# hospital corpsman on board



## HNcorpsman (Feb 8, 2009)

hello everyone... 

my name is greg and i am a Hospital Corpsman in the U. S. Navy... im here for any questions one might have on military, military medicine, and hospital corpsman, and anything else... i aswell have questions to.. when i get out i plan on getting an associates in paramedicine, and working as a paramedic...


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## ffemt8978 (Feb 8, 2009)

Moved to Luno's Lounge


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## Summit (Feb 8, 2009)

welcome!!!


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## flhtci01 (Feb 9, 2009)

Welcome aboard!


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## Griff (Feb 10, 2009)

Hey!

You aren't too far away from me; I'm an MA2 at CFA Sasebo (for the next 42 days, at least  ). Are you shore or sea duty right now?

-Griff


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## Paladin (Feb 10, 2009)

Welcome aboard shipmate.

HM3 here myself out over in NAES Lakehurst.

Stay safe


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## HNcorpsman (Feb 11, 2009)

im 8404 FMF corpsman so this is my sea duty... i am assigned to 3rd medical battalion, on camp hansen... nice to meet you MA2 and HM3, i myself am gearing up here to pass this test ad be called HM3 hopefully. haha


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## Griff (Feb 11, 2009)

Yeah the March exam is right around the corner; good luck!


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## Doug (Feb 12, 2009)

(former) HM3 (8404) LeJuene '99 here...oooOORAH.  4th MarDiv...God Bless you.  
   More HM's have been awarded (it's awarded not WON)  MOH than any other single MOS in any branch.


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## lcffemt (Feb 14, 2009)

*Just joined...*

I just enlisted in the Navy 13 Jan 2009, and plan on going to HM school after boot camp. I am in the DEP until my ship date 01 Oct 2009 (I am told there aren't any openings for HM until this time).

I have been a Registered Nurse since 2005 and worked in the ER until 2007, when I became an Organ Transplant Coordinator. I also have been an EMT since 2002. I took a change of scenery and moved to CA, worked on Camp Pendleton in the PX while waiting for my nursing license to change, and waited for a DOD nursing job, which hasn't happened. So, I had a little taste of the military, and made a lot of (mostly) marine friends. I did work with a woman, who's husband is an FMF Corpsman, and talked to him. As of now, I think this has most of my interest, which brings me to my first question.

What different 'types' of Corpsman are there, and how does it differ from say a nurse or EMT?

Also, any recommendations before leaving for boot? And... any other advice as far as Navy/Military or Corpsman specific?


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## HNcorpsman (Feb 14, 2009)

i hope you at least got E-3??? well im gonna tell you now, this :censored::censored::censored::censored: is gonna suck, and im not talking about boot camp... but you will see when you get there... your gonna feel like an idiot when you are going through your classes in corps school... haha. 

the navy probably has the most "types" and specialties of enlisted medical people than any other branch... there is a website on about.com that states all of the different "types" (NECs) of corpsman... for instance 0000 is your general corpsman... 8404 (me!!!) is your FMF corpsman... and so on and so on, you have recon corpsman, seal corpsman, x-ray techs, lab techs, preventative medicine techs, dive med techs, cardiology techs, all kinds of crazy :censored::censored::censored::censored:... 

honestly if i were you i would tell my recruiter to change my contract (probably not gonna happen since you already enlisted) you should have gotten the contract to say boot camp, corps school, "C" school, then FMTB... 
by the way what does your contract say?

i would say the closest thing to a corpsman would probably be a paramedic... but most of the :censored::censored::censored::censored: people learn is OJT... i didnt learn :censored::censored::censored::censored: in corps school...

before you leave fore boot camp, you should make sure your somewhat fit, i thought it was gonna kill me when i went but i actually gained wait in boot camp, and it wasn't muscle... 

another thing how old are you... this will determine if you will have a good first year on the navy or bad first year in the navy...


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## lcffemt (Feb 14, 2009)

Thanks for the reply! I'm 23 years old. And yes, I did get E-3 (thanks to being an Eagle Scout).

From what I have seen and talked to Corpsman, I'm thinking 8404 would be right up my alley. I totally understand that I'm gonna feel 'dumb' and that's fine with me. 

I don't have my contract with me right now, but I believe the only thing it has in it is for boot camp ship date and Corpsman School, and some extra college money. I was told (I know it doesn't mean it's true) that I would have to wait til boot camp to 'volunteer' for FMF, which would determine C school and FMTB. Probably not the case, my luck.

I have started working out, which is the biggest challenge for me, but I'm getting there. ER nursing makes you run around, but we ate a lot of junk food. And as a Transplant Coordinator, a lot of my time was spent at hospitals, at a desk, or briefly running around, eating hospital food, or take out, etc. So, I changed my eating habits and am getting back into the routine of working out again.


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## HNcorpsman (Feb 15, 2009)

good!  23 is a great age to go in... 

the process

BOOT CAMP- 2 months

corps school- 3-4 months try as hard as you can to get FMF orders because you might not get them even though you wrote that down... make it happen... i put down west coast shore duty... and i got overseas, FMF billet... who knew right? but im glad i got it, i love my job... 

PSI- 1 week- 4 months, this is a holding unit, this place is AWESOME, you will be either working at camp pendleton hospital, or camp lejune hospital, work hours are from 0800-1500 and no DUTY, cake!!! enjoy cali if you go to pendleton .. you PT alot but its good PT its not bull:censored::censored::censored::censored:

FMTB- 2-3 months be somewhat fit...

duty station- cali, north carolina, hawaii, japan... enjoy!


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## Doug (Feb 16, 2009)

Oh did you get SCREWED Icffemt.  An RN and you're going in ENLISTED?!?  You could have gone in as an O-2 at LEAST!  Plus Bonuses because they didn't have to pay for your schooling.  How the heck did you not talk to an Officer recruiter?  When I was in we had a guy join as an LPN (non degreed) and he was started at E-5 with the APG (adavanced Pay Grade) program.  
   Obviously as a former member of the military I am all for people wanting to do their duty, but you need to look out for yourself too.  Make them pay for your skills.  And if you are worried that you will be accused of being opprotunistic and unpatriotic for demanding compensation for your skills remember it is more patriotic to use the skills you have.  I would rather my brothers and sisters be treated by you, an RN with prior ER experience than an RN that has been in Admin and now being assigned to a shock trauma unit.
   PLEASE for the sake of those that will someday be in your care use the skills you have aquired in the proper setting.  Demand to renegotiate your contract.  It is NOT to late.


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## HNcorpsman (Feb 16, 2009)

he is right... your recruiter might tell you that once you deped in you cant get back out, but this is simply not true... talk to him about what you can do to get a commission... i was kinda wondering why you didnt go the officer route, maybe you dont want to be an officer, but remember even if you are an officer you can still be FMF... i have several LTs, LTJGs, and ensigns that are in my shock trauma platoon and FRSS...


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## lcffemt (Feb 17, 2009)

I only have my Diploma in Nursing, not my BSN, hence the reason I'm not an officer. I plan on getting my BSN as soon as I can, through the Navy.

Eventually, I would like to become an Officer, hopefully go through the Sailor to Admiral program.

Is it possible/too late to get FMF in my contract before I leave?


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## HNcorpsman (Feb 17, 2009)

yes, you can change it... it jsut depends if you will be able to take the :censored::censored::censored::censored: they give you for it... more than likely you will ask and they will automatically say it cant be done... if so, you need to go to the higher ranking people in the officer, (chief) if he dosnt let you change it... you need to call up meps and talk to someone about it...


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## lcffemt (Feb 17, 2009)

I think I can deal with it. Haha. I'll as the next time I am in the office. We have monthly DEP meetings, and the Chief is always there. Thanks for all the info. One of my friends is a Marine, in Iraq right now. But, he gave me a lot of tips before he deployed. It's a little hard to ask him questions now.


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## HNcorpsman (Feb 18, 2009)

what unit is he with?


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## lcffemt (Feb 18, 2009)

HMLA 369 Ordnance


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## HNcorpsman (Feb 18, 2009)

dont know it... haha i thought maybe just maybe i would recognize the unit... we actually had a couple guys get back from an education deployment to afghanistan to train the afgan army emergancy medicine... pretty awesome deployment if you ask me... i guess you live, eat, sleep, with them!!!


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## lcffemt (Feb 18, 2009)

Sounds pretty interesting. One of the docs I worked with in the ER is an Army Reserve Doc, I believe he was in Iraq that last time over. It has been over a year since he got back. It's amazing what can be done with what little medical equipment is available... when it works!


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## HNcorpsman (Feb 18, 2009)

true story...


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## AJ Hidell (Feb 19, 2009)

Griff said:


> You aren't too far away from me; I'm an MA2 at CFA Sasebo (for the next 42 days, at least  ).


Speaking of MOH, the last MOH in Iraq was an MA2, although he was operating as an SO2 at the time.


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