Posted on May 16, 2016
Is combat required to be called a Combat medic?
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When I was in Germany in the early '80s, a fellow medic wrote on a form "Combat Medic" for his MOS. When our Platoon Sargent(a Vietnam veteran) saw that, he made the private change it, and told him that he has never seen combat, and therefore, is not a "Combat Medic". So, does one have to have seen actual combat to take the title Combat Medic, or Combat Engineer or anything else you can put 'Combat' in front of? Or is it enough to simply have served in a combat zone?
68W: Healthcare Specialist (Combat Medic)
Combat Medic
Awards
Edited 8 y ago
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 89
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This is why the Army changed the name of the MOS to “emergency care specialist”. Honestly it’s rather fitting.
I would not fault any medic saying theyre a combat medic - it is part of the job. I think it’s silly though cuz medics do so much more than treat combat injuries. More soldiers get decommissioned from disease than combat injuries. Historical fact.
The new reality is if medics think they only do trauma, then they are not worthy of any titles at all.
I would not fault any medic saying theyre a combat medic - it is part of the job. I think it’s silly though cuz medics do so much more than treat combat injuries. More soldiers get decommissioned from disease than combat injuries. Historical fact.
The new reality is if medics think they only do trauma, then they are not worthy of any titles at all.
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It was the "Cold War" years, and if the Soldier was assigned to 11 ACR, or 56 BDE FA Pershing, we had very short life expectancies at the time if the balloon ever went up so, "Blood and Guts" vs. "PsyOps", we "Doc's/Medics learned to live with it.
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Combat Medic Specialist (68W) | GoArmy.com
A Combat Medic Specialist assists with patient care, administers emergency medical treatment to battlefield injuries and prepares patients for surgery.
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It was always my understanding that "Medics" could also refer those who work in clinics & hospitals while never stepping foot in the field. Combat medics are those assigned to combat arms units, trained for tourniquets & putting out white phosphorous on burning troops, not handling bed pans & clip boards.
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Some people are into minutia. Why are so many people in the military such dorks? You can bet the guy that came up with that crap what is the king of the Pogues.
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Some may not agree but there are 2 mos's that are the first to run to the fight. The 11b and 68w. It's not because we want the glory if battle or some irrelevant title status. Its because everything in us says that's where we are supposed to be. The 11b is to fight for others and the 68w to save those who fall or be a physical reassurance that we will be their if you do fall. Any infantrymen or medic will tell you that even when it's your turn to stay behind your mind is on the fight and your body is telling you you should be out there. They are not just our mos's, they are who we are. If you are in an mos whose entire purpose is the actual fight, you are a combat "xyz", even if you haven't been in one yet.
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What used to be the 91B Combat Medic MOS (now a mechanic as in reality many Combat Medics were used for anyway) and apparently now is the 68-W Combat Medic/Healthcare Specialist is now and always has been Combat Medic ever since I was an instructor at CMSD at the Academy of Health Sciences Fort Sam Houston. They are trained for Combat and thus are in fact Combat Medics. It is in the MOS title and Description. I suspect Combat Engineers are much the same. the Combat Engineer 12-B has again the term "Combat Engineer" as the title of the MOS.
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When I was in, back in the "80's I was a 91B, later changed to 91A (Basic Combat Medic). I had been a volunteer first-aider before I went in. I never saw combat, but that's what the title was.
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SFC Donald Chase
Back in the early 80's is when they sent a bunch of us 91-A instructors to school for basic EMT and then on to Paramedic. Once we graduated we were brought back to write the career progression "Super "B"" Program. It was written to a full Paramedic Level and we found that many were not up to that level so they started to ease back on the requirements until (due to people failing and being re designated other than medical). It ended up before I left the program that we had to teach until they passed, no matter how long it took and you can imagine what that led to.
Yes that was then and in fact it seems now the designation for the "Field Medic" or better known and documented as Combat Medic but today with the designation 68-W Combat Medic/Medical Specialist.
https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/browse-career-and-job-categories/medical-and-emergency/combat-medic-specialist.html
Yes that was then and in fact it seems now the designation for the "Field Medic" or better known and documented as Combat Medic but today with the designation 68-W Combat Medic/Medical Specialist.
https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/browse-career-and-job-categories/medical-and-emergency/combat-medic-specialist.html
A Combat Medic Specialist assists with patient care, administers emergency medical treatment to battlefield injuries and prepares patients for surgery.
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Well, considering that the MOS title is literally Combat Medic Specialist...
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