were made to drive the Iraqi Army out of the tinycountry, and corpsmen were readied to respond to theneeds of their shipmates. Hospital Corpsmen aroundthe globe reacted, as their ships, stations, and Marinesdeployed or prepared to receive casualties. In fact, thefirst Navy casualty of Desert Storm was a HospitalCorpsman. Of the vast number of Naval Reservistscalled to active duty, the largest single group activatedconsisted of Hospital Corpsmen. Of an inventory ofjust more than 12,000 Hospital Corpsmen in the NavalReserve, some 6,700 were recalled to active duty. Thelargest group of them, about 4,600, served at medicaltreatment facilities and casualty receiving centers;approximately 1,100 went to Marine Corps units;about 840 were attached to Fleet Hospitals Six andFifteen; and some 470 of the reservists were assignedto the hospital ships Mercy and the Comfort.HOSPITAL CORPSMEN TODAYToday’s Hospital Corpsmen perform as assistantsin the prevention and treatment of disease and injury.They assist with physical examinations, providepatient care, and administer medicinals. They performgeneral laboratory, pharmacy, and other patientsupport services. They assist in the administrative,supply, and accounting procedures within medicaldepartments ashore, afloat, and with the Marine Corps.They instruct medical and nonmedical personnel infirst aid, self-aid, personal hygiene, and medicalrecords maintenance. They assist in the maintenanceof environmental health standards, and they areprepared to assist in the prevention and treatment ofCBR casualties and in the transportation of the sick andinjured. Senior Hospital Corpsmen perform technicalplanning and management functions in support ofmedical readiness and quality health care delivery.In addition to their general assignments, HospitalCorpsmen trained as technicians perform specializedfunctions within the operational forces, clinicalspecialties, and administrative department, and theymay be assigned duties independent of a medicalofficer. These complex duties require that eachHospital Corpsman have broad-based training and aversatility neither demanded nor expected of otherenlisted rating in the Navy.Wherever you find the Navy, wherever you findthe Marine Corps, there you will find Navy HospitalCorpsmen. In times of peace, they toil unceasingly, dayand night, providing quality care to numerousbeneficiaries. In times of war, they are on the beacheswith the Marines, employed in amphibious operations,in transportation of wounded by air, on the battlefield,and on all types of ships, submarines, aircraft carriers,and landing craft. Their innumerable instances ofheroism, during which they have consciously exposedthemselves to danger to save lives, are not spectacularbecause the corpsmen were required to act. Rather,their bravery is exceptional because it was notrequired, but given freely and willingly in service totheir country and their fellow humanity, above andbeyond the call of duty.Abridged from “The U.S. Navy Hospital Corps: ACentury of Tradition, Valor, and Sacrifice,” byHMCS(FMF) Mark T. Hacala, USNR, with permissionfrom the author.AI-8
Integrated Publishing, Inc. - A (SDVOSB) Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business
