I drive by the CB base every morning and got to thinking about some stuff today.  I figured ARFCOM was the quickest place to find out...

Do Navy corpsmen/medics serving with combat arms units get special training or is it all OJT?

Do they where the same uniforms (MARPAT) nowadays?  Will the rest of the Navy be going to MARPAT?

Does a combat arms medic stay with the Marines forever/as long as they want or might it be serving with marine grunts one tour and then on to a ship?

Why don't the Marines just train there own medics?  Not to dis the Navy guys, lots of proud history there, just the Marines have a lot of seperate MOSs so why not a medic one?

Historically and presently the Navy has provided the Marines w/ medics/docs/etc.
They are highly regarded in the Unit and Very Well Taken Care Of.
Why fix what aint broken?  They are assigned to all Marine Corps field units and their (their) rotation is regulated by the USN.  We had some doc's come and go for reasons unbenounced to us.

They do get some specialized field training (moreso than the USN provides otherwise) and also trained right along side of us.  

Remember, the corps is not its own branch of military, it is under the Dept of the Navy.

As a Navy Corpsman I under went:

Navy Recruit Training- 9wks
Basic Hospital Corps School- 14 wks NEC HM 0000
USMC Field Medical Service School (kinda like marine boot for Corpsmen)- 8wks NEC 8404
18months- follow on training at Naval Hospital, worked ER/EMS
Then completed the 72 week Amphib Recon pipeline to earn NEC 8427

Non Stop field training/deployment rotation when I got to Fleet Marine Force

Sea/Shore rotation 5 years out/ 2 years in.   Once you are FMF you have a wider range of assignments for Sea Duty than regular Corpsmen/Sailors.

Combat Corpsmen make up less than 10% of the rating so it is a small world and once you go "green side" the rest of the Navy treat you differently.

I went Marine Regs so I wore MC dress and utility uniforms, of course I had to meet the standards for PT and Height/Weight set for the Corps.  I earned the right to wear the EGA.

Course after all that I went back in the Army where I had come from.

there have 20+ Corpsmen win the MEDAL serving with the Corps, in Korea 5 of the 7 MOH awarded in actions involving Marine units were awarded to Doc.

Semper Fi,
Doc

Quoted: Remember, the corps is not its own branch of military, it is under the Dept of the Navy.

The Men's department

the only MEN in the Corps, are Corpsmen.

Read the Medal Of Honor Citations of the Corpsmen, most died unarmed taking care of business.

Quoted: Quoted: Remember, the corps is not its own branch of military, it is under the Dept of the Navy. The Men's department

lmao

btt

Quoted: As a Navy Corpsman I under went: Navy Recruit Training- 9wks Basic Hospital Corps School- 14 wks NEC HM 0000 USMC Field Medical Service School (kinda like marine boot for Corpsmen)- 8wks NEC 8404 18months- follow on training at Naval Hospital, worked ER/EMS Then completed the 72 week Amphib Recon pipeline to earn NEC 8427 Non Stop field training/deployment rotation when I got to Fleet Marine Force Sea/Shore rotation 5 years out/ 2 years in.   Once you are FMF you have a wider range of assignments for Sea Duty than regular Corpsmen/Sailors. Combat Corpsmen make up less than 10% of the rating so it is a small world and once you go "green side" the rest of the Navy treat you differently. I went Marine Regs so I wore MC dress and utility uniforms, of course I had to meet the standards for PT and Height/Weight set for the Corps.  I earned the right to wear the EGA. Course after all that I went back in the Army where I had come from. there have 20+ Corpsmen win the MEDAL serving with the Corps, in Korea 5 of the 7 MOH awarded in actions involving Marine units were awarded to Doc. Semper Fi, Doc

+1

I never had a problem with our docs, they were good people, they took care of us and we tried to take care of them.  They were in our family period.

We cross trained ours. Sure they got the field work done before coming to us but we made sure they could fire a rifle and machine gun because you never know when you need the skill.  Their PO would get pissed when he found his corpsmen firing on our ranges because if they got hurt they were SOL.  But our corpsmen always wanted to cross train with us.

As a boot I did look cross eyed at a corpsman at  Camp LeJeune in our dress green Alphas with naval insignia.  Took an old hand to explain it to me.

SoS

Quoted: We cross trained ours. Sure they got the field work done before coming to us but we made sure they could fire a rifle and machine gun because you never know when you need the skill.  Their PO would get pissed when he found his corpsmen firing on our ranges because if they got hurt they were SOL.  But our corpsmen always wanted to cross train with us. SoS

My experience as a Corpsman mirrors this. Our Chief tolerated the cross-training to a certain extent. However, we were not allowed to do the more 'dangerous' stuff more than a couple of times. I only ever got to throw a granade once. Rifle range time was limited as well.

As an 8427 I was a shooter first , medic second.  I was assigned as the SAW gunner.

We did all the dangerous (fun) stuff the Marines did, in the field you could not tell who was Marine and who was Doc.  For us preventive medicine meant the ability to kill the enemy before they could hurt your Marines.

Amen!

Why? Answer = it's the NAVY - MARINE CORPS team.  

All medical personnel who provide services to the USMC are Navy. From doctors who deliver dependent babies to dental assistants who assist with pullling wisdom teeth, that's on any Navy or Marine Corps installation - even Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

By the way the only recruits who attend "BOOTCAMP" are sailor's and Marines.

Hospital Corpsman assigned to Marine Corps units are under the direction of the commandant of the Marine Corps to my knowledge.

Recently HM's and dental technicians merged to one rating - HM.

Do the corpsmen stay with the unit at all times? say at the platoon level? In army infantry units we would only have our medics with us when deployed to the field.  In Korea this ment all the time, lived with the platoon etc.  But stateside we only met them when we went to the field.   This did not build a relationship of course but probably made administration easier (what the people who make the decisions care about of course)

In Korea we had everyone with us, fire direction guys, ADA guys etc attached at the company level.  With medics attached at the platoon level (one per) and they would either do our day to day stuff with uss but also pulled shifts in the battalion aid station.  Folks not in the actual unit but part of the TO&E.   This was never the case in the states.

Again I have the utmost respect for the Navy Corpsmen I was just wondering how the relationship worked.

I did not go the 8404 route.  I spent my time swinging with the wing at Cherry Point.

I was treated like gold by the Marines I treated.  Now that I am out, I get nothing but respect from the retirees and vets that I work with.

god bless navy corpsmen and their miracle motrin!