Navy hospital corspman? (boot camp, Marines, uniform, credit)
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Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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Dang it, I have a typo in the title and can't figure out how to edit it. Should be "corpsman". [mod note] Fixed! In the future, just contact any moderator and she or he will change the title. [/mod note]
My son wants to enlist and become a Navy hospital corpsman. Ultimately, he wants to become a surgeon. I think he may be misunderstanding a few things:
1) he thinks he can choose where he serves
2) he doesn't seem to be phased by being stuck on a ship or submarine. I would think this is a huge adjustment.
3) he believes he will not be in any combat areas
4) He thinks this is a "contract" position. I mean, it looks like enlistment to me. I'm not thinking he can quit until he serves his time.
5) If he enlists, will they really let him be a hospital corpsman or can they change their minds and put him in another area, based on need?
It use to be the Navy would guarantee for you to be educated (sent to schools) in a specific Rating (Job) but if along the way you failed for any reason, they would put you in "General Fleet" and use you where they saw fit. No choices of anything. You had to serve your enlistment time regardless.
I enlisted for 4 years and was guaranteed Electricians Mate (EM) school. After Boot Camp on to 6 weeks of Electrical and Electronics Prep School (E&EP) then on to EM Class A School for 4? weeks. If at any time I failed, out to the General Fleet my a$$ went for the balance of the 4 years. While at EM School, I volunteered for Submarine School. Off I went.
Dang it, I have a typo in the title and can't figure out how to edit it. Should be "corpsman".
My son wants to enlist and become a Navy hospital corpsman. Ultimately, he wants to become a surgeon. I think he may be misunderstanding a few things:
1) he thinks he can choose where he serves
2) he doesn't seem to be phased by being stuck on a ship or submarine. I would think this is a huge adjustment.
3) he believes he will not be in any combat areas
4) He thinks this is a "contract" position. I mean, it looks like enlistment to me. I'm not thinking he can quit until he serves his time.
5) If he enlists, will they really let him be a hospital corpsman or can they change their minds and put him in another area, based on need?
Does anyone have any experience with this?
Some good answers provided already, but I'll just add:
1) While he may have a say in what geographic area he serves in (and corpsmen seem to have greater options due to being in numerous locations--alongside ITs and maybe YNs I think--than most rates, I'd wager) in terms of being able to provide input, ultimately his placement will be based on the "needs of the Navy." That said, detailing teams do generally consider where you want to be placed, and your preference for specific placements may be higher if you're coming from challenging duties, etc. But if he wants to be a surgeon, I wager he'd be a one enlistment and done and then attempt to use his GI bill to help pay for college/med school. Note, regarding the GI bill, if this is his plan, he should understand the terms under which he can use it, to include length of time so that he isn't expecting it to cover both college and med school. The good thing is that, if he doesn't have a college degree already, he may very well be able to get college credits for much of what he does on a day to day basis on his job. If he's looking to use Tuition Assistance to help obtain additional college credits while serving on active duty, he should also be aware that there are new time-in-service requirements before being eligible for TA today.
I'll add that there is the possibility of attending medical school paid for by the military and there is a uniformed services health commissioning program/medical school, but those programs are highly competitive and I would not go into things thinking that you'll get one of those slots if that's what he has in mind.
2) He may very well enjoy ship/submarine duty, but he may not.
3) As as been mentioned, you never know. Odds are good that he would not, but that's not a guarantee that can be given to him.
4) Yes, he would be under a "contract," specifically a contract of enlistment. But, absent some unique situations, he isn't able to get out of said contract easily without consequence/risk of losing his GI bill and other benefits. In short, he'd be expected to complete the terms of the contract, to include serving for "x" number of specified years on active duty.
Dang it, I have a typo in the title and can't figure out how to edit it. Should be "corpsman".
My son wants to enlist and become a Navy hospital corpsman. Ultimately, he wants to become a surgeon. I think he may be misunderstanding a few things:
1) he thinks he can choose where he serves
2) he doesn't seem to be phased by being stuck on a ship or submarine. I would think this is a huge adjustment.
3) he believes he will not be in any combat areas
4) He thinks this is a "contract" position. I mean, it looks like enlistment to me. I'm not thinking he can quit until he serves his time.
5) If he enlists, will they really let him be a hospital corpsman or can they change their minds and put him in another area, based on need?
Does anyone have any experience with this?
1. There is some level of choice in duty station. But it often involves choosing the best of several undesirables.
2. The Navy in particular, and the military in general, are not for someone that requires "personal space".
3. Depends on the circumstances in the world during one's period of service. One should keep in mind that as the Marines do not have a medical corp, Navy Corpsmen can be assigned to a Marine combat unit.
4. It's both an enlistment and a contract. Which has both the good and bad aspects of contracts. The bad being breach of contract on the service members part, has much more negative consequences than in the civilian world.
5. I don't know if this still exists, but in my day, there was such a thing as a guaranteed school and training in a particular rate (job). This was accomplished in the recruiting phase by scoring well on entrance exams. The enlistee still has to make it through boot camp and graduate from the appropriate school.
Being a hospital corpsman means you could end up in a USA located military hospital/base, serving on a ship or submarine, or in a Marine combat unit. Once a corpsman it’ll be easy to become a civilian paramedic after enlistment if he doesn’t continue his studies. I’ve known some corpsman who took courses for a higher medical position. Knew one guy who was studying to be a radiologist. If attached to a base in USA then he’d have the opportunity for university study. Could do some university study on ships but it’s more difficult. Perhaps it’s easier with online access that wasn’t available when I was in. On ships a corpsman will deal with stitches, STDs, and those who show up for any little cough and sniffle.
2) he doesn't seem to be phased by being stuck on a ship or submarine. I would think this is a huge adjustment.
Serious question; isn't submarine service one of those where folks opt-in? And doesn't it bring with it better pay since the nature of living on the sub is more difficult?
In any case...there are 350K people in the Navy, from all walks of life, from the best and brightest nuclear physics students to recruits from far more humble backgrounds, and they seem to handle living on a ship just fine.
He may serve on a ship, but he won't be forced onto a sub.
As long as his contract specifies the rate he wants, he should be fine. It is a contract of enlistment but, no, you don't quit in the middle of a contract without serious negative repercussions. Does he really think that, or do you think that he thinks that because he is using the term "contract"?
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,640 posts, read 11,937,291 times
Reputation: 9885
Quote:
Originally Posted by joe from dayton
He may serve on a ship, but he won't be forced onto a sub.
As long as his contract specifies the rate he wants, he should be fine. It is a contract of enlistment but, no, you don't quit in the middle of a contract without serious negative repercussions. Does he really think that, or do you think that he thinks that because he is using the term "contract"?
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,640 posts, read 11,937,291 times
Reputation: 9885
Thank you all for your responses they are very helpful.
From my understanding a corpsman would end up as an EMT, paramedic, medical assisting, home health aid...that type of thing, in the civilian world.
My son currently attends community college and can graduate in 2 years with a radiology tech degree. He thinks that he can enlist in the Navy and get out with that degree equivalent.
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