The Disillusionment of Corps School.
What is Corps School? Well, I can tell you what it’s not. It is not a place you come to off the street and leave as an emergency medicine/nursing genius. It is not college and it definitely isn’t what most corpsman wannabes imagine before they arrive.
At Corpsman Connection we keep it real and honest. Hospital Corpsman Basic does not make you a good corpsman, it gives you a navy rate and a baseline of information to recall during future learning opportunities. Could the course be better? Absolutely, but it falls into one of the classic pitfalls most military institutions run into and that’s the bureaucracy and politics played at the top to establish an agenda that fits the current narrative of what the military “needs”. This gets especially convoluted during peacetime when there isn’t the singular objective of warfighting. With all this being said, it isn’t the institutions that make HM’s (Corpsmen) one of the most decorated professions in the military but the community itself. The majority of the instructors doing the day-to-day work of passing on the knowledge to the next generation from HCB, Field Med, and so on are what make the community survive and adhere to the standards set forth.
The people I have learned the most from and have been inspired by are individuals who put in the knowledge and work themselves to become the best they can be. What you put into it is truly what you get out of it. I also truly believe that the best HM’s are not just technically proficient, but just good people who are intelligent, personable, and charismatic about what it is they do. These people oftentimes are the best teachers, maybe not in a direct sense, but just the fact that others want to emulate them because they exude what it means to be an HM. Unfortunately, there has been a section of the community that has made their career all about looking good on paper for eval’s sake, but in reality, are terrible at the practical skills application and are in fact a liability on the battlefield #skillsnotcupcakes. Some of these individuals have also made their way into leadership positions. Avoid becoming like these people for the sake of rank rather than a proficiently trained and ethical corpsman. At the end of the day when the call to arms is sent up these individuals will tuck their tails and find their way out. All this being said, sometimes you must play the game but never let the game play you.
If you are about to attend, are currently in, or have just graduated from Corpsman Basic, do not get discouraged about what your current perceptions may be. The fact is HCB isn’t the real fleet and is the very beginning of your journey to obtaining vast medical knowledge. This knowledge will make you an asset wherever you are assigned, but it is up to you as an individual to determine how far you really want to go. From my experience, as a young HN, I was terrified leaving HCB and going out into the real world. What I quickly discovered is that I was able to reach back to my basic understanding of subjects obtained in corps school and build upon them with everyday experience and hands-on applications. Medicine is a practiced skill that is perishable and constantly evolving. No one is perfect but as long as you strive for perfection you will be the best corpsman you can be. Only you will know if you worked hard enough when the time comes. If you didn’t it will sting more than anything anyone else could ridicule you of. Real will recognize real and as long as you keep it straight with yourself, the juniors under you, your marines, sailors, and peers, you will do well and feel great about your corpsman experience.
Though the institutions may be lacking, the community isn’t and always will have the best kind of people in the world filling the role of Hospital Corpsman. So do not be discouraged, focus on getting through school and soon being off to bigger and better opportunities as you build your corpsman career one day at a time.
-KINGMED
***DISCLAIMER***
The opinions and ideas reflected in this article do not reflect that of the DOD, USN, or USN Hospital Corps and are based on the author’s own thoughts, ideas, and conclusions.