Navy FMF Corpsman vs. Army Flight Medic

Question

I am unsure of which i should choose to enlist into. I understand you must first reach the rank of E-4 and serve one year as a combat medic before applying to flight medic school. Please help me decide.

Answer 1

Well, as a Navy Corpsman you have pretty much the option to either be on a ship, a hospital, or with the Marines. You can be attached to a Marine Helo squadron and be a CASEVAC (Casualty Evacuation) Corpsman. You do pretty much the same thing as an Army Flight Medic. I was also a CASEVAC Corpsman and we actually went on more calls than the Army unit. There is also a specific assignment for Corpsman that want to be "flight capable" which are called "Search and Rescue Corpsman". As an Army Flight Medic I don't know what extra training or qualifications are involved. One thing I do know is that Basic Army Medics are not even capable of performing half of what Basic Navy Corpsmen are able to do. A Basic Army Medic can only do as much as an EMT-B which is practically nothing. Only able to apply a C-Collar and give O2 which is what EMT-B's are only able to do. You have to go to more schooling in the Army to do more things, unlike Basic Navy Hospital Corps School, you learn to do Advance Emergency Procedures as well as Nursing Procedures, but non are credentialized on the outside (civilian sector). Either way you go make sure they guarantee training that will credentialize you in the civilian sector, so when you get out you don't become a bunb on the street with incredible skills going to waist, from my personal experience.