CHAPTER 1 ADVANCEMENT
This training course is designed to help you meet the occupational (technical) qualifications for advancement to Hospital Corpsman First Class and Chief Hospital Corpsman. Chapters 2 through 15 of this training manual deal with the technical subject matter of the hospital corpsman rating. The present chapter provides introductory information that will help you in working for advancement. It is important that you study this chapter carefully before starting your study on the remainder of this training course.
YOUR HORIZON BROADENS
Advancement in rating brings both increased rewards and responsibilities. The time to start looking ahead and considering the rewards and responsibilities is now, while you are studying this course and preparing for advancement.
By this time you are probably well aware of the many advantages of advancement—higher pay, greater prestige, more interesting and challenging work, and the satisfaction of getting ahead in your chosen profession. You have probably also discovered that one of the most enduring rewards is the personal satisfaction you find in developing your skills and increasing your knowledge.
The Navy also benefits by your advancement, Highly trained personnel are essential to the functioning of the Navy. Each advancement in rating increases your value to the Navy in two ways. First, you become more valuable as a technical specialist in your own rating; second, you become more valuable as a person who can supervise, lead, and train others. This increased value enables you to make far-reaching and longlasting contributions to the Navy.
In large measure, the extent of your contribution to the Navy depends on your willingness and ability to accept increasing responsibilities as you advance. When you assumed the duties of an HM3, you began to accept responsibility for the work of others. With each advancement you accept increasing responsibility in military matters as well as in matters relating to the occupational requirements of your rating.
You will find that your responsibilities for military leadership are about the same as those of petty officers in other ratings, since every petty officer is a military person as well as a technical specialist. Your responsibilities for technical leadership are special to your rating and are directly related to the nature of your work. Tending the sick and wounded is an important job, and it’s a teamwork job; it requires a special kind of leadership ability that can be developed only by technically competent personnel who have a deep sense of personal responsibility.
The practical details relating to your responsibilities for medical department administration, supervision, and training are discussed in the remaining chapters of this training course. At this point, let’s consider some of the broader aspects of your increasing responsibilities for military and technical leadership.
Your responsibilities will extend both upward and downward. Both officer and enlisted personnel will expect you to translate the general orders given by superiors into detailed, practical on-the-job language that can be understood and followed by relatively inexperienced persons. When you deal with your juniors, it is up to you to see that they do their work properly. At the same time, you must be able to explain to officers any important needs or problems of enlisted personnel.
You will have regular and continuing responsibilities for training. Even lf you are lucky enough to have highly skilled and well trained hospital corpsmen working for you, you will still find that training is necessary. For example, you will always be responsible for training lower rated personnel for advancement in rating. Also, some of your best workers may be transferred, inexperienced or poorly trained personnel may be assigned to you, or a particular