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thedrifter
08-29-06, 02:51 PM
September 04, 2006
Medical officers eligible for Fleet Marine Force pin

By Mark D. Faram
Staff writer

Patients visiting medical may have noticed a shiny new pin on the doctor or nurse’s chest — provided that officer has served recently under a Marine Corps command.

That’s because many doctors, nurses, dentists and officers from many other communities have recently been designated as “Fleet Marine Force Qualified Officers” and are eligible to wear a new officer version of the FMF pin.

But not everyone who has qualified for the award is wearing a pin yet. That is because a version to be worn by chaplains is in the works and is expected to be available at Navy Exchanges sometime in the next six months.

For most officers, the pin sports crossed rifles behind a Marine Corps “eagle, globe and anchor” emblem at the center and sea swells. It is identical in design to the enlisted pin, but the officer version is gold with silver crossed rifles and a silver eagle. In addition, the North and South American continents on the globe are silver.


The chaplain’s version will be identical in design and color to the other FMF officer pin minus the crossed rifles, a nod to the non-combatant role of its wearers.

“The chaplains will utilize the same [Personnel Qualification Standard] to qualify for the FMFQO device,” said Cmdr. Daizo Kobayashi, a Medical Service Corps officer who coordinates the program at Marine Corps Headquarters in Arlington, Va.

But because they are non-combatants, he said, they will be waived from completing the weapons portion of the program, which includes the 9mm pistol and M16 rifle. Chaplains are protected in the field by enlisted sailors in the religious program specialist rating, Kobayashi said.

Thousands could be eligible

The main factor in determining eligibility for the pin is that the officer must be serving in “operational units of the United States Marine Corps,” Kobayashi said.

There are 1,007 active-duty officers who serve in eligible billets, he said. But the number of those eligible for the pin could be much higher because of the many mobilized Navy reservists serving with the Corps in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Officers serving with Marine Corps units “were the only Navy officers serving with such special qualifications in a unique area who were not recognized by a distinctive insignia,” Kobayashi said.

That changed last October with the approval of OpNav Instruction 1414.6, which outlines the qualification standard, available on the Web at dodssp.daps .mil/Directives/1414_6.pdf.

Attached to the instruction is the 66-page qualification standard, outlining the areas in which officers must prove knowledge to be awarded the qualification and pin, including:

• Navy and Marine Corps history, customs, courtesies and missions.

• The structure and missions of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force.

• Amphibious operations.

• Force protection.

• General combat leadership.

• Communications.

• Tactical measures.

• Land navigation.

Ellie