Pursuant to this article:
Navy Eliminating 241-Year-Old Rating System in New Enlisted Rank Overhaul
https://news.usni.org/2016/09/29/nav...-rank-overhaul
Are Marines *expected* to call for a "Petty Officer!" when they are hit?
I suppose it COULD be worse. They could have simply changed the rating to "Corpsperson"...
Actually the rating has been officially Hospitalman for over 30 years.I.E HM3,HM2,HM1,etc. Corpsman is common usage and most accepted.
Thanks, Doc.
I plead Old Corps. That the current POTUS was unaware of how to even pronounce the (old) rating in a speech speaks to how it is not in common usage today.
But the article specifically says ANY sailor of ANY rating will be referred to as "Seaman" for E-1 though E-3 "Petty Officer" for E-4 though E-6, and "Chief" for E-7, "Senior Chief" for E-8 and "Master Chief" for E-9.
It is the Rating that is going away. All I can see is the potential for confusion.
I'm sure that the Navy will sort it. It's going to take a few years to overcome the inertia of a couple hundred years of tradition.
Thanks for your service, Doc. I appreciate it.
Unless someone comes out and starts making things "MANDATED", Marines will call them "Doc's" - "Corpsmen" as we've done since it all started...
PC will kill a Country and a Service...!!!
I agree. They'll still be "doc's", and they'll still do the same outstanding job they've always done.
I suppose it is going to end up like it is in the army. E-1 though E-3 are "Privates", E-4 though E-5 are "NCOs" and E-6 though E-9 are "Staff NCOs"
The titles are Rate (E1-E9) driven rather than Rating (the MOS short-form descriptor) driven.
I have faith that Corpsmen will forever be Docs until the heat death of the universe, regardless of the edicts passed down from COMCINCCOM.
I don't think so Haddock...
Marines have been Marines for a long, long time..
And Marines do things only a Marine would do...
We shall see...
If you want to call a corpsman now you have to dial 911.
My wife is a retired paramedic who spent over 15 years on the road as an ALS (Advanced Life Support) first responder before being promoted to a 111 (911 in the US) dispatcher. She managed EMTs in Canada, England, New Zealand and the US during the course of her career.
It was not unusual for her to dispatch calls to military resources when that was the cognizant authority to cover the call. So, dialing 911 to get a corpsman is not out of the realm of possibility and quite likely the fastest way to get a first responder on-site -- civilian OR military.