And by situations, FMSS instructors are usually talking about combat. And these days going into combat is no longer a what-if scenario, but a when and where. The FMSS instructors prepare their students for that, too.
“Students ask us about combat all the time,” said Buchanan, “and we have to answer them carefully, but we always answer them honestly.”
Still, the combat veterans know no amount of training or lecturing is going to make anybody, especially corpsmen ready for war.
“No matter how hard you try to get ready for combat, you’re never ever truly prepared for it,” said Book. “There’s nothing else on earth like war. It’s not simple. It’s not fun. And it’s definitely not cool.”
And without setting foot on the battlefield some students have already felt the realities of war. For some it is a wake-up call, while for others it provides confirmation that they’re going “greenside” for all the right reasons.
“When I saw my first Marine come in from combat,” said HN Patrick Coyle, a student stationed at Naval Hospital Camp LeJeune prior to classing up for FMSS, “it just reaffirmed in me that there was a job out there that needed to be done, and I wanted to be one of those people who makes a difference. When these guys got hurt, there was a corpsman who did their initial assessment and kept them alive well enough to get to me. They didn’t lose their limbs, they didn’t lose their life and that’s what we’re here to do – save Marine lives.”
Coyle’s mindset is precisely what FMSS instructors hope to instill in all their graduates, and if history is any indication, whatever they’re doing works because Navy corpsmen are one of the most combat decorated rating in the Navy, and most of those medals were earned by corpsmen serving with their Marines.
It’s a glory only a select few dare to chase.
“I knew if I chose greenside there’d be a greater chance I might go to war,” said HN Maurice Butler, an FMSS student. “But my wife and I pray, and we prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Even with the dangers, this is definitely where I need to be to become a great corpsman.”
Butler’s desire to become an FMF corpsman stems from a reputation the Marine Corps has for expecting a lot more responsibility from its junior personnel, especially their corpsmen. And it’s a character trait FMSS instructors look for on the very first day of school.
“We can tell within a few days if a corpsman has it or he doesn’t,” said Lister, “and by that I mean discipline. A lot of petty officers show up here and they’ve never been in charge of anybody. So, we put them in charge of people. If they don’t do the job right we fire them, and don’t think twice about putting an HN or HNSA in charge of a whole platoon [of students]if they can do the job. And believe me those fired petty officers will listen to that HN or HNSA because if they don’t, they have to answer to me.”
The Marine Corps’ straight forward, show-me attitude encourages young Sailors like Butler to prove their worthiness to the FMSS instructors, their shipmates and themselves. And that’s exactly what brought Butler to FMSS.
“When I went to the naval hospital for my first assignment out of “A” school, they put me to work in supply,” said Butler. “That’s not where I’m going to get the hands-on experience I need to be a good corpsman. Going greenside, I‘ll have a lot more people depending on me to know what I have to do, and I’ll have the opportunity to do it. By serving with the Marine Corps I’ll learn more about what a corpsman ought to be sooner rather than later.”
