌 Edit: I think they streamline the ranking system & some traditions. We know you have to address any rank above you as sir regardless of gender, commission or otherwise.

The way I've always seen it, the UNSC, despite being considered the Navy, tries to blend each military branch together into a melting pot of military. The mediums in which they serve are blurred. No longer are they just simply boots on the ground, or serving on the seas, or just flying aircrafts (yes, I understand these are generalizations of the military branches). Now it's just one general "army" with individual divisions set for different mission types, while also having some crossover. Maybe a boots on the ground Sergeant can also fly a pelican if that is what's required, and maybe it's because of that crossover that allowed him a rank as high as it may be. Just my idea, but it may be able to clear up some of the weird discrepancies with how the UNSC works when compared to the USA military we have today.

at 5:16 that red tab on the right side is an armor quick release, to take over the plate if injured

6:16 Well, normally ODSTs use Marine ranks, but we saw in Reach that it was possible for Spartan fireteams or squads to be assigned to the Army, most notably in the case of Noble Team. Maybe this is the same for ODSTs on rare occasions? Sort of like how sometimes ODST fireteams or squads are assigned to ONI and its operations specifically.

Did anybody realize that at 5:51 he was in a fireteam with Chips Dubbo?

The armor name for Spartans mjolnir (think I spelt it right) is Thor’s hammers name. So there is a lot of mythology references in Halo

I'm glad other people can tell the difference. I don't blame people for getting it wrong though. The voiced dialogue is always consistent with who's who but some of the in-game prompt calls everyone Marines.

Interesting fact. The UNSC troopers wore their patches like that of the US Army. Where they always had the unit patch they served on the left shoulder and the deployment patch on the right. Why you would see the patch on the left shoulder and both shoulders, but you would never see the patch on just the right shoulder. So they would have a unit patch and a deployment patch

Thank you so much for making this, it drives me nuts how often they get referred to as marines when everything from weapons, armour and vehicles are different to the trilogy. Still can't forgive 343i for using reach troopers in place of marines for CE Anniversary

Me, a GMOD HaloRP loser: eh close enough

Not much to say. Just subbed. I honestly want to see more videos like this when waiting for INFINITE , not those so-called news being repeated by different channels again and again (well just my own thought, plz don't be mean). Great vid, keep it up. PS:can I make subtitle for this and repost it to other websites with your credits? Want more people seeing this.

The Pillar of Autumn had marines and army soldiers. I always thought it was just the marines, but I looked it up on halopedia (not fandom). But everything in this video is actually what I’ve always believed. I always knew that the soldiers on the last mission were marines

This video is so important. Thank you so much for making it.

Odst are drawn from multiple branches. Delta force does a similar thing by recruiting from all over. Whether or not that transfers over in unit rank structure is beyond me. As for branches involved and manpower, I think it just becomes all jumbled up in an invasion and leads to mixed units to maintain effectiveness and survivability due to high casualty rate in the war.

Interesting theory, it could be chalked up to lazy writing. I do remember reading the guide that came with HALO Reach saying that Nobel Team was an Army unit under the operational control of the UNSC Navy to be able to function more independently kind of like how JSOC operates independently outside US Forces. If the ODST Battalions operate similarly they might be a mix of operators from all branches under the control of the UNSC MC.

In Halo Infinite and going forward I hope that 343 includes marines, army, airforce/navy and clearly defines which is which. For instance the marines are green colour scheme like H3, the army is khaki like reach, and the navy/airforce has gray colours.

Actually, Halo Reach Concluded with the Pillar of Autumn leaving reach for the Halo in the first game, so having the same cavalry insignia, especially in a massive fleet like the UNSC, seems like good attention to detail :)

It's also possible to make the point that in halo CE it would make sense for there to be a mix of soldiers and marines on the pillar of autumn, the UNSC evacuated their forces from reach and it's possible that a couple of soldiers could have gotten onto the ship and were just mixed in with the marines since the UNSC was in such a bad situation

7:26 I think it is funny that enlisted can fly top secret aircraft or just aircraft in general in halo.

Can we keep in mind that this is the UNSC so marines come from all over the colonies and countries under the UNSC so they dont use the exact same terms as the US marines might maybe in the games frequently but many other times in comics books and shows it implies and proves many marines come from other special forces from other countries such as Orlov from mona lisa is ex sptesnaz and the infamous Chipps Dubbo is Australian and would probably use military terms from respective countries and groups not just USMC terms and phrases

To be honest. Like you’ve mentioned in the end (how humanity is throwing everything they got at the covenant) it would have been nice to see both soldiers and marines fight along chief in Africa in 2 and 3.

Capt Keyes in reach has the emblem of an army/marine/air force captain But that would make him a lieutenant he is supposed to have based on common Halo navy ranks a full bird there

Very cool video! I've also noticed that Captain Keyes has the incorrect rank in the games, as a Naval captain would be an O6 and use the silver eagle, not the silver bars like in other branches.

Finally something important

Some of you need to read the description of the video. Even the title says it, but yes he's saying Troopers and UNSC Army. Learn to comprehend people!

Was playing ODST recently and yeah Buck is referred to as “gunny” as in Gunnery Sgt. which is a Marine Corps rank which threw me off because I always thought ODSTs were Army or their own thing.

Inside the game files, the humans of the UNSC have a TON of armor customization options. They have the potential to be used by players (if optimized properly) and can each be very unique. There's even a variant with a black thief mask. Perfect for hot pursuit.

I'd imagine the UNSC just uses the term 'Soldier' to refer to any warfighter or combatant.

This is why I like halo other than some other Syfy shooters because the stuff in halo actually resembles real military things but with a more futuristic approach

Well. 343 was trying to make a remaster by using halo reach assets. In the initial remaster promotional videos, the "remastered" model for the MA5B ICWS (HCE's 60 round bullet hose) was the same model as the MA37 army rifle in Reach. Obviously in the finished remaster of CE, they use the MA5C assets (from halo 3) instead. So what I can gather is 343 didnt really care about asset continuity, at least, that closely. Something I didnt realize though until I watched your video is that the Army troopers in reach are using Gungnir shoulder plates. Might use those in MCC since I wear the Police helmet (like I did back when I played the original reach) and I want trooper armor.

You had Chips Dubbo! As a ODST!

Very curious about the Halo Infinite Marines/Army troopers in terms of the Armour Design. In the first trailer the announcement we saw three Soldiers of the UNSC wearing Green armour designed after the Marine/Army soldiers in Halo Reach what you see in this video. But in the new trailer which came out last E3 the Pilot has a classic Halo 2 remake Marine Helmet laying on the floor when we look through John eyes you can see it to the right. It appears that 343 may be using the two designs maybe even putting the Army in the Halo Reach style outfits and the Marines in the classic Halo 2 remake look. Funny enough in Halo CE remaster the pilot of the escape pod was wearing the Halo 3 marine armour while every other Marine in Halo CE were wearing the Halo Reach armour. So idk what’s going lol

Tbh it is a bit hard to tell but I’m glad I knew this

The cavalry has arrived!

Please make more lore videos!

at 2:11 that image is the same image my professor used in a technical writing college class bc she does her studies on cannibalism so it was the main focus of the class lol. she used the image as the cover photo for canvas

This is pretty late, but during the slipspace mission you have unknown unsc forces boarding and conducting operations aboard a covenant carrier. Would this not be similar to boarding actions used by Marines. I think it is recon marines with the 31st Marine expeditionary Unit that primarily conduct such operations. Perhaps the armor is slick so as to not get caught in any corridor or jagged bulkhead upon entry or egress?

Keep in mind that the USMC is a completely independent branch with their own naval and aerial assets.

Ever since I started playing Halo again, this shit drove me up the wall. "Hey marine soldier army fighting guy man dude, I need ya to kill some covenant" - that shit doesn't fly. As a marine, every time somebody uses "marine" and "soldier" interchangeably it drives me nuts. We don't wear the same uniform, we have very different purposes, etc. With that said, I have an explanation. In halo we have the UNSC, keyword there is UN - as in United Nations. The different governments of Earth combined together to form the UNSC, so different militaries did too. The Chinese, Russian, German, English, Iraqi, Sudanese, Japanese, Australian, Israeli, French, and most notably - the United States, who probably comprised the bulk of personnel, gear, and funding. Different traditions from these countries merged together, so certain terms and traditions might have shifted just a bit. Another example is the word "Sarge" which is short for sergeant. In the United States Marine Corps, using the word "sarge" to refer to a sergeant is the equivalent of signing your own death warrant. It is extremely frowned upon and will get you yelled at. In addition to that, we address every enlisted who's E-4 (corporal) and up by their rank. If a sergeant asks you a question and yes answer yes, then you would say "yes sergeant", but if a staff-sergeant (E-6) asked you, then you would say "yes staff-sergeant". The problem with this is that in halo, on numerous occasions, SNCOs and Senior Enlisted are simply referred to as "sergeant" despite obviously outranking a sergeant by a few pay grades. For example, our favorite mustached, cigar smoking marine who knows what the ladies like: Avery Junior Johnson. Everyone I know refers to him as "sergeant Johnson" but he's a Sergeant Major. Sergeants are E-5, Sergeant Majors are at E-9. Big difference in responsibility and rank. So why isn't SgtMaj Johnson screaming at the Marines that just call him sergeant? Well again, the merging of militaries together to form the UNSC. The practice of calling SNCO+ enlisted a "sergeant" despite them ranking higher is common in the army. One of my friends asked why I addressed my SNCOs with their rank title and I explained it to him, and he told me that in the army, any enlisted that ranks as sergeant or higher is just called "sergeant" when addressed. So with multiple militaries coming together and people moving around, tradtions would have shifted and that's why we see certain inconsistencies with word usage, like soldier/marine or calling marines "sarge" or "sergeant" despite them ranking much higher than that.

damn! This video was pretty good.

You could compare the ODST to a Paratrooper or Recon element then, like the British Pathfinders or Parachute Regiment.

I noticed some of these things too. However, I’m curious as to whether or not other countries take these traditional distinctions so seriously or if it’s just a thing with the U.S. military.

The invincible marine chips dubbo was spotted

About time someone debunked this. Yes, as a kid, I called the troopers marines, but quickly found out that majority of the soldiers seen on Reach are a part of the UNSC Army. The only time marines are seen are on the final mission near the end. Now, I can understand why some people confuse the troopers with marines. Marines have always been an integral part of the Halo games, so it makes sense to automatically assume the troopers in Halo: Reach to be marines. And, even in CE:A, the marine models use the UNSC Army trooper model from Reach, so there's another reason people confuse soldiers and marines in Halo.

A very good video overall, but I was a bit disappointed that you did not compare the ranks of the U.S. Space Force to the UNSC Air Force.