Geoffrey T. Lewis

Hospital Corpsmen serve the world over, treating Sailors and Marines for just about every ailment, from a random headache to major surgery and everything in between.  There are a select few, however, that have earned the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) warfare pin and the special title for people in the medical field, “Doc.”

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“It’s a humbling experience when someone calls us ‘Doc,’” said Chief Hospital Corpsman (AW/FMF/NAC) Curtis Strull Jr., of San Antonio, a search and rescue corpsman assigned to the “Golden Falcons” of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 2.  “When I’m with my Marines and they call me ‘Doc,’ that’s a sign of respect that they trust that I’m going to take care of them and be there for them 24/7.  You know that you’re going to do everything for them, especially when they say, ‘corpsman up!’ and you’re on the go.  You know that one of your Marines is down and you’re going to do everything in your power to get to him and take care of him.”

 

The name “Doc” is used by many when talking to or referring to someone in the medical field.  Corpsmen are sometimes addressed as such, but most feel a true “Doc” is someone who has served with Marines and has earned their FMF pin.

“Many people think because you are stationed or were stationed with Marines you’re considered a ‘Doc,’” said Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (FMF) Brandon Atencio, of Colorado Springs, Col., operating room technician and field medical technician, assigned to Lincoln’s Health Services Department, Medical Division.  “While among corpsmen that’s almost true, without the pin you aren’t considered a true ‘Doc.’”

 

One of the biggest prerequisites to acquiring the FMF pin is to spend some time out in the field with Marines.  For some, it can be a fun and exciting time; for others, it can be frightening.

 

“I’ve been stationed with Marines in Iraq before,” said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class (FMF) Michael Johnson, of Los Angeles, a central sterilization technician assigned to Lincoln’s Health Services Department, Medical Division.  “It can be scary if you don’t know what’s going on.  You just say to yourself, ‘I’m just trying to make it to the next day.’  I feel like I’ve accomplished something really big, like I could go up to the Marines and say, ‘I know what you know.’”

Johnson said one of his scariest experiences in the field with the Marines was when his base was attacked by Scud missiles.

“My first couple nights in Iraq, we were attacked and all you can think of in situations like that are, ‘Is this thing going to hit me?  Is it coming in?’  You grab everything you have right there and run out to the hole you’ve dug, surrounded by sandbags and hope the Scud doesn’t make it.  You’re just trying to survive.”

 

In order to go out into the field with Marines, Sailors must first go to Corps School and then Fleet Marine Force Service School, said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class (AW/SW/FMF) Jeremy Maddox, of Greenville, Miss., aviation medicine specialist assigned to Lincoln’s Health Services Department, Medical Division.

 

“It’s pretty much a Marine boot camp,” Maddox said.  “You have a corpsman that’s already FMF qualified and a gunnery sergeant there to teach you the Marine way of living – how to eat, sleep, shoot, all that stuff.  You go out into the field and learn field navigation, how to use a compass, a radio; it was a lot of fun.”

 

Johnson said corpsmen learn how to read maps and plot themselves through potentially dangerous areas, programming and using their radios tactically, and shooting an azimuth.  They also participated in several marches with distances ranging from two to 15 miles while keeping pace with the Marines.  They even wear the same gear as their Marine counterparts with the exception of their weapon.

 

“The same ruck sacks the Marines carry, you carry,” Johnson said.  “The only thing that’s different is instead of the M-16 they carry, you’ve got a 9mm pistol on your side.  As far as being ‘Docs’ in medical, if we have to use our weapons, something’s wrong because the Marines are the front line, that’s what they do.”

 

During their land navigation at night, corpsmen go through Chemical, Biological, and Radioactive (CBR) training to ensure that they’re on guard while on patrol.  When the instructor shouts out, “gas, gas, gas!” the students have to don their masks in the required nine seconds or they fail and have to start the exercise over, said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (FMF/SW/AW) Edgar Saavedra, of Manila, Philippines, a biomedical repair technician assigned to Lincoln’s Health Services Department, Medical Division.

 

“It’s pretty intense for a corpsman who hadn’t done it in about three to four years like me,” Saavedra said.  “Last time I’d done it was with a group and for this you had to do it by yourself.  You have to finish the six-mile course in about half an hour.  They give you the coordinates for all the check points, you just have to find them.  There’s no one to stop you except near the end, someone will show up in the middle of nowhere and scare you screaming, ‘gas, gas, gas!’  You’ve got to put on your mask and try to drink water through it.  A lot of people try to tip the canteen up like a cup and it just doesn’t work that way, because it works more like a straw.”

 

Although Atencio knew a simulated CBR attack was coming, he said it still caught him off guard.

“I was doing mine and this guy just walked out from the bushes and started counting,” Atencio said.  “It took me a second to realize what he was doing and I scrambled to put my mask on.”

During the training, some have difficulties adjusting to eating in the field, because everything you eat is prepared in a Meal, Ready to Eat (MRE) packages, said Johnson.

 

“If you get a good MRE, it’s good food and you can make it last a while,” Johnson said.  “If you get the bad ones, you just went hungry.  No matter what it was, you could have the beef stew or the chicken teriyaki, you had to have the jalapeno cheese and crackers because they’re the best.”

After the field training, FMF hopefuls must go through a mock board (similar to a murder board for surface and air warfare pins) and then a final board.  Atencio said depending on your command’s policy with the boards, applicants could expect to be there for some time.

 

“My mock board took two days; the majority of one work day, and about half-way into the next,” Atencio said.  “This was typical of that command though, at Camp Kinser in Okinawa, Japan.  The real board only took about an hour.  Each person asked two questions and there were only three people on the board.  The final board wasn’t easy either, but it wasn’t too bad.”

The FMF pin is not limited to just corpsmen.  Religious program specialists, members of the Sea Bees, store keepers, and personnel specialists may apply, said Atencio.  The major factor is that Sailors need to serve with Marines in the field to be eligible for the pin.

 

“I think it’s a big honor to wear this,” Atencio said.  “When you go out and walk through the passageways, not many people can wear this, so you’ll get questions like, ‘What pin is that?’ ‘How’d you get it?’  It’s an honor for me to say, ‘This is my FMF pin, I went to war for it.’”