# Need some advice on 68W/Corpsman



## COMedMarine14 (Jan 26, 2014)

Good evening folks,
I just joined this thread so bear with me here.  I have done quite a bit of reading into my predicament and haven't been able to find anything that exactly answers my question on the head so I've decided to ask here.  A little bit about myself first.  I am currently a reservist in the United States Marines.  I have been doing this for about two years.  Now don't get me wrong I love the Marines and everything they stand for but I have realized that this is not my calling in life.  I am currently taking EMT B courses here in Colorado and would like to pursue this further into a medical career preferably in the military as possibly a PA.  I am from a military family spanning generations with my father being currently still in the Navy. I love the Naval Service and I have worked under many great Docs in the Corps as I've taken basic medical courses with them.  My issue is this: I would like to further my medical education here in the state of Colorado and am having a hard time finding programs that cover Marines or the Navy in general for medicine. I've learned that unless I move to Boulder and sign up for the Naval ROTC program I am going to have to pay for my bachelors out of pocket.  I have looked into switching to the Naval Reserve to be a Corpsman or possibly to the ARNG or AF Reserve to help cover school because the Army and AF have programs at my local college.  I would like to know if there are any old 68W or Corpsman on this page who could give a fellow service member their point of view in their particular branch and career field. I am just afraid that I will take myself out of my current situation and put myself in one that could possibly be worse.  I understand the service rivalries and I am not trying to start a D*** measuring contest.  I just want some down to earth knowledge from some old salts. Thank you all for your time and have a great evening.


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## COMedMarine14 (Jan 27, 2014)

*Clarification*

Sorry if it seemed my thoughts were all over the place.  What I am asking for is Has anyone joined the Reserves or NG as a 68W to further their education and gone on to be an officer? 
Respectfully,
COMedMarine14


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## COMedMarine14 (Jan 30, 2014)

*Additional Info*

Does anyone know if there is any truth to what I heard about already having the EMT Basic Certification cuts the first 8 weeks out of the 68W course at Ft Sam?


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## Handsome Robb (Jan 30, 2014)

COMedMarine14 said:


> Does anyone know if there is any truth to what I heard about already having the EMT Basic Certification cuts the first 8 weeks out of the 68W course at Ft Sam?




It may and it may not. Generally it could but that's not a for sure thing. If there isn't a class to fast track to there's not much they can do for you.

I am not military and never have been. I was toying with going to MEPS and joining the NG aeromedical unit stationed here but haven't made up my mind yet.

All my information is from an NCO from that unit who I work with on the street.

Even being a Paramedic there was the chance I'd have to repeat the EMT-B portion of AIT.


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## DrankTheKoolaid (Jan 30, 2014)

I would ask a recruiter but even if they did allow EMT basic to knock time off, Im sure they mean NREMT registration which you didn't specify


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## RocketMedic (Jan 30, 2014)

It does indeed knock off the first eight weeks.


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## Luno (Jan 31, 2014)

*RocketMedic is right...*



RocketMedic said:


> It does indeed knock off the first eight weeks.



Yes it does, if you have NREMT, if you don't have NREMT you can try to challenge the NREMT with a same or higher credential.  Well, it knocks off weeks 2 - 8 in my experience.


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## jgmedic (Jan 31, 2014)

Robb said:


> It may and it may not. Generally it could but that's not a for sure thing. If there isn't a class to fast track to there's not much they can do for you.
> 
> I am not military and never have been. I was toying with going to MEPS and joining the NG aeromedical unit stationed here but haven't made up my mind yet.
> 
> ...



Robb, is that the unit that is shared between CA and NV ARNG? I looked into that last year and was told they had no open positions, at least in CA. I was also told that you can not enlist directly into that unit, that you need at least 18mos time in grade IIRC prior to trying for the flight medic. Any differences from what you heard, as I am very interested in this as well.


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## blackcanyon (Mar 15, 2014)

Current active duty 68W here. If you already have your EMT-B, they will fasttrack you through AIT. And as a 68W, you should get some clinical experience while you're in. With the deployments winding down though, you're unlikely to deploy to Afghanistan, and even less likely to see any combat-related trauma downrange. 

The thing your recruiter won't tell you is how much of a crap shoot your experience as a 68W will be. You could be doing anything from being a line medic for an infantry unit chasing after Taliban in the mountains, to working in the burn unit at BAMC, to getting stuck somewhere doing absolutely nothing medical because your unit wants you to be a mail handler or some :censored::censored::censored::censored:. The 68W program is decent, but the on-the-job training is what really shapes you. If you have the misfortune of getting stuck in the wrong unit, or under ate up NCOs (and trust me I've seen my share), you will be hating life. 

If you're up for it I would recommend trying out for SF, Ranger or Civil Affairs. If you get selected, they send you to the special operations medical course, which is an excellent program where you'll learning all kinds of :censored::censored::censored::censored: you'll never be able to do as a paramedic in the civilian world. The PA program should be a cakewalk after that.

Also, they recently restructured the 68W program and formed separate MOSs for ortho, practical nurse, ENT etc. so I'd look into those as well.


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## hogwiley (Mar 17, 2014)

I cant say I've ever met a Corpsman who had been a Marine, or even heard of one. I have heard of it going the other way with a Corpsman getting out of the Navy and going to Marine Bootcamp.

It doesn't help that at least when I was in the Marines sometimes there was an unspoken belief that Corpsman were the weakest link. Usually because they had enough medical sense to know when Marines were doing something harmful or stupid(which was often). Corpsman were supposed to be the voice of reason. 

I kind of blame this mentality for delaying my entry into health care because it had been so ingrained in me that Marines don't do that kind of thing. 

Probably a good thing this mentality is changing.


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## Handsome Robb (Mar 22, 2014)

jgmedic said:


> Robb, is that the unit that is shared between CA and NV ARNG? I looked into that last year and was told they had no open positions, at least in CA. I was also told that you can not enlist directly into that unit, that you need at least 18mos time in grade IIRC prior to trying for the flight medic. Any differences from what you heard, as I am very interested in this as well.




It is split.

Maybe in CA they didn't. I was going straight in until I blew my back and shoulder and the recruiter told me there was nothing he could do for me anymore.

I work alongside nearly every medic in that unit on the ground so I had a cheater way in.


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