Since April 1975, Hospital Corpsmen have continued to serve in the many "hot spots" around the world. Fifteen Hospital Corpsmen were killed in action when the Marine headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, was attacked and destroyed by a suicide truck bomber on October 23, 1983. Hospital Corpsmen were present at sea and ashore when the United States took military action in Grenada, and then again when they faced both bullets and the needs of a starving populace in Somalia. The 1990-91 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait gained a strong response from the United States and the world in the form of Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Preparations were made to drive the Iraqi Army out of the tiny country, and corpsmen were readied to respond to the needs of their shipmates. Hospital Corpsmen around the globe reacted, as their ships, stations, and Marines deployed or prepared to receive casualties. In fact, the first Navy casualty of Desert Storm was a Hospital Corpsman. Of the vast number of Naval Reservists called to active duty, the largest single group activated consisted of Hospital Corpsmen. Of an inventory of just more than 12,000 Hospital Corpsmen in the Naval Reserve, some 6,700 were recalled to active duty. The largest group of them, about 4,600, served at medical treatment facilities and casualty receiving centers; approximately 1,100 went to Marine Corps units; about 840 were attached to Fleet Hospitals Six and Fifteen; and some 470 of the reservists were assigned to the hospital ships Mercy and the Comfort.

HOSPITAL CORPSMEN TODAY1
Today's Hospital Corpsmen perform as assistants in the prevention and treatment of disease and injury. They assist with physical examinations, provide patient care, and administer medicinals. They perform general laboratory, pharmacy, and other patient support services. They assist in the administrative, supply, and accounting procedures within medical departments ashore, afloat, and with the Marine Corps. They instruct medical and nonmedical personnel in first aid, self-aid, personal hygiene, and medical records maintenance. They assist in the maintenance of environmental health standards, and they are prepared to assist in the prevention and treatment of CBRcasualties and in the transportation of the sick and injured. Senior Hospital Corpsmen perform technical planning and management functions in support of medical readiness and quality health care delivery.

In addition to their general assignments, Hospital Corpsmen trained as technicians perform specialized functions within the operational forces, clinical specialties, and administrative department, and they may be assigned duties independent of a medical officer. These complex duties require that each Hospital Corpsman have broad-based training and a versatility neither demanded nor expected of other enlisted rating in the Navy.

Wherever you find the Navy, wherever you find the Marine Corps, there you will find Navy Hospital Corpsmen. In times of peace, they toil unceasingly, day and night, providing quality care to numerous beneficiaries. In times of war, they are on the beaches with the Marines, employed in amphibious operations, in transportation of wounded by air, on the battlefield, and on all types of ships, submarines, aircraft carriers, and landing craft. Their innumerable instances of heroism, during which they have consciously exposed themselves to danger to save lives, are not spectacular because the corpsmen were required to act. Rather, their bravery is exceptional because it was not required, but given freely and willingly in service to their country and their fellow humanity, above and beyond the call of duty.

Abridged from "The U.S. Navy Hospital Corps: A Century of Tradition, Valor, and Sacrifice," by HMCS(FMF) Mark T. Hacala, USNR, with permission from the author.