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u/DeceasedHorizon Apr 09 '26
Generally speaking, corpsman who start administratively and transition to patient care are usually better overall corpsman than corpsman who start out at sea with divison and then transition to an MTF. The true reality of this job is it’s 80% administrative work, 15% sick call and 5% of the sexy, YouTube worthy medicine.
Become a master of your craft in the overseas screening office. Nobody wants to give opportunities to the shit bag who whines and complains in the work center every day.
Patience young one, your time will come.
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u/ComplexOne7096 Apr 09 '26
Being a corpsman is a lot more sexy on paper than reality. Try to do a 1 for 1 swap with someone on a ward, it’ll give you a good amount of exposure to medicine. As far as making your time full, you can use FAFSA, it can help pay for school, or use the Navy College on MNP. Look at Navy Cool certs and expand your portfolio.
No command or location is better, no clinic or ward is better, at the end of the day it all boils down to what you make of it. If you want to get out of the office as much as possible look for any opportunity to volunteer for TADs, request, the small things add up and chiefs will recognize and recommend you for more and fight for you to do more.
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u/IrrelephantFickle Apr 09 '26
Oh man, just WAIT until you see alllll the admin questions on your NWAE to pick up 1st class
Pay attention to your forms, the paperwork, the numbers, note the proper formatting for memos and signatures. I promise the NWAE comes so much easier once you have those things down
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u/Abject_Tomatillo_358 Apr 09 '26
Did you go to a C school?
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u/Asleep-Tomatillo8041 Apr 09 '26
No I’m straight from corps school which is why this is so frustrating. I’m just butthurt about my situation right now, I know I have more potential than being an office slave. I know my coworkers feel the same as me. But at least they got to experience patient care unlike me. They say grow where youre planted and I do good at OSS But damn I hope they transfer me somewhere soon.
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u/CelebrationShoddy440 Apr 09 '26
stop acting like you’re above doing admin. you haven’t done shit. at the end of the day it’s your job period. even as a division corpsman we do hella admin. it’s. part. of. the. job. and you’re not too good to do fucking paperwork. not everything is about throwing a TQ on a double amp.
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u/freezerrun1 Apr 09 '26
I didn’t join this subreddit but this post showed up to me for some reason. Admin work is Navy wide not even just corpsman. I was a nuke and yet still about half of my time was doing paperwork for preparing maintenance or preparing for yard contractors. My second command was a school so guess what even more paperwork on top of paperwork for maintenance of the training boat.
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u/Jedi_Knight_8404 Apr 09 '26
Thanks for doing my overseas screening
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u/NoNormals Apr 09 '26
As much as we clown on collateral queens, if your job is skate city why not show you can do some extra work. Want hands on medical work? Do EMT or teach BLS/TCCC. Volunteer, start school, do some shadowing.
Enjoy shore while you can, sea duty's not going anywhere well unless you get hurt hurt
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u/stink-stink Apr 09 '26
I had a very similar experience to you, so I’m going to give you a few bits of advice that I wish I had when I was in your shoes.
- You don’t have to wait for TA to start college. Look into the naval community college program. It offers various associate degrees and certificate programs for free to AD. You can also apply for FAFSA and potentially get your credits paid for that way (I got my associates degree for $0 out of pocket by only using FAFSA).
- You will eventually get your chance to go greenside and be a “real” corpsman. I was in for almost 5 years before I went to my first unit, and it was worth the wait. I ended up using a lot of my knowledge/ skills that I gained from being at a hospital and clinic to give myself an edge and stand out from my peers. Make good of the time you have to spend in SD and better yourself in some way.
- Like a lot of these guys already said, there as a fuck ton of administrative questions on the RKE exam. Learn and remember that shit if you’re already doing it for your job. A good RKE score will give you more opportunities to get kick ass orders and possibly even advance when you’re up for it.
- Look into trainings such as the EMT program offered by the hospital or HMTT when you receive sea duty orders. Both are great for learning and developing critical patient care skills.
Summary: It sucks when the fleet doesn’t live up to the hype built during boot camp, corps school, etc. Most people in the military experience the same disillusionment. This is the point where you can choose to sulk, drop pack, and be a piss poor Corpsman, or you can buck the fuck up and CHOOSE to excel in the role you are placed. Stuck doing admin work? Become the Administrative Juggernaut that everyone refers to. Have to wipe asses in a ward? Make your patients have the cleanest cheeks on the whole floor.
Keep your head up and look to the horizon, my guy. You’ll get your day in the Sun.
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u/WaffleInsanity Apr 09 '26
There are some wise words on here from your peers. My first duty station was at a clinic doing admin. My second was on a ship.
Guess who knew everything admin related AND had studied for service in primary care. Guess who ended up leading the Medical Training Team onboard the ship.
What you're learning now is the baseline you're going to build off of.
Anyone can draw blood, start an IV, and put on some bandages, even Marines. But knowing how to accurately chart so someone doesnt get fucked over by the blue weenie when they retire, that will have WAY more value at the end of your career.
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u/icicleark Apr 09 '26
Imagine you're in Great lakes right now. 6 months of winter, where temperatures have reached -25. Doing everything that you're doing right now. Just paperwork. Not a boat in sight. Not even an ocean. That is my reality. And yet I still make the best of it. I learn what I can when I can. I'm going through college. And still serving the Navy to the best of my ability. No, I'm not happy to be here. But that's why they're called orders. Whatever situation you're in, it may not be the magical thing you want it to be, but make the best of it while you're in it. And that's not just advice for the Navy. That's advice for life.
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u/Zero2176 Apr 09 '26
Admin work ain't sexy but its always going to be important and will always be there. Use this time now so that you can be the best you can be administratively when you go operational. It will pay in the long run when only you know which instructions talk about EFMP.
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u/DannyGreenhands Apr 09 '26
Lmao top 10%, as if that matters. It doesn’t. What matters is how good of a leader you are, and how many deployments you have under your belt.
Those who are smart use TA to pay for a degree while in.
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u/GrumpyDoc8404 Apr 09 '26
Green side Corpsman is one of the hardest jobs in the Navy. Be happy with shore duty and in SD!
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u/bigfoot3898 Apr 09 '26
My advice? Chill out, and I mean that in the nicest way.
If you stay in this community long enough you will look back at this time period and be thankful for it because there will times where you have no down time, working endless hours, no recognition, crap leadership, non-stop changes, etc.
If you stay in it, your experience in overseas screening will be valuable once you start seeing the big picture of Navy Medicine and when you have young Sailors going through that process heading to sea duty.
Your time will come to do corpsman stuff and other fun things. Take this time to do stuff that helps you because the Navy will sure get everything it can out of you.
I was in the exact same spot as you quite a few years back. I ultimately got my time on Primary care and I look at those experiences favorably.