Admit it, you read that headline and thought, "Yeah! Marines are super cocky!" Well, you aren't exactly wrong. Hell, even if you are a Marine, you'll agree with that fact. But why are we this way? What is ingrained in our DNA that makes us so damn arrogant?

Marines already know the answer. We're reminded of it every day while we're on active duty. Higher-ups are constantly telling us that we're a bunch of morons with guns bad asses backed by a long and illustrious history of proof. But, if questioned by anyone outside of the Corps, we might not have an easy answer. Furthermore, service members in other branches might be supremely annoyed by the arrogance -- and who could blame them?

So, if you're wondering why this is, here's your answer:



History As mentioned above, Marines can always point to their history as proof that we really are as badass as we say. Of course, higher-ups and drill instructors might have you believe that it's because Marines have never lost a battle or retreated but... that's not exactly true. Marines have definitely had to surrender, but that doesn't mean they didn't fight like hell beforehand. When Marines had to surrender, you can bet that they made the enemy pay for it with blood. Regardless, Marines have a history of (usually) winning battles, typically against overwhelming odds. Victory comes at a high price. The ability to do this is certainly something to be proud of. The fighting spirit and notorious reputation we've gained throughout history is a huge source of arrogance for us. (U.S. Marine Corps)

Training Whether Marine Corps boot camp is, in fact, the toughest basic training in the military is impossible to prove, but one thing is for sure: it sucks. And then after that, if you're a grunt, you'll go to the School of Infantry and, any one of us will tell you that SOI sucks way worse than boot camp ever could. Even when you hit the fleet, you'll still have to train for deployments, and that sucks, too. But through the experience of "The Suck," you gain a lot of pride. You overcome these insane challenges that you never thought you could, and you understand that you did so by digging deep into your own spirit to find the motivation. Overcoming the challenge of boot camp is just the first step. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Justin J. Shemanski)

Lifestyle The lifestyle of a Marine is, in short, not that great — especially considering that we almost exclusively get leftovers no one else wanted. We work with trash and usually come out on top regardless. Remember the training we were talking about? It sucks worse than everyone else's (outside of special forces) because we simply don't have the ability to make it any easier. But who needs easy when you're a badass? Not Marines. If there's anything that lends itself to the arrogance of a Marine, it's the lifestyle. Having to live in barracks with broken air conditioning during the summer in Hawai'i or the Stumps, eating garbage mess hall food, having strict rules regarding everything, etc. These are all things that make us believe we're better than everyone else because we know that we have it tough, but that's what makes us so damn good. Even something as simple as morning PT sucks. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Carlos Cruz Jr.)