What do HM's actually do while in the fleet?
 

I just got my rate as HM last week but I am super curious if it is like the recruiter said itd be.

When do you ship?

It really depends on a number of things to include your command or whether you have a specialty, or what your rank is. What exactly did your recruiter say it would be like? My husband and many of our friends are HM's so maybe I can answer some things for you.

"HM=Here's Motrin"

The sarcastic side of me would say... 1. check marines for STDS 2. use the silver bullet when someone passes out 3. Hit on air force chicks when you are in A-school (my hm friend say they are a nice change from navy bootcamp girls)

But in reality it depends on your specialty or whatchemacallit... my friend is a lab technician, there are cardiovascular biotechnician. There are a lot of different specialties that you will decide when in A-school.

HM can depend on a few things on what they do...basically you are the civilian side equivalent of a CNA, Certified Nurses Assistant..you take general medical information, temp, pulse, and write up the complaints. Hand out asprin or tylenol...if you choose as a male to be trained as a medic for a Marine unit to be deployed with them, you are much higher and do a lot of things an EMT would do to prepare an injured Marine or Soldier to be transported for sugery...my friends son was a navy HM medic with a Marine unit..he was killed in action. My nephew was a navy medic with a Marine unit and was blown up with an IED, and lost one leg...just know what you are getting into when you choose to go with a Marine unit.

Thanks for this post, I've been more interested in the FMF side of HM. I'm curious to what HMs do during work hours out the fleet?

My rate is HM as well...appreciate the info guys :)

Hey I know nothing about this post but I saw your post and just wanted to say thank you for showing the "other" side. Now things people just tell you the positive. They don't give you the full picture of how dangerous it could be so you can truly make a decision. Anyways... We need more to the point, down to earth people like you :)

My husband has been an FMF HM for seven years and I have a lot of friends through him that are in several different specialties. To compare an HM to a CNA is really oversimplifying things. What you do will depend on the doctor you work under, the specialty you choose and the experience you have as well as your rank and what command you are at. Sweetmtn, it really sound like you are trying to make FMF Corpsman doom and gloom. I am sorry for your loss but it is a very rewarding job for people who are a good fit with Marines. Never call an FMF Corpsman a Navy Medic. If I called my husband that he would lose his mind. Anyway, there are HM's who are Radiology Techs, Dental Techs, Lab Techs, Nuke Med Techs, Surgical Techs, Search and Rescue Corpsman (they can test for the civilian flight medic exam), etc. Since the draw downs some specialties are harder to get than others. 2 months ago Spec War Fields (SAR, Dive Med Tech, etc.) were hot fills. FMF, according to my husband's new guys is hard to get. It's even harder to get stationed with the Marines after FMTB because they're disbanding some units.

Even Corpsmen with no specialty do more than a CNA depending on the department they work in at a hospital. Corpsmen in the ER at the Naval Hospital here do triage, give non-IV meds, do dressing changes, suture, clean wounds. The doctors here have even let some of them completely manage patients on their own if they have the appropriate skills. My husband was first with a Marine unit's scout sniper team. He was their Doc during 3 combat deployments. He's now at the hospital. He and the others that came from the same unit all head departments like the ER, Personnel, Human Resources, Education and Training, etc. most of them work a few shifts in the ER on busier days. He deployed from
The hospital to a hospital in Afghanistan along with one of the respiratory tech Corpsmen. She managed ventilators in the ICU and he managed airway (intubations, placing patients on ventilators, etc.) with his trauma team. If they got too many casualties he managed his own patients.

It's really up to you what kind of corpsman you want to be. The ones that end up in leadership positions either have the natural ability for it or work really hard to develop those skills. My husband worked really hard to get where he is. Sometimes I came second to his job but I respect that it was necessary. Now it's my turn. My husband and his friends from division spend a lot of time studying medicine and extra time in the hospital to keep their skills up now that they've gained so much rank that they push paperwork. Granted, that's not the sole way to not be treated like a CNA but, like I said, that's a gross oversimplification. Corpsman is way more complicated than that.

This is just what I have learned by talking to a lot of active duty Corpsmen. Hope this helps.

notjustaUSNwife, Thanks for the information. It is nice to get insight on actually what goes on in the HM world rather than just reading brochures. Seems like the job is very rewarding and respectful. appreciate the feedback

Does anybody know where all the different HM C-Schools are located? Or are all of them located at Fort Sam Houston. Specifically I am interested in Radiology Tech, Surgical Tech, and Respiratory Therapy Tech.

Check this site out, very informative:

C SCHOOL INFORMATION:
http://navyformoms.com/group/hmhospi...hool-locations

A SCHOOL INFORMATION:
http://navyformoms.com/group/hmhospi...olinsanantonio

I would recommend all FUTURE HM's to read this book:

http://www.nationaltraumainstitute.o...-mcgennis.html
Here is a sample of my nephew's book:
Derek McGinnis, a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy, was dispatched to pick up wounded marines during the 2004 Fallujah Offensive in Iraq. As his Humvee ambulance paused on the street, it was broadsided by a suicide driver, whose vehicle exploded on impact and ripped the ambulance to shreds.

If this had happened in a previous war, Derek would be dead. His left leg was nearly blown off, the entire right side of his face and much of his body was mutilated beyond recognition with flying shell fragments, his right eye was severely damaged, and his brain jarred dangerously in the blast.

Through the highly evolved U.S. military trauma system, Derek’s nearly lifeless body made it to a field hospital piled in the back of a vehicle with several other wounded men. He had lost a lot of blood, and the trauma surgeon had to amputate his leg in order to save
his life.

thanks for all the information. Opened my eyes to some other NEC's that I might be interested. I was interviewed for a Secret clearance I believe, not TS cause they didn't talk to everyone I ever new. Are there any of the NEC's that require a TS, besides maybe the sub NEC's?

Thanks for the info...much appreciated

Just so you all know...Derek is my nephew...

And?

*slow clap*

Bravo.

Well...him being my nephew I have a unique insight to the HM that is assigned to a Marine unit....he is an amputee and had to over come the many other injuries he sustained when he was hit with an IED...that is why for those that want this rating, it is in my opinion this book whould be read.

I also have a friend whose son was a HM with another Marine unit..he was KIA....very sad.

Thanks sweetmtn. I'll try to check into that book before I ship. I am very interested in the FMF side of HM so this book looks like a good read. That is awesome that he competes in races to help out the Semper Fi Fund despite what he has endured. Good positive attitude

I'm stealing my gf's account for this, so don't bash on her. But if you want to know what a small part of being a corpsman is about here's my own story.

I deployed to a shit hole valley in Afghanistan. (I'm not going to get specific on time or where because I don't want to be tracked or have friends tracked down.) I was with med battalion and worked in a shock trauma platoon (stp). We were the first to set up second echelon care at that forward operating base (fob) and things were busy. I'm talking patients (pts) every single day; mostly blast injury pts, not as many people actually getting shot. But we had one unit getting hit pretty hard. But there was one day where we had 2 come in at once. It was one Marine and another Doc. I didn't know the Doc but he was a brother and that was all that mattered. I didn't work on him but I did work on the Marine. He had been blown up and both his legs were messed up I’m talking hamburger with bone sticking out. His left arm was hanging on by a thread. He was in a bad way. To spare the rest of the gory details, we secured his airway, stopped the bleeding, and even got in a few units of blood before we put him on the bird. In my mind I wrote him off as a triple amp. He might live, he might not, but he wasn’t going to use that arm again and would be lucky if he could keep his left leg but the right was pretty much done. This happened a few years ago and I can still recall most of their faces like it was yesterday. The things you see in that environment can be burned into your very fiber of your being but they will most defiantly haunt you in some way or another.

But the story didn’t end there. It picks up again about 6 months later I was back in the states taking my basic motorcycle course and there was a guy there who rode a cruiser. Nice bike nice guy but there was something about him that bugged me it felt off. About three days into the course everyone is sitting on the bleachers swapping war stories when the guy starts telling his. “Ha I was blown up twice" he said, “We were out on patrol when I stepped on an IED and f^*ked up my legs. Then, as they were carrying me out, the doc on my left shoulder stepped on another one and messed up my arm." I piped up, "Wait a minute, where were you at?” He said he had been in the same valley I had and even during the time I had been there. Then it hit me, I had treated this Marine! I remembered the exact moment the call went out I recalled all his injuries and what we had done for him. And here he was the triple amp with both his legs attached and a working left arm that was all there. He walked with a slight limp and a cane but he was fine! He was riding a damn motorcycle! About an hour later I met his wife. This man, that I thought could have died in transit for all I knew, was able to walk, ride a motorcycle, and stand next to his wife because of the work my team did. It was then that the number of 98% sunk in. We walked away from that hell on earth with a 98% survival rate. That was unheard of even to this day! I worked with an amazing doctor and had even better corpsmen around me because they all practiced so far beyond their scope of practice.

The question asked at the start of this post has no easy answer. Corpsmen are the red headed stepchild of two branches. We are the only corps in the Navy and by far the single biggest rate. We are found in hospitals, on ships, subs, in tents, in the dirt, and under brush looking threw a scope. We are a breed apart from all others. We are made of a different metal. Our past is paved with the blood of both friend and foe and littered with real life heroes. The pride we share is immeasurable the bonds we form indestructible.

I tell people that I could bitch about my job for three days on end and still have things to bitch about. Yet at the end of the day, I don’t see myself doing anything else because to say I love what I do is an understatement. I am a Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class FMF, and this is just a taste of what it is to be called Doc.

What do hm reservist do? Can we do c schools or apply for fmf, radiology, surgical tech and other specials

Well said.
I really didn't want to touch this thread as I have done my research into HM and there's too much emotion and heartache expressed.

HMs, being the largest single rating, have a broad range of personality types, skill sets and heroism. I've compared CNA training to what's covered in NAVEDTRA 14295B. To say that an HM is merely a CNA is a gross generalization. I'm sure there are HMs that bring shame to the rate and may be considered just a CNA...but they are few and far between just like the few HMs the bring great honor to the rate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij6jrro_gGk

Vid from History Channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zL_2...kQJpz-vcW-76Pn

Dianakit12. - thank you,

I been in the civilian medical field for about 5 years now and have been considering enlisting in the Navy as a HM and then changed my mind to a MA until now. You reminded me why I got into this field to begin with. The pure passion of helping others in the most tragic times of there life and it's the most wonderful feeling in the world to know you helped save a life. Thank you!