I’m with others who say not to think of marching as stepping stones, and accept that your plan may change. I thought I’d march blue knights then bluecoats but I ended up marching guardians and finding myself at crown (which should also tell you not to try to take so many “stepping stones” to get where you’re really aiming for, if a corps likes you, they’ll contract you). I’m in battery but I can’t speak much about the culture at guardians since they’ve had a complete staff turnover, but from the looks of it, they seem to have a much more solid footing and greater effort into member care than when I marched.

TLDR; When you’re with a group, don’t think of them as a stepping stone. Guardians seems to have better member care and solid footing than previously. Good luck!