What does GI means in the USA army?

Question

I would like to know what the term GI means when referring to a USA soldier. Also please does anyone knows the distinction between the role of the corps of the marines and the regular army?

Thanks

Joseph

Answer 1

'Government Issue' all items of supply issued to private soldiers and non-commissioned officers for their use since the American Civil War and had to be returned to the Army after use.  'Private Purchase' were military items that were brought out of pocket by officers and senior non-commissioned officers for their use and remained their private property.

Being 'all G.I.' was a soldier who was properly equipped with the most current issue or acceptable substitutes.  The USMC became G.I. first in the American Civil War and again later in the First World War when they were required to accept the issue of uniforms and equipment from U.S. Army sources.  The USAF originated out of the U.S. Army in 1947 so in a sense they have always been 'G.I.'  The U.S. Navy is 'G.I.' in shore operations which required them to be dressed and equipped IAW with Army/Marine standards since WWII.  Commonly items of high end equipment such as field radios were often designated as 'AN/PRC' for 'Army Navy/Portable Radio Communications' as in the AN/PRC25/77 series of radios...  

Answer 2

Two correct answers, Government Issue and General Issue. Both are terms once used to refer to average items in the military. When soldiers refer to themselves as "GI's", they mean average, everyday, ordinary soldiers. (as opposed to hero-types)

Answer 3

Government Issue!  I was in the army....and back in 1970 it meant Government Issue.  Each GI is the property of the government!  They pounded that into our heads all the time...they owned us!

I use Wikipedia a lot and find it surprisingly reliable, although of very uneven quality regarding spelling and style. On this question, however, I will cite Colin Powell against Wiki. He says "G.I." means "government issue," and I choose to believe he is a higher authority than Wiki.

The use of the term G.I. originated in the 1930s to designate government issue items provided to U.S. Army Troops. It became more prevalent when the Army began to mobilize in 1940 and it included the TROOPS THEMSELVES!

http://books.google.com/books?id=ygqNt3r...

According to the site below,:

'GI is an old World War II term that means General Issue and Government issue. It was used to describe regulation equipment, but was applied to the common soldiers in WWII. So GI Joe sort of means 'Average Joe'. (For more info, see entry at Dictionary.com)'

http://www.joeheadquarters.com/faq.shtml

Answer 4

General Issue

Answer 5

Ground Infantry.  

Not much difference in the role of Marines and Army.... they both are  bullet catchers (Just a little rivalry humor.. I am retired Navy I have nothing but respect for them)

Answer 6

general incorporater

Answer 7

General Infantry. Every member of the Girl Scouts or Marine Corps is a GI first, then specific MOS 2nd.

Answer 8

Government Issue

The Marines are a branch of the Navy. If I am not mistaken, there is at least one Marine assined to every Navy ship.

Answer 9

The abbreviation of G.I. Stands for Government Issue, or, General Issue, and is derived from the old government issued 'Galvanized Iron' garbage cans that the military used all the way back in 1917. The garbage cans were issued by the government and were made of galvanized iron.

The term moved forward and evolved to mean almost any government issue item, and ultimately become synonymous with human troops around the beginning of WW II. We called everything government issue from soap to rifles.

G.I. Joe means "Government Issue Joe".

EDIT:

I just found this on Wikipedia:

GI or G.I. is a term describing members of the U.S. armed forces or items of their equipment. It may be used as an adjective or as a noun. The term is often thought to be an initialism of "Government Issue" or "General Infantry" but the origin of the term is in fact galvanized iron after the letters "GI" that used to denote equipment such as metal trash cans made from it in U.S. Army inventories and supply records.[1][2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_(militar...

Answer 10

govenrment issue!  been there!

Answer 11

It doesn't actually stand for anything!

Unbelievable!

Answer 12

General Idiot

The term is often thought to be an initialism of "Government Issue" or "General Infantry" but the origin of the term is in fact galvanized iron after the letters "GI" that used to denote equipment such as metal trash cans made from it in U.S. Army inventories and supply records

Answer 13

It means government issue.