Warfare Specialties

[YourMD]

Are there are added benefits of pursuing warfare specialties like army ranger or naval dive medical officer as a military physician. Is this possible while going through medical school as an HPSP scholarship recipient?

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[umfc7181]

I am just in med school but I have no clue if you can get qualified in anything while in school. I know people might go shadow some dive Medicine during the summer for an ADT. Previous threads seem to indicate it's certianly possible to be working within certain communities as a physician ( ie FMF DMO ext ) no idea if you can actually go through ranger school. I am currently taking the Air Force route so I wouldn't mind finding out if there are. Any special ops communities one can be a flight surgeon for personally.

But all in all I have no experience except for what I have read ( there are many threads on this) but there would be pretty much no benefit except for maybe pure desire or Interest.

 

[colbgw02]

Lots of threads on this already. Opportunities are out there, but not during medical school.

 

[YourMD]

Lots of threads on this already. Opportunities are out there, but not during medical school.

I am just in med school but I have no clue if you can get qualified in anything while in school. I know people might go shadow some dive Medicine during the summer for an ADT. Previous threads seem to indicate it's certianly possible to be working within certain communities as a physician ( ie FMF DMO ext ) no idea if you can actually go through ranger school. I am currently taking the Air Force route so I wouldn't mind finding out if there are. Any special ops communities one can be a flight surgeon for personally.

But all in all I have no experience except for what I have read ( there are many threads on this) but there would be pretty much no benefit except for maybe pure desire or Interest.

Thanks for the replies guys! I have searched sdn and cannot find threads addressing my question. Would you kindly share the links? Thanks!

 

[ArmyTiger]

The only military school available during med school is BOLC (I asked specifically about Airborne, since I'd already done BOLC). While you can certainly do Ranger school after finishing medical school, I have no idea why you would want to, as it's a 10 week (assuming no recycles, which is a huge assumption) course meant to teach small unit tactics and leadership, something that no doctor should ever need to use. Not sure about the Naval GMO question.

 

[colbgw02]

Thanks for the replies guys! I have searched sdn and cannot find threads addressing my question. Would you kindly share the links? Thanks!

There's a thread on the first page of the forum right now entitled "how can i be a war doc". You'll have to sift through the posts, but there are a few things on there on point. Also, you might benefit from reading some of the posts about military physicians' experiences while deployed.

 

[sonofva]

Airborne and air assault are kind of JFF anymore, so once you graduate medical school you can go for one of those. Unless you are attached to a spec ops unit or ranger batt, there's no need to do ranger school or otherwise, and going just for the heck of it steals a slot from an infantry guy actually needs the training.

 

[d2305]

Put in for special forces and get the full effect.

 

[trev5150]

Keep in mind these schools are not cheap and paid for out of the member's home unit training budgets, and if there's no need for you to go through for any sort if readiness reasons you're probably not getting a slot. For instance, my initial UAV Operator Course ar Ft. Huachuca was somewhere in the neighborhood of $40K for a two-month course. When you hear about POGs going through grunt (example) advanced courses it's usually coming out of someone's retention budget to get said POG to reenlist.

- Former USMC Aviation S-3 (Ops & Training) NCO.

 

[trev5150]

Given the number "personnel specialists" I've seen with Ranger insignia on their uniform, I suspect there aren't many trigger pullers who can't get in to Ranger school.

When everyone's special, no one is.

 

[trev5150]

Go Navy!

LOL. BTW I'm looking through the FMFQO syllabus....

 

[trev5150]

Given the number "personnel specialists" I've seen with Ranger insignia on their uniform, I suspect there aren't many trigger pullers who can't get in to Ranger school.

Those would be the retention gimmee-gimmees that dudes grab because 1 - they want the points for promotion and 2 - so that everyone can call themselves a "warfighter" and ease the butthurt when they get called POG.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Is the pin harder to get than the old FMF ribbon? Did those of us who got the ribbon before there was a pin get grandfathered?

 

[trev5150]

So you just observe 6 and 9 line type stuff? Howabout CASEVACs? They let you run any of those? That would be useful.

It's amazing how many people there are that don't even know how to turn a radio on much less talk on one and get anything done.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Huh, that sounds way excessive.

 

[trev5150]

Marines take it real serious too. It has an EGA on it, so most of them don't mess around with it.

We do take it seriously. We have to eat a lot of crap to earn it. Can't have just any geek off the street running around wearing it without understanding and respecting what it means to us.

 

[trev5150]

It's a beast. Make a couple good friends with with the company commanders or equivalent in your unit.

They appreciate that you're taking the time to learn instead of just coasting through, biding your time until it's time to get out.

 

[trev5150]

Qual by osmosis. Very cost-effective.

Considering the radios themselves it doesnt really matter. They never work twice anyway. If it says Harris or Thales on it, you're gonna have a bad time.

 

[DeadCactus]

You're unlikely to get any of the high speed stuff during medical school. From the Army side, medical students have gone through the flight surgeon course before and I suspect the EFMB course would be possible. I've heard of rare cases where people take vacation time to do something quick like Airborne or Air Assault during residency but not something I would count on...

 

[pgg]

Is the pin harder to get than the old FMF ribbon? Did those of us who got the ribbon before there was a pin get grandfathered?

What Tired said.

Much more effort to get the pin. I did most of it on deployment when I had tons of free time.

I started my GMO tour with the Marines in 2003, got the ribbon in 2004 from an Afghan deployment. I don't remember what I had to do to get it, so it couldn't have been too much.

Did the FMF qual and got the pin over a deployment to Iraq in 2005-2006, which was the earliest any officers could do it. For a while after I earned the qual there weren't any actual pins to buy. There was a lot to do. Some of the pieces I got retroactive credit for (like amphib exercises we'd done the previous year), the rest I did in Iraq. They flew around a gaggle of O6s to all the FOBs to give the oral board piece of it. They took it very seriously; it wasn't a participation thanks-for-coming trophy.

We still get to wear the ribbon with the pin, which is kind of cool. I also like the small EGAs on my Iraq and Afghan campaign medals. Mostly happy memories of being with that unit.

I don't miss being a GMO but I do miss working for the Marines. My last deployment was as an IA to a place where the Army was in charge and it was a different world.

 

[Homunculus]

My last deployment was as an IA to a place where the Army was in charge and it was a different world.

@pgg on deplyoment i with the army:

--your friendly neighborhood don't feel bad we are that way, too caveman

 

[pgg]

@pgg on deplyoment i with the army:

--your friendly neighborhood don't feel bad we are that way, too caveman

In truth, the Army was in charge of the base, but the R3 was run by the Navy. My little world was moderately well protected from the Army's glo-belt, PT attire, and chow hall take-out policy nuttiness.

 

[d2305]

I don't know what ranger school is like now, but it was challenging in the 80s. I used to see them wandering through the woods at Eglin. All of the female failed the course recently.

 

[trev5150]

I don't know what ranger school is like now, but it was challenging in the 80s. I used to see them wandering through the woods at Eglin. All of the female failed the course recently.

Your point being what?

 

[Tipsy McStagger]

I don't know what ranger school is like now, but it was challenging in the 80s. I used to see them wandering through the woods at Eglin. All of the female failed the course recently.

Oh it's not bad these days. You get to take nice long walks in the woods, climb pretty hills, go swimming, camping and rock climbing. As an added bonus, you get to see really funny things after awhile: like your sleep-drunk friend trying to get water out of a tree.

 

[d2305]

That a ranger tab is earned (most of the time).