Dental Technician Recruit Kerry J. Ragbir

All Hands ... Online

Story and photos by JO1 Rodney J. Furry

While Sailors take pride in being portrayed as protectors of the high seas, the image of the U.S. Marine as a warrior from the sea is rigid and powerful. Of course, the reality is that, like Sailors, Marines occasionally break. For almost 100 years, the assignment of patching them up has gone to U.S. Navy corpsmen.

Today, there are about 6,000 corpsmen keeping the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) fit and ready to fight. If anyone knows how to do it right, it's Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (FMF) Frank G. Percy, leading petty officer at the battalion aid station for the 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. Percy's a desert-hardened, thick-limbed "doc" who's seen nine nonstop years of life on the "green side." He doesn't know how he would react if he had to wear dungarees.

"I think it would kill me to be on a ship that's sending Marines ashore and not go with them," he said. The profound effect FMF service has had on Percy shows in all of the corpsmen. A cursory scan of the aid station reveals that everyone appears to be a Marine. You can spot the patients easily, standing around on broken sticks or coughing up a good show for the doc, but the lines of distinction that separate Navy and Marine Corps personnel have been irreparably blurred here.

"Both of my roommates are corpsmen, and I look at them like they were Marines, just like me," said Lance Cpl. Juan A. Sanchez, a Marine from Los Angeles, waiting for a routine physical. "The corpsmen hang out with us when we're off duty. Hell, they're just another part of the unit," he said.

In one case, the lines of distinction between Sailors and Marines have become even more blurred. Hospital Corpsman Gordon A. Smith, a former Marine sergeant, made the switch to the Navy after he decided that working on radar systems for the Hawk missile didn't fulfill his need for excitement.

"I was looking for a little more action, and I wanted a chance to get into a recon battalion. I did some research and decided that I'd enjoy it more as a corpsman," said the Tualatin, Ore., native.

"I think the toughest part of being an FMF corpsman is the first months. Young Sailors who join the Navy and get assigned to the FMF have their expectations shattered when they're challenged with adapting to the Marine Corps style of living," said Percy, a native of Pineville, La.

Every year, about 2,500 corpsmen find out that Semper Fidelis and a signature haircut doesn't come in a can. Before any bluejacket trades in dungarees for cammies on the West Coast, they have to see Navy CAPT Chris Gardiner and his staff of Sailors and Marines at the Field Medical Service School (FMSS) at Camp Pendleton.

"When Sailors come here, they're often apprehensive. They think they've been sent to Marine Corps boot camp. But when they graduate, they're physically and mentally capable of serving in the FMF," said Gardiner, commanding officer of FMSS.

Apart from a strict regimen of physical training, the students focus on the Marines' unique needs in the areas of prevention, disease treatment and trauma stabilization.

Tucked away in one of Camp Pendleton's many small box canyons, a large class of corpsmen and dental technicians are getting their initiation into the potent cocktail of physical training and field medicine techniques unique to the Marine Corp's ground combat environment.

Looking tired and soggy after an uncharacteristically rainy Southern California morning, Hospital Corpsman Teresa Robinson reflects on her experience while eating a package of meals ready to eat.

"I didn't expect to end up here. I thought I'd go to a ship or a hospital. But either way, I'm good to go. I'm honestly enjoying the Marine environment. I truly enjoy the challenge," she said.

The 39-day regimen at "Devil Doc University" has been a formal Marine Corps training program since 1950. The students represent the Hospital and Dental Corps, as well as the Navy doctors and nurses who serve the FMF.

"When Sailors come to us, they know virtually nothing about the Marines. Our job is to take the fear out of the unknown for them," Gardiner said.

"I never saw myself doing this until I got here. I never thought about it," said Dental Technician Recruit Kerry J. Ragbir, a native of the Caribbean island of Trinidad. "It's given me some direction," he said.

"It's difficult to explain, but when you've lived through the discipline of Marine Corps life, and adapted to their standards, you can't imagine doing things any other way," said Percy.

Of course, the Marine Corps wouldn't have it any other way. Gunnery Sergeant Basilio H. Lashley, from Pedro Miguel, Panama, knows the Navy firsthand after having served in a Navy cargo handling battalion in Williamsburg, Va. It's the FMF corpsman who has really impressed him through the years.

"My Marines would die for their corpsmen, because they're just like 'em." he said, adding that his pride in the Marines under him includes the docs.

So the next time you see a group of Marines, go ahead and make your wisecracks. But don't let a haircut fool you. At least one of those Marines is probably a Navy corpsman, and chances are, he's got more time in the field than you do at sea.

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