I'm a current intern who is faced with going on a GMO tour next year. Now that all the GME dust has settled, I'm trying to work with a detailer but he is only pushing billets at Camp Lejune and 29 Palms. As someone who is slightly (and by slightly, I mean completely) terrified of going to war and being a GMO, I wanted to learn about what other billets may be out there.
1. Does anybody know about the billets that are not with the marines?
2. And can anyone explain a few of the details of the different billets: MEF, MLG, SeaBees, Okinawa, ship board, etc? Like where do they deploy to and usually for how long? What do the clinic duties consist of?
3. Are there any one-year billets?
4. Finally, my soon-to-be-husband works for the state department so his job is routed in the DC area. I have heard there are billets in the National Capital area (Annapolis, Baltimore, Pax River, maybe as far as Portsmouth). Does anyone know of about any of these?
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me. I am kind of lost about all of this.
As a Current Navy Flight Surgeon, Former Portsmouth intern and a recent returnee from an Individual Augmentee deployment with a Marine Wing unit, I'll try shed a little more light on your questions.
1. Non-Marine billets - as above, try to go Greenside, you will be happier with your command environment. This is discussed on a few other threads, so I won't go into it.
A. That being said, the SeaBees motto is "We Build, We Fight." Consequently, these units do quite a few field exercises (ie 2-3 week campouts) and deploy regularly to combat zones. This is generally scheduled years in advance, and you should be able to get a good idea of when/if your unit will deploy during your time there prior to accepting orders. They have a generally more rigid interpretation of everything, so they can be difficult to work with (per my SeaBee GMO and SeaBee Officer friends).
B. Okinawa - this is a Marine Base, unless there are spots at the Naval Hospital (I imagine there are). I have friends at similar billets at a few different Military Treatment Facilities in Japan (on Navy bases) and I met them on my IA at Al Taqaddum, Iraq, so they certainly weren't safe from deployment. Spots with the Marines would be preferable, as the units generally know their deployment schedules. As mentioned above, you would only be eligible for the MLG (Marine Logistics Group) spots. Division is for men only, and the Wing has flight surgeons (makes sense).
C. Shipboard - this is probably your best option, and as above, being a female doesn't hurt, since your detailer has to fill the Marine Division spots with men and they are among his first priorities. I am 100% sure there are shipboard spots in Norfolk, but it might be a little struggle getting these, since many of the Portsmouth interns like to stay there and then return to residency, which saves the Navy money on moving costs and above all, the Navy is CHEAP when it comes to stupid things like your satisfaction and convenience.
D. Other random places -
i. Annapolis - bad reputation among my friends who have been there because it is a tough and fairly thankless job, and you could still get an IA billet.
ii. Pax River - I don't know much about this job specifically, but I'm sure it is similar to many other branch medical clinic jobs as Navy Facilities not in the immediate region of a major Hospital. Working directly for Navy Medicine as opposed to a line command will definitely color your perception of Military Medicine, and not in a good way. In addition, you will almost definitely draw an IA billet, unless you are the only medical provider at a base, in which case you had better be prepared to spend most of your time calling more senior medical personnel with questions about all the administrative and medical things that you were never taught to treat/do.
2. As for your detailer, he is pushing 29 Palms/Camp LeJeune, because those are the least desirable locations for most people, and location is one of the most important things for your GMO tour. You have an obvious need to be close to your husband in DC, so be persistent in pressuring the detailer. I believe we have the same detailer, and he is far from helpful, most MSC officers (Medical Service Corps) are useless to you, other than to complicate your life (PA's, Optometrists excepted). I think this stems from their complete lack of understanding of health care from a provider standpoint, plus, detailing billets go to people who aren't very good at their chosen profession, so the Navy has to use them some way. Again, there are many other jobs available, I know this for sure, because the Navy is extremely short on Flight Surgeons and, at least for now, is not filling purely clinic jobs (aka Claimancy 18 or BSO 18) with flight surgeons, even when their is a demand for their services. This opens up at least 15 spots for GMO's, I know we have a FS designated spot at my command that is going to be empty if a GMO doesn't fill it.
You can private message me if you have anymore questions, that's about all I can do today. Pretty long-winded of me really, but I HATE AHLTA and will do just about anything to put off my note writing.
He's one guy. I knew a GMO who was there for the invasion of Iraq whose driver was shot and whose unarmored Humvee ambulance was ventilated while he treated a patient in the back. And usnavdoc had an insane CO who wanted his physicians out on patrol with the Marines. I'm not denying that these things happened to some GMOs ...
