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SWarford · 04-01-2012, 05:25 PM

Funny story with me. In January went to go nuke (albeit was indifferent to the rating). Ended up colorblind (not on the spot) and selecting HM-0000 as my rating. Just keep going to MEPs until either you get your job or your recruiter stops wanting to talk to you.

Warning though: HM is a weird rating as far as I can tell. On the one hand, many HMs end up doing basic nurse assistant things: taking temperatures, running tests, writing symptoms, that jazz (HM-0000). You also might end up on a ship treating what you would expect: stubbed toes, anxiety and seasickness, and occasional work related injuries without really saving any lives. If you do want to get specialized, you can go to C School to become a X-Ray Technician or Radiologist, or something to that effect. Or your job could always be running safety and cleanliness checkups around the fleet. I hear the average Sailor loves cleanliness checkups.

On the other hand, there is the Fleet Marine Force or Navy SOCOM side of things where you can be a "combat medic", in very loose terms. HM-8404s can expect to operate in the field with Marines, Seabees, even SWOs if you are that good.

But of course there is a lot of middle ground between those two hands.

Now, there is a lot of the damn info online (or even the bloody handout they gave me at MEPs) that is severely outdated. They have overhauled the rating a lot in the past four years. To my knowledge, as of right now, all HMs go to A school (duh). After that, people who go to C school go to C school (double-duh). Where it gets to be a unique rating is that: if you are a male and not going to C school you go through Fleet Marine Training Battalion, where you are trained to go FMF (i.e., how to not slow down Marines and get yourself shot). Once that is over, then you finally get to choose your billet to finalize your NEC code, Navy or Marine side. I'm not sure, but I believe women get to choose their billet before having to go to FMTB, making it elective training for female HMs. The purpose of this being that all male HMs are expected to go Fleet Marine Force if it is deemed necessary at a moment's notice (say, big war).

So, long story short, the Navy Hospital Corpsman rating could be as mundane as administering STD tests all day, or as dangerous as being the SoB who has to run into combat to save a Marine's life. If you want this rating, prepare for both mentally and physically: you might not have your pick of which billet you get. Just like getting the initial rating, the billet is dependent on what the Navy (and Marine Corp) believes is available and in need.

04-01-2012, 05:25 PM	#12
SWarford Newbie Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 7	Funny story with me. In January went to go nuke (albeit was indifferent to the rating). Ended up colorblind (not on the spot) and selecting HM-0000 as my rating. Just keep going to MEPs until either you get your job or your recruiter stops wanting to talk to you. Warning though: HM is a weird rating as far as I can tell. On the one hand, many HMs end up doing basic nurse assistant things: taking temperatures, running tests, writing symptoms, that jazz (HM-0000). You also might end up on a ship treating what you would expect: stubbed toes, anxiety and seasickness, and occasional work related injuries without really saving any lives. If you do want to get specialized, you can go to C School to become a X-Ray Technician or Radiologist, or something to that effect. Or your job could always be running safety and cleanliness checkups around the fleet. I hear the average Sailor loves cleanliness checkups. On the other hand, there is the Fleet Marine Force or Navy SOCOM side of things where you can be a "combat medic", in very loose terms. HM-8404s can expect to operate in the field with Marines, Seabees, even SWOs if you are that good. But of course there is a lot of middle ground between those two hands. Now, there is a lot of the damn info online (or even the bloody handout they gave me at MEPs) that is severely outdated. They have overhauled the rating a lot in the past four years. To my knowledge, as of right now, all HMs go to A school (duh). After that, people who go to C school go to C school (double-duh). Where it gets to be a unique rating is that: if you are a male and not going to C school you go through Fleet Marine Training Battalion, where you are trained to go FMF (i.e., how to not slow down Marines and get yourself shot). Once that is over, then you finally get to choose your billet to finalize your NEC code, Navy or Marine side. I'm not sure, but I believe women get to choose their billet before having to go to FMTB, making it elective training for female HMs. The purpose of this being that all male HMs are expected to go Fleet Marine Force if it is deemed necessary at a moment's notice (say, big war). So, long story short, the Navy Hospital Corpsman rating could be as mundane as administering STD tests all day, or as dangerous as being the SoB who has to run into combat to save a Marine's life. If you want this rating, prepare for both mentally and physically: you might not have your pick of which billet you get. Just like getting the initial rating, the billet is dependent on what the Navy (and Marine Corp) believes is available and in need.