future options

Today we had an HM1 come in to give us future career options. Being an HMDA really seperates me from the normal HMs. The Navy is paying a lot of extra money to have me trained in dental as well as typical corpsman training, so they expect to get a lot out of me. As such, I won't be able to do SARC (Marine Recon Corpsman) or Dive Medical Technician. I had no plans of doing these specialties, but they are both super badass so it kind of sucks to know that I can't do them even if I wanted to. Of course, if I make E-5 I can try to drop my dental rating, but that would probably be a hassle to the Navy, and myself. I joined the Navy to push myself into these hard pursuits, so at first I was bummed that I couldn't push myself to do Recon if I eventually decided I wanted to try. However, there are plenty of awesome options for me still out there. As an HMDA I can still go to FMTB training (aka the Marines), and I can still serve with a Marine unit, although serving in a slightly different capacity than an HM. That's good to know, but the best part is that HMDA's will probably see Ship billets, unlike HMs who see virtually none coming out of Corps School. Serving on a ship straight out of school would be an amazing and rare opportunity, so I think that might move to the top of my wish list, along with FMTB. And even if I serve in a shore hospital, I can and probably will go on deployments. The future is full of exciting options, now I just have to study hard and finish high in my class.

Aside from earning ribbons, earning your "warfare device" is a huge deal in the Navy. It shows that you're an expert in that field, whatever it may be. As a Corpsman there are quite a few devices I can earn, which are a big part of what I want to accomplish during my time in the Navy. My goal is to receive the FMF (Marine) warfare device, and the surface warfare device, which you get serving on board a ship. To earn these, you have to know basically everything about that field (studying a lot!), and have served in that capacity for I think 9 months or so. If I can earn either of these devices it would be awesome, but to earn both would really set me apart from the rest, and label me a total badass!