USPHS slots for Airborne school?

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Papito

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Would anyone happen to know if slots for Airborne training are allotted to or attainable by officers of the Commissioned Corps?

I know it's not directly related to any of our professional categories (me being a biomedical engineer myself), but it could play a role in strategic force deployment. Direct entry strategies, etc. The logic is there, but is it offered by the Corps?

And if so, could any of you provide details on how to go about procuring a spot? I spoke with the Navy/Marine Corps liasion at Ft. Benning, and they couldn't offer any insight.

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Playing the "force deployment" card is not going to get you anywhere. Physician's don't jump in (barring the very few Army SF ones). You could try the "I've been good and want to go to jump school!" card. Extra Airborne slots tend to show up from time to time and get handed out to people who don't need it (at least in regular units and I see no reason why medical units would be different).

The real question is why do you want it? To make 5 jumps and have a shiny pin? People always talk about wanting to go to Airborne school even though they don't have a job that normally jumps and yet in all the years they've been alive most of them have never gone and spent the lousy $100 to jump as a civilian...
 
I'm prior service AF. I tried desperately to get into the Combat Rescue Officer program, but USAF red tape wouldn't permit. So, I accepted commissioning w/ the USPHS to pin on my bars. It's not exactly what I had in mind, but it is a means to an end.

Long story short, I eventually want to transfer back, either as a CRO or a Physician (in which case those very few SF docs might welcome my tactical experience as a bridge between them & SF operators). I figure w/ budget cuts I may be able to fill one of those vacant slots so as to not let it go to waste, but being in PHS I'm not too sure how that would be arranged. However they rationalize it is up to whoever cuts my orders, it really makes no difference to me. Spending the couple hundreds of dollars to jump as a civilian is fun, but in the end it won't qualify me.

Honestly, I've only been gone a few months, but I miss it already.
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Would anyone happen to know if slots for Airborne training are allotted to or attainable by officers of the Commissioned Corps?

I know it's not directly related to any of our professional categories (me being a biomedical engineer myself), but it could play a role in strategic force deployment. Direct entry strategies, etc. The logic is there, but is it offered by the Corps?

And if so, could any of you provide details on how to go about procuring a spot? I spoke with the Navy/Marine Corps liasion at Ft. Benning, and they couldn't offer any insight.
I can't really speak for any of the other services but the Army is pretty straightforward (granted its been a while since I got out). The slot in a unit is either airborne or not. If the slot is airborne it means two things. The unit has slots in jump school at Fort Benning and you get hazardous duty pay while in the slot and jump qualified. For the Army that means any of the Battalion, Brigade and Division surgeon slots in the 82nd Airborne are airborne slots as are any of the medical officer corps slots. Within the 18th airborne corps there are a variety of airborne slots that physicians can also fill. When I was in there was a Forward Airborne Surgery Team that was jump capable as part of the 44th Medical command. There are also a number of airborne battalions and at least one brigade with airborne slots. Within USASOC and SOCOM there are also a number of airborne slots (this includes SF and the Ranger Brigade).

Bottom line there are a lot of slots for physicians (and PAs) in the Army. The bad part is that since there are not a lot of airborne qualified specialists you tend to rotate back to Fort Bragg after every tour.

David Carpenter, PA-C
 
Just continue using your dirty nasty legs. USPHS Jumper. Hooah.
 
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