were made to drive the Iraqi Army out of the tiny
country, and corpsmen were readied to respond to the
needs of their shipmates. Hospital Corpsmen around
the globe reacted, as their ships, stations, and Marines
deployed or prepared to receive casualties. In fact, the
first Navy casualty of Desert Storm was a Hospital
Corpsman. Of the vast number of Naval Reservists
called to active duty, the largest single group activated
consisted of Hospital Corpsmen. Of an inventory of
just more than 12,000 Hospital Corpsmen in the Naval
Reserve, some 6,700 were recalled to active duty. The
largest group of them, about 4,600, served at medical
treatment facilities and casualty receiving centers;
approximately 1,100 went to Marine Corps units;
about 840 were attached to Fleet Hospitals Six and
Fifteen; and some 470 of the reservists were assigned
to the hospital ships Mercy and the Comfort.
HOSPITAL CORPSMEN TODAY
Today’s Hospital Corpsmen perform as assistants
in the prevention and treatment of disease and injury.
They assist with physical examinations, provide
patient care, and administer medicinals. They perform
general laboratory, pharmacy, and other patient
support services. They assist in the administrative,
supply, and accounting procedures within medical
departments ashore, afloat, and with the Marine Corps.
They instruct medical and nonmedical personnel in
first aid, self-aid, personal hygiene, and medical
records maintenance. They assist in the maintenance
of environmental health standards, and they are
prepared to assist in the prevention and treatment of
CBR casualties and in the transportation of the sick and
injured. Senior Hospital Corpsmen perform technical
planning and management functions in support of
medical readiness and quality health care delivery.
In addition to their general assignments, Hospital
Corpsmen trained as technicians perform specialized
functions within the operational forces, clinical
specialties, and administrative department, and they
may be assigned duties independent of a medical
officer.
These complex duties require that each
Hospital Corpsman have broad-based training and a
versatility neither demanded nor expected of other
enlisted rating in the Navy.
Wherever you find the Navy, wherever you find
the Marine Corps, there you will find Navy Hospital
Corpsmen. In times of peace, they toil unceasingly, day
and night, providing quality care to numerous
beneficiaries. In times of war, they are on the beaches
with 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 of
heroism, during which they have consciously exposed
themselves to danger to save lives, are not spectacular
because the corpsmen were required to act. Rather,
their bravery is exceptional because it was not
required, but given freely and willingly in service to
their country and their fellow humanity, above and
beyond the call of duty.
Abridged from “The U.S. Navy Hospital Corps: A
Century of Tradition, Valor, and Sacrifice,” by
HMCS(FMF) Mark T. Hacala, USNR, with permission
from the author.
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