What do you think? Marine Corps Times No more Devil Docs? SECNAV unveils historical changes for hospital corpsmen everywhere. Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Ray Mabus announced Friday afternoon new changes to the fabled greenside Hospital Corpsmen, more notably referred to by their Marines as docs. A new NAVADMIN released earlier today states that the Department of the Navy plans on transitioning medical care from Navy personnel to a separate Marine medical Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) pertaining to healthcare. The changes, supported by the Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) General Joseph Dunford, are expected to break ground in mid-2015. This plan is part of a new effort to create a more contemporary Marine Corps, attempting to gain medical and logistical independence from the Navy. The announcement has met some criticism from many Marines and Navy Corpsmen. Gunnery Sergeant (GySgt) Ryan Henryson, attached to 1st Marine Division, says that Our docs are part of our culture. To try and get rid of them essentially is a disastrous change to the tradition of the Corps and the Navy as a whole. I cant believe that anyone thinks that this is a good idea. The Corpsmen had their say in the matter too, as Hospital Corpsman Second Class (HM2) Jessica Odhner claims, Corpsmen have always been essential to mission accomplishment for Marines. Weve always been by their sides for decades and theres no reason to fix something thats not broken. Regardless of the criticism, SECNAV Ray Mabus plans to continue the overhaul of the medical care field, citing that Transferring medical care capabilities to the control of the Marines will help ensure that they receive proper treatment when they need it, and said, they will receive training similar to fleet Marine force Corpsmen and maintain those qualifications just the same. Assistant CMC General John Paxton defended the upcoming changes, It may be a change to the tradition of our Corps, but change is not always a bad thing. Were in a modern era of warfare and a transition into garrison. If [we] can train our Marines to provide responsible medical care then we can be ready for war whenever our nation calls upon us. Were Marines, and we can meet the standards of our beloved Corpsmen if not excel those standards. SECNAV Ray Mabus stated that he plans to release more details on the restructuring of the Navy and Marine Corps medical care specialties in early 2015.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 03:52:02 +0000
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