Proud dad. Worried mom.

Rupestris

Rupestris

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Mar 1, 2006
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I know this is somewhat off topic but I just gotta brag.

My son (graduated HS in June) just got home from his initial testing for the military service. He qualified for Air Force but elected to go Navy. His primary interest was to do some type of police or rescue work (wants to do SAR). Unfortunately, the Navy VBSS (Visit, board, search & siezure) has a waiting list. It'll be two years before he can transfer to VBSS.

He qualified with a high enough score to make Hospital Corpsman!

I know there are a few here that are in the rescue/medic/EMT field. Any bits of information or tips would be appreciated. He doesn't go to basic 'til July '09 so he has plenty of time to study. Any books that might help while he waits?

To keep it on topic, do you think a Spyderco Rescue in H1 would make a decent stocking stuffer this Christmas :p? I've already promised him my SR Howling Rat upon graduation.

Chris (Navy dad)
 
Congrats and thank you for your son's service.


I don't know about Navy, bt when I was in basic in the A.F. we weren't permited to carry anything that wasn't issued. I would wait till you see him on Graduation for any gifts.
 
tonym said:
Congrats and thank you for your son's service.


I don't know about Navy, bt when I was in basic in the A.F. we weren't permited to carry anything that wasn't issued. I would wait till you see him on Graduation for any gifts.
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Already looked into that. He can take his ID, bank info for direct deposit, $10 and personal hygene items. The clothes he wears to basic must be sent home or donated. He gets nothing 'til graduation. No cell phone, books, or any other personal items.

Anything I get him will be for after graduation.

cs
 
Yep that sounds right, allthough the clothes we had with us were kept in storage and we got it back after graduation. Trouble was there was a water leak and alot of our stuff was destroyed with mold all over.
 
As a former Marine Infantryman let me say that Hospital Corpsman are outstanding.

Tell your son to go "Greenside" and spend a tour with the USMC Infantry if he wants some action.

As a Corpsman he can go to almost any assignment in the USN or USMC -- that MOS has A LOT of options.
 
Thank him for me too. I remember when I came home one night and told my mother I had signed up for the Navy. She about fainted and told me, "You can't do that, your just a kid". She lost two Uncles in the battle of Midway in WW-2. Her Brother was in Pearl Harbor when the attack came but he wasn't hurt.

Same thing with Dad tough, he was pretty proud.
 
If he wants to do police and/or SAR work he should consider the Coast Guard. They do both.

+1 for Corpsman. As a Marine they were always my favorite Naval Personnel. (Especially the cute female ones)
 
Congratulations Rupestris, that is a great achievement by your son! I'm glad you are proud of him. Don't forget to let him know that either!
 
James 61 said:
If he wants to do police and/or SAR work he should consider the Coast Guard. They do both.
(Especially the cute female ones)
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Thanks everyone. I'll pass on the kind words.

James,

Even though he scored high, the Coast Guard has the highest test requirement. The only way to get there now is to ace the test or have prior service. He may switch later but for right now, he's going for Corpsman.

To all of you that served, you have my thanks as well.
 
Rupestris said:
He doesn't go to basic 'til July '09 so he has plenty of time to study. Any books that might help while he waits?
Chris (Navy dad)
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As ex-navy, I'd recommend he go coast guard or air force. If he insists on going navy, I'd really strongly recommend that he read his blue jacket's manual cover-to-cover, especially the chapters about benefits. Life in the navy is hard - hard on its people and harder on the dependents. The navy doesn't go out of its way to inform its new people about the few perks that there are. If you're stupid, like me, it'll take you a couple of years to figure out that the BJM is one big FAQ and that every squid, smurf, and rag-hat needs to read it ASAP. It's called military "service", because it is a big sacrifice on his part for the rest of us. Tell him thanks from me.:thumbup:
 
Grats!! God bless your son for making the choice to go into the armed forces.

My little bro is a "nuke" in the Navy on an aircraft carrier.
 
+2 for Corpsman, +1 for what Stanley said. Docs are treated like gold by the grunts.

Please pass on my thanks.
 
Congratulations on raising a fine son who is willing to serve. My father and brother were both Navy and enjoyed their stints. Both got to see the world and have some memorable experiences.

My brother found it difficult to raise a family while on active duty and he didn't finish his 20, but he has some great sea stories.

Congratulations again and thank him for me for his service.
 
I still have my EMT textbook from when I took the course and got certified about 3-4 years ago. You could have it if you want, just message me. It's probably not the current edition they teach with (the book companies just want more money so they're constantly coming out with new editions). It's all the same methods and material that they teach today. It's a great resource. He'll be way ahead if he reads through it all.
 
BTW: thats a great knife. The new skeletool from Leatherman is pretty neat too. I've been carrying one of those around to give me a break from my heavy SOG tool.
 
Congrats! I have a deep fondness for Corpsman. They fixed me up more than once. I had a Corpsman on my track in Northern Iraq and it was a damn good thing.

That's a very good job, and will be a great experience for him.
 
My dad was a corpsman in his early Navy days. Ended his career after almost 30 years of service as a senior chief. I have a cousin who is a Lt Col. in the Army with almost 20 yrs in. And a 16 yr old son itching to join the Marines.
I never joined the military (my dad threatened me with physical violence if I didn't graduate college BEFORE joining. LOL.) He didn't want me to follow the same path he did. One of my biggest regrets. Congrats to your son!
 
Ex-Coastie here (and ex-army). How much SAR he actually gets to do depends entirely on what duty station he ends up at. Did a little bit while aboard a big white one, then ended up at a land station where I drove a dump truck.

If he wants to really do SAR, and get some amazing training along the way, Air Force Pararescue is the way to go. I talked a friend's little brother out of going Coast Guard, because I knew what he really wanted and that he could pull off Pararescue (it's very tough selection and training. All the training SeALs get plus about a year's worth of medical). He was very athletic in HS, had traveled a lot with Teen Missions as a kid (learned to speak some Pashtun while in Pakistan, which came in handy after 9/11), and was already working as an EMT before he graduated. After he served a couple hitches he contracted in Iraq for a while, now he's head of safety for a major oil company out on the rigs in Cook Inlet.

Even though we've got a lot of Coast Guard up here, the Alaska Air National Guard's 210th rescue squadron does all the hard stuff, simply due to the fact that they've got the best equipment and an ass-ton of training. They've also rescued SeAL 6 and Detatchment Delta when they've been stuck during cold weather training :D.

If he does go Coast Guard, there's no guarantee what duty station he'll go to first or what his job will be. You have to wait six months and make E3 before you can put your name on a school list. ASM (Aviation Survivalman) school never opened up in the two years that I was in. I heard that it opened about a year and a half after I got out, which means I would have had to reenlist just to get it. Unlike the other armed forces, the CG only opens a school when they have positions to fill. ASMs tend to be career guys, and there aren't a lot of positions for that rate. The recruiters sure aren't going to tell him that though.

If he goes Air Force, he can volunteer for Pararescue during boot camp. Then he just has to pass selection.

Having served in the Coast Guard, and having worked with PJs in a training capacity, my recommendation is Pararescue. He'll need to be in shape though. Should be able to do 60-70 pushups, close to a dozen pullups, swim a couple miles and be able to run forever. That would get him in shape to qualify.

The CG is also now under "Homeland Security", which is a joke that is maligned by every other federal agency. Have a buddy who went into Customs when it was still treasury. Last year he transfered to Secret Service and was elated to be out of homeland security and back with treasury.
 
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If your son wants to read some Corpsman stories check out:

Force Recon Diary 1969

Force Recon Diary 1970

They are about a Corpsman assigned Greenside to the USMC Force Recon.
 
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