Photo Information

Recruits get blood drawn during the first week after arriving aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego as part of their initial medical screenings by the Branch Medical Clinic staff here. Between 300 and 600 recruits are seen on a weekly basis by the clinic staff.

Photo by Cpl. Jose O. Nava

Navy ‘Docs’, important part of warrior care

19 Nov 2010 | Cpl. Jose O. Nava

The hallways of the Branch Medical Clinic here bustle with bodies moving to-and-fro. Both recruits and Marines are treated every day by U.S. Navy hospital corpsman, or as most Marines refer to as, ‘Doc’, who work arduously behind the scenes.

“Anyone can be a corpsman, but not everyone can be a ‘Doc’,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Urquidez, hospital corpsman, at the clinic. “Being a ‘Doc’ shows that the Marines you serve with trust you in your abilities to care for them both in and out of combat.”

A hospital corpsman is an enlisted medical specialist who serves in the Navy and the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps does not have their own medical personnel so the Navy provides doctors and corpsmen to oversee the adequate care and treatment for the Marines.

November is Warrior Care Month, which is a Navy and Marine Corps effort to increase awareness and understanding of the wounded warrior programs and services to servicemembers, families, and the public.

Aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego the ‘Docs’ have their hands full as they provide treatment for more than 20,000 recruits a year, and anywhere between 300 to 600 recruits a week, according to Senior Chief Petty Officer Robert C. Pursell, the clinic’s senior enlisted leader. Besides the recruits going through training, the staff at BMC also provides care for the permanent personnel aboard MCRD San Diego.

“It is important for us to work with the recruits here because we are their first impression of what a corpsman is, and it is important to build the unique bond between Marines and their ‘Doc’,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class (Fleet Marine Force) Carlos Gomez, the clinic’s lead petty officer for logistics, Recruit Health. “It is a relationship they will continue to carry with them through their time in the Marine Corps.”

Many of the corpsmen working inside the clinic have been deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan. Their deployment experience helps recruits understand how important the Navy and Marine Corps team is when deployed, said Urquidez.

“You do not know what it means to be a corpsman until you are in combat serving alongside with the Marines,” he said. “It is a lot of responsibility knowing that the well-being of that Marine or sailor is dependent on you.”

In the service of those they care for, some corpsmen have given the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the care of their patient. One example is Petty Officer 3rd Class Edward C. Benfold who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Korean War that resulted in saving the lives of the two Marines he was attending.

“You never know how you would react in a combat situation, said Petty Officer 1st Class Erin Lowler, independent duty corpsman for 1st Battalion. You always try to plan and prepare but you truly never know.

“It felt good knowing that the servicemembers that I worked with felt confident in my abilities as a Navy corpsman and entrusted their lives with me.”

Marines are known to serve ‘in every clime and place’, and history has shown that whereever Marines serve, there will be a ‘Doc’ right beside them. For Pursell, hardships both the Navy and Marines endure further solidifies their bond. “The name ‘Doc’ means a lot more to a corpsman because you are the right hand of those Marines,” said Pursell. “The Marines will continue to fight the fight and their ‘Docs’ will be there supporting the Marines in the middle of combat or back stateside. It is taking full ownership of that word that if Marines are going to be on the front lines what better than to have a ‘Doc’ with them?”


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