Navy Corpsman

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Comment by Daniel Melia on October 20, 2009 at 4:44pm

Dixie, they do say "join the Navy and see the world". At age 25, N. California-raised Daniel has now spent significant time in Chicago, North Carolina, New Orleans, and Northern Iraq (though not under ideal tourist conditions.) These are opportunities few young people have. If you have enough time and money as a parent it's also an excuse to go to cool places. I've visited Chicago and New Orleans several times in the last 3 years, which has been fun, particularly when your son or daughter gets to "show you around". BTW, the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago is a great place for young sailors. They even have the only captured German U-Boat, and jet fighter flight simulators (I crashed).

Comment by J & G's Mom(AK Mom) on October 20, 2009 at 12:18pm

Joint Medical Training at Sam Houston will be great. They will now have to think purple (joint military), rather than Green, AF Blue and Navy Blue. Having worked for all three branches in various fashions, active duty, contractor and Civil Service, the new training center will be plus in many ways. Specifically since the military has been integrated in the field (Bleive me,it is all the same language with a different accent); however, each branch has their own culture and truly the culture is the element that makes them unique. Also, having worked for three of the branches, I perfer the USN due to its respect of leadership and histroy. Althouhg up here in the great north we have all (all branches under ALCOM) have learned how to live and work together despite our differences since the road system is limited. On the other hand, if you are pilot and have a plane to fly one does have an option.

Spoke to Jim and he said they issued orders and they have 4 more tests. then they will start clinicals. Sounds like they are ready to head out to the fleet, now that they know where they will be for the next few years. He was all happy for he got orders to FTBM and will be a East Coast Sailor. Yes, it is a mix blessing for he is happy with his orders; however, reality is that he will be far from home. Yet on the other hand, his desires and the needs of the USN clarified my decision it is time to start planning to become a snowbird; a home in AK and a condo down south so I will be able to visit him and Garrett (#2 son).

Take care and I really enjoy reading your comments and stories..Dixie

Comment by Cindy on October 19, 2009 at 9:31pm

Wow! I hope this works out to the benefit of all those who are in the medical field. Texas though? Hope they have air conditioning in the summer.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on October 19, 2009 at 8:03pm

NavyTimes Article: Oct, 19

Joint medical training to begin next summer


By Michelle Tan

mtan@militarytimes.com

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas — A move by the ser­vices to combine their enlisted medical training will bring more than 24,000 sol­diers, sailors and airmen here every year, starting next June.

The Medical Education Training Campus, the result of the 2005 base realignment and closure process, will school combat medics, corpsmen, radiology technicians and other specialties, said Col. Karen Cozean, the Army action officer for the METC. In all, 129 training programs will be moved here.

Only those who train to care for flight crews won’t make the trip to METC. The aerospace medicine school is moving from Brooks City-Base, Texas, to Wright-Patter­son Air Force Base, Ohio.

“The intent is to integrate the curriculum as much as possible but keep some of the ser­vice-specific training intact,” Cozean said.

Fort Sam Houston already is home to Army combat medic training; the Navy will move its “A” and “C” school from Naval Hos­pital Corps School in Great Lakes, Ill., and the Naval School of Health Sciences in San Diego and Portsmouth, Va.; the Air Force will move its training from Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas.

“This is all an attempt to not only make it easy for students but keep the training integrat­ed,” said Col. Kristan Wolf, the Air Force action officer for the METC.

Besides ease and efficiency, the project will save money, said Capt. Lori Frank, the Navy action officer for the METC. The savings — the ser­vices don’t have a dollar amount yet — will come from such things as sharing staff and equipment.

“There has never been a pro­ject like this before, to this level,” Frank said.

The 1.9 million-square-foot campus will cost $1.2 billion to build and equip. It will feature three dormitories, each housing 1,200 airmen and sailors; five build­ings with classrooms and laboratories; and a fitness center.

Two other dorms will be built nearby for Army students. One will house 1,200 sol­diers, the other 600. The 80,000-square-foot dining hall will be one of the largest in the military, with a seating capacity of more than 2,000.

Leading the METC will be an O-7 as com­mandant and an O-6 as deputy comman­dant. An E-9 will serve as the senior enlist­ed adviser, Cozean said.

A Navy officer will serve as the first com­ mandant, an Army colonel as the first deputy commandant and an Air Force chief master sergeant as the first senior enlisted. Those positions will be rotated through each service, Cozean said. Faculty members and support staff will total 1,400 people.

Airmen, soldiers and sailors will attend some of the introduc­tory courses together; later, stu­dents will take service-specific training, the action officers said. “There will be courses that are common to all three ser­vices,” Wolf said. “What we want is not just to save money, but when we go into theater, we want to be interoperable.” Said Frank: “I think the training my corpsmen will be getting is not ‘just as good,’ it’s going to be 10 times better. No other time have they been able to update their curriculum based on best practices.” Not only will officials glean each service’s best practices, but they’ll also implement the latest med­ical research and lessons learned, Frank said.

“A lot of services think we’re going to take away their heritage … but we’re doing our best to keep [that] intact,” she said.

Despite the understandable skepticism about how to consolidate the services’ train­ing programs, the action officers are confi­dent the training will be improved. “The METC is not changing the processes that the combat arms know and love,” Cozean said. “You’re still going to have your corps­man. You’re still going to have your medic. We'll just help them operate more effective­ly and work interoperably in theater.”

Comment by Cindy on October 17, 2009 at 10:03pm

Thanks Daniel ~ I have a pic of Morgan carrying a M16. It was strange to see because I know how easy going he is, almost passive. Good for CL! Funny about the tampons, but I can see it. Guess the docs gotta use anything they can out there! I'll check your page out as I've never seen a full battle rattle. How you guys come up with these little jingles, I'll never know!

Comment by Daniel Melia on October 17, 2009 at 8:23pm

Cindy, RE: rifles for corpsmen. Apparently, the deal is that the docs don't "qualify" on the M-16, but go through a thorough "familiarization" at FMTB. For pics of Daniel in full "battle rattle" with rifle, in Iraq, and with a target of Osama bin Laden at FMTB (Lejeune) see the pics on my home page. Also, Daniel was mainly in the BAS in Iraq, but most enjoyed stints with "Jump" platoon (ad hoc platoon made up from regular platoons for a special purpose--often escorting Sr. officers). I am happy to report that he never had to fire the thing in anger, but did get to use a varietyof medical skills. Apparently tampons are excellent for bullet wounds. Who knew?

Comment by Natalie S. on October 17, 2009 at 10:14am

Randy- Will be seeing Devin and his buddy Aaron today. Both new corpsmen. Will pass this on to them both. I'll thank you in advance for them on your advice. They both want to do right by "their Marines" . Aaron's pretty shy too. But Devin makes up for it. Curious and serious but likes to joke around to make it less stressful.

Ditto from Cindy - Thank you very much for your service and your continuing support. So important to have people like you as we all continue on this path.

Comment by Cindy on October 16, 2009 at 11:31pm

Thanks Randy. You helped me out immensly with that date. Morgan's assigned to a BAS due to his knee. He was assigned to the Kelo group, but they re-assigned him when they figured out what was going on. He was so bummed, wanted to be on the front line with "his guys". Will be interesting to see if he learns anything. I will definitely tell him to ask questions. He's a pretty shy quiet guy so his response will probably be "okay". There's no doubt in my mind that the Marines will take care of him, even if he's at the hospital behind concrete walls when he's deployed.

One last comment. Thank you for your service.

Comment by Natalie S. on October 16, 2009 at 6:37pm

Randy - lol!! 29 stumps creates a vision! lol! thanks. will pass along the tip to Devin. He was one of the Platoon Corpsmen during FMTB. He is very interested and excited about what he's learned and wants to know more.

I do find it amazing that they have so much to carry and drag around with them all the time! Even more so that they get in all in the bag! ha! I thought I was good at packing but I've got some lessons to learn. lol! Can't wait to see the blue cammies now.

Comment by Cindy on October 16, 2009 at 6:17pm

29 Stumps...I'll have to remember that. I'm glad Morgan's there in the fall. Maybe some of you retired Marine's can answer this question for me. What type of training is done at 29 Palms? It seem all corpsman have to report there either with their unit/platoon or BAS. Oh! Another question. When is the Marine's birthday? Seems there's a ball coming up at CP, would like to know the date.

Daniel ~ Glad to hear there's top notch equipment for the docs. I read, with interest, your comment about corpsman carrying M16's. While Morgan was in A School, the instructor told them since they were corpsman, they wouldn't be carrying a gun. After he got to CP, he said whatever he told us while in A School should be thrown out the window. When will GL and CP get on the same page. I'm getting confused. A 'ton' of medical equipment? I hear it's only about 10 lbs. Maybe that's the difference between a corpsman attached to a unit and a corpman attached to a BAS. Ugh.

Natalie ~ You're right. They have to buy the blue cammies, but not wear them. Go figure. I have a Navy Mom friend whose son works at the 29 Palms Hospital. She said he's seen everything already.

Randall ~ I'm looking forward to seeming my kid in blue cammies (he look better in blue than desert. heehee); however, when do they get to wear them?

James's Mom ~ Morgan requested Camp Pendleton because it was on the west coast. He didn't care much for the eastern part of the United States. You are a long ways away from the east coast! I'd keep those AK miles for myself.

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