Combat Medic - Modern Day

Modern Day

Traditionally, medical personnel did not carry weapons and wore a distinguishing red cross, to denote their protection as noncombatants under the Geneva Convention. This practice continued into World War II. However, the enemies faced by professional armies in more recent conflicts are often insurgents who either do not recognize the Geneva Convention, or do not care, and readily engage all personnel, irrespective of noncombatant status. For this reason, most modern combat medics are armed combatants who do not wear distinguishing markings. Combat Medics in the United States Army and United States Navy Hospital Corpsman are virtually indistinguishable from regular combat troops, except for the extra medical equipment they carry.

The colloquial form of address for a Hospital Corpsman is "Doc." In the U.S. Marine Corps, this term is generally used as a sign of respect. The US Navy deploys FMF Hospital Corpsman attached to US Marine Corps units as part of the Fleet Marine Force. Since the US Marine Corps is part of the Department of the Navy, it relies on Navy corpsmen and other Naval medical personnel for medical care.

USAF medics have frequently served attached to US Army units in recent conflicts. Though all combat medical personnel are universally referred to as "medic", within different branches of the US military, the skill level, quality of training and scope of work performed by medics varies from branch to branch.

As a result of the 2005 BRAC, the US Department of Defense has moved most medical training for all branches of the armed forces to Fort Sam Houston of Joint Base San Antonio. A new Medical Education and Training Campus was constructed and the Air Force's 937th Training Group and Naval Hospital Corps School were relocated to Fort Sam Houston- joining the Army's existing AMEDD Center & School. Although each service will have some training peculiar to its branch, the bulk of the course material and instruction will now be shared between medical personnel of the different services.