Soldier reveals why he turned his back on the US Army to enlist in the Marine Corps instead

A soldier has revealed the surprising reason he decided to leave the US Army and reenlist in the Marine Corps.

Nicholas Brooklier, of Los Angeles, was a US Army captain before he decided to change branches and find a new life in the Marines. 

According to ZipRecruiter as of April 2024, a Marine Corp recruit in the US makes about $18.75 an hour. That is the equivalent of $37,500 a year. 

A US Army Captain with less than two years of experience makes more than $61,000 a year, while a captain with four years experience makes more than $81,000 a year, according to the US Army.

'I was kind of at a point in my life in the Army where I didn't really feel fulfilled,' Brooklier told Marine Corps. 

Nicholas Brooklier, of Los Angeles, was a US Army captain before he decided to change branches and reenlist in the US Marines 

Brooklier joined the Army as a transportation corps officer and left as a logistician. In 2018, he was commissioned through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Washington State University. (pictrued: Brooklier in a Christmas video from 2021) 

'So it was either get out and go to the civilian world, and to be honest, I did not want to do that. I felt like my time in the service wasn't over. I just felt like I needed a change in my environment.' 

He is scheduled to graduate from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego on Friday before he embarks on infantry training. His ultimate goal is to become a Marine infantry officer. 

Brooklier joined the Army as a transportation corps officer and left as a logistician. In 2018, he was commissioned through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Washington State University. 

He was seen in a video sending a Christmas video to his family in December 2021. 

'Just want to say thanks to all you guys back at home, I love you guys, happy holidays, go cougs,' he said. 

Instead of extending his contract with the Army, he decided to join the Marines after he met recruiter Lafayette Halmon. 

'I respected his high-level of commitment and conviction,' Halmon said. 

He is scheduled to graduate from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego on Friday before he embarks on infantry training. His ultimate goal it to become a Marine infantry officer

'It was a slow process, but he was willing to step backwards, basically from scratch, to move forward and earn his way into the Marine Corps. It motivated me in a way to put in the work for him and give him the opportunity to earn his title.' 

After nearly a year of preparations, Brooklier set out for boot camp in January and within two weeks, he completed The Crucible, a Marine recruit training capstone event.

The event must be completed by every recruit in order to become a Marine and consists of field exercises over the course of multiple days. 

According to Marine Recruit Depot San Diego, the training leads up to the moment where each recruit has an Eagle, Globe and Anchors pressed into their hand- something that Brooklier said is a reason why he 'chose the Marine Corps.' 

'The Eagle, Globe, and Anchor means a lot to me to try to become a United States Marine.' 

'I also realized that the Marine Corps is the nation's premier 9-1-1 Crisis Response Force, and that gave me a lot of purpose in my life, to continue down that path,' he said.