For real military medics etc.: LOAC, Geneva Conventions, and you.

[Afflixion]

Look at fallujah-- Marines were allowed to go in under the guise of total warfare--- all people in the city were to be assumed hostile. Right after the battle it was one of the safest cities in Iraq, and still is today.

Haha your hilarious fallujah safe? it has the most active medevac in OIF more IED dets than around VBC and JBB and most EFPs are there.

But back to the original question of the Geneva conventions now days they're more less follow them as needed I have never been told "no I cannot gun the 50" and as for less weaponry being a medic in an infantry unit we carry M4s and M9s and in regards to the the "being armed with a pistol" thing i know for a fact that a... "iraqi" seeing as I probably can't call them what we usually do here but back to the point is more willing to comply when he has a M9 pointed at him than an M4... I do not know why may be in fact that Sadam used to execute them with a pistol. But the Geneva convention should only apply to actual armies who are known to follow the geneva convention (us and Britain)

 

[mycrofft]

Good on you Afflixion, hang tough !!

Thanks for some real life commentary.
I worked with a former USAF Med TEch who in Nam use to man a door gun on a Huey "Slick"; seems fire supperssion worked better than red crosses there, too.
Comment on armed EMS in CONUS?

 

[Afflixion]

I say go for it seeing as I've been in a stack team multiple times usually in the 4th position and 5th was rear security. It's absolutely possible to stop initial life threats under fire but DONT ever try anything more than putting ona tourniquet putting your knee over a GSW to try and slow the hemmorhage until fire superiority is gained. that is preached in TC-3 but yes tac medics back in CONUS shouldb e allowed when i worked as a TacMedic at White Sands Missle Range i was armed with an M4 and XD45

 

[RocketMedic]

I'm a medic with an infantry platoon about to deploy, and although I'm not in a stack, I've got an M4 and an M9. My gear mostly goes on my vest, and I have my aid bag in the vehicle.

As for the Geneva Convention, well...I don't want to kill anyone. If I have to, then I'd rather be a living man to potentially regret the nessecity of my actions than a dead man who clung to his ideals in the wrong circumstances. But I will NEVER perform substandard medicine, and I will NEVER use my knowledge to harm another. If my superiors don't like that, then tough. I'm never hurting a person medically.

 

[mycrofft]

Hope you can keep that, Rocketmedic

I was a Cold Warrior mostly, so it was academic.
You shold drop Afflixion a line.

 

[HNcorpsman]

im a navy FMF 8404 corpsman assigned to a marine corps unit... the way i was taught and see it, is that i am basically a grunt infantry marine. UNTIL someone gets hurt, then i become a corpsman and i do my job... until then, however i do exactly what my marines do, KILL.

 

[mycrofft]

No no HN Corpsman! Not "Killing"!

You are "facilitating the enemy's wish to die for their country", or whatever!

 

[HNcorpsman]

haha... sorry, marines are CRAZY and its rubbing off on me...

 

[mycrofft]

Our doc in Saudi said "everyone ought to have their own Marines at least once".

She took good care of them and everyone who needed it, and they in turn got her anything she needed, Hummer, good rats, new cot and extra stuff for her hooch.

 

[HNcorpsman]

hummer!!! did she do more than "take care of them"

 

[thrilla82]

ive been a medic in the infantry for 6 years now. in my deployment to iraq i did everything from gunning ( 50, 240, and the mk19), to dismounted patrols with either my m4 or a saw (which looked funny with an aid bag on). here in afghanistan i carry a m4/203 and m9. i get asked all the time, why does a medic have a 203 and i reply with the, "well if your on a 12-16 man team on the border, tell me you wouldnt want a little extra fire power." when bullets start flying, no one cares what weapon system your firing, as long as you can still fire whats in your hands. so like whats been said before, unless im doing medical treatment, ill be looking for the biggest or closest gun and putting rounds down range.

 

[HNcorpsman]

awww i wish i had a 203 on my M4

 

[mycrofft]

"HumVee".

If they'd heard you say that about this doc they'da fragged you. One of the best people on the planet.

 

[thrilla82]

its fun to have and great in fire fights but man it sucks humping this thing up mountains. oh well, you win some and lose some lol.

 

[HNcorpsman]

sorry mycrofft, i really wasn't sure if you were joking, or not, its hard to tell online.

thrilla- yeah when i was going through mountain warfare training center in Bridgeport, CA and 29 palms i felt sorry for all the guys who had the 203s... but it would be fun to have in a firefight no doubt.

 

[Fireguy]

Im currently deployed in support of operation Iraqi Freedom. As for the geneva conventions, my platoon medic carries an M4 and a M9. Shes usually safe and sound in the back of an MRAP. Whenever she does dismount we usually have atleast two shooters with her for protection. They took all of our 203s though. :sad: I guess we arent suppose to blow anything up anymore but they also started to issue shotguns with non lethal rounds. Hah non thethal rounds in a combat zone...give me a break!

 

[mycrofft]

HN, no rancor here, just setting it straight.

Not much is fun in a firefight I gather, though.

I think the greater question has become whether or not asymmetry in combat extends to the niceties when other so-called civilized contries will accept these sort of illegal acts (targeting medics) if it serves their national interests.

And we are not totally clean here either. We as a country have refused to sign conventions against cluster munitions, indiscriminate laying of mines, biological and chemical warfare.

Is it really a new world or are we just hearing more about the seamy side?

 

[HNcorpsman]

she??? i wasn't aware that females were allowed in combat zones? i know for a fact they were not allowed on the ETT to afghanistan.

 

[Fireguy]

she??? i wasn't aware that females were allowed in combat zones? i know for a fact they were not allowed on the ETT to afghanistan.

Yes, we have many females(Military police unit) many of which are gunners. Many dont understand that this day in age MPs are nothing more than grunts. We complete combat patrols(mounted and dismounted) and run missions with the iraqi police on a daily basis. Ive been in the military police corps for a little over two years and ive never seen the inside of a patrol car besides the law enforcement week at MP school. I just wanted to explain that before i got the usual question about what MPs do in iraq.

 

[HNcorpsman]

yeah, thats a big difference with the marine corps and the army... the Marine MPs are far from infantry... and i dont think females are allowed to become infantry, i very well could be mistaken though...