Posted: 12/12/2007 10:14:38 PM EDT
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I have a pretty good friend who mentioned that he was a Navy Corpsman assigned to a Recon Team the other day. I have known this guy for over a year, and I have never ever known him to lie about anything. However I was shocked as heck. I personally just can’t see it. He is in very good shape, but I don’t see him being able to handle it mentally. He doesn’t have that mental strength… But, what do I know? If someone was assigned to Force Recon as a Corpsman, how tough is this? I think he was in around ’95 or so. I am not sure. |
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The docs that I knew who who were assigned to force recon were jump and dive qualified and went to goat school at Bragg. Note- back in the day, force recon was housed in a compound out on Onslow Beach (LeJeune- east coast). They trained all the time and were often on deployment. |
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Being assigned to Force Recon as a Corpsman is as tough as it is to be there as a Marine. Today, FR Corpsmen are a different kind of Corpsman, called SARCs(Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman). I don't know how long SARCs have been around, so it may not apply to someone who was there in 1995. |
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Its not like the movies where the "elite" forces are 6' 5" 280 lbs and can kill anything with there bare hands. I was training with a 18C and one of the guys was asking him about how good he was in "hand to hand" the guy said "if i was in a situation where i didn't have my rifle or pistol or knife that was a very bad day and I dont think a few combatives move would do shit, u are still fucked" we all thought it was funny Is Marine Recon under SOCOM? Whatever your friend was God bless the "DOCs" |
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What kind of training do they get at goat school? 
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If he's an FMF Corpsman, he's got plenty of mental toughness. Some of the hardest men to serve the Marine Corps were Sailors. |
This was news to me. I wouldn't have thought our HMs would be allowed to wear Marine uniforms. Learn something new everyday. -IT3 |
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I can't speak to whether the OP's friend was or wasn't a doc with Force, but I have never seen a Corpsman in Marine Dress Blues. Alphas (greens), yes, but never Blues. The above citation is for service uniforms -- Service A, also known as Alphas. Dress Blues are a dress uniform, a different kettle of fish entirely. |
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We do not wear Marine dress blues. We wear Alphas and Charlies, if we so desire. This is called "Marine Regs" and we must conform to USMC height/weight and grooming standards as well as passing the Marine Corps PFT. Some of the hardest people I have ever known could walk by you on the street and you would never notice them. There is a difference between Force and Battalion recon. The Recon Battalions, plenty of people have been in them without going through BRC or anything. They've even deployed without doing so. Not that Battalion guys aren't hard, but I spent plenty of time with them and regular infantry Marines in the field and on leave/libo I can't tell the difference.
We go to Marine Corps schools so that we can do so. Even if you're assigned to a unit, you can't wear them without going through those schools. I was with 5th Marines before I went to FMSS and I was one of two people at San Mateo wearing dungarees. |