Which Branch Would You Join?

[sanantone]

Couple things I'd like to chime in about.
They Marines aren't under the Navy. They are a department of the Navy but are considered their own branch. That's why they have their own leadership and side of the Pentagon.
Each Marine battalion has its own doctor and group of corpsmen. They wear Marine uniforms and train right beside Marines. It doesn't matter if they are the battalion surgeon or a corpsman we call them doc. The docs that are attached to Marine Units are the closest people to be a Marine without actually joining the Marine Corps.

And that's why I said "In this instance" and had "branch" in quotes, because in the instance of becoming a doc, you can only do that in the Navy.  Yes, the Marines is it's own branch of the military, but in some instances, it's "under" the navy.  If you go to ROTC, you go for the 1st 2 years as Navy, and then you have to choose the "Marine option" to switch.  If you go the NAVAL Academy (there is no Marines Academy), you can choose the Marine option after 2 years there as well.

I wasn't saying it wasn't it's own branch, I was saying that there may be some cases where the Marines don't have their own thing, and at that point, it's through the Navy.  Which I thought was pretty clear by what I wrote.  But I guess not to everyone.

I thought it was clear. Their doctors and corpsmen are supplied by the Navy. The HPSP scholarship is for the Navy, Army, and Air Force. The USUHS medical school is for the Air Force, Army, Navy, and USPHS. 

Several of the branches are tied to the Navy. The Marines are a branch under the Department of the Navy. Even though the Coast Guard is under the Department of Homeland Security, if they are sent to war, they would go under the Navy. The NOAA Corps can also be sent to war under the Navy. I know USPHS medical professionals have been sent to war zones, but I don't know if they're sent under the Navy. I just know that they use Navy ranks and uniforms, and they are not considered civilians when sent to war. I think they wear Coast Guard Uniforms when assigned to Coast Guard units.