Is it normal for a corpsman (medic) to be armed?

[rzemanfl]

This was on MSNBC with a caption identifying one of the two men as a Navy Corpsman a minute ago. When I went back to get the caption the article wasn't there anymore.

Article was moved, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8827629/ here is caption:

"U.S. Navy Corpsman Brendan John McGuire, left, of Manalapan, N.J., and U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Adams of Worthington, Ohio, patrol outside a house near Haditha in western Iraq on Friday."

My military experience consists of watching movies and in them medics have red crosses on the arms and helmets. Also, as I recall, conscientious objectors were trained as medics. I'm confused...

[MichiganVote]

1. Certainly.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I have known two "medics"

One was my high school chemistry teacher, the other my next door neighbor. The teacher served in Korea, where he had his leg blown off by a land mine. He was always talking about his experience, and mentioned that he was not allowed to carry a weapon, so he made himself up a slingshot that he carried. My neighbor never talks of carrying weapons while being in Viet Nam.

[oneighty]

3. No it is not normal

Their battlefield equipment identifies them as medical corps and according to Geneva Conventions they are immune from enemy fire (as are Hospital Ships). By carrying a weapon they pretty much exempt themselves from protection.

But as you know the Geneva Conventions are "So quaint" and yesterday. So who cares.

Having said all that A corpsman friend of mine by his admission carried a weapon in Vietnam.

180

[rzemanfl]

5. That's what I thought and I remember stories of armed medics

in the Vietnam era. Interestingly, I always want to do that country as two words "Viet Nam" and in a foray over to the AARP bulletin board to try to tell them I was through with AARP because of their Condi Rice magazine cover, I found that "Viet Nam" is common on their bulletin boards. I think it was often two words when I was younger, sort of like all the different spellings we have now for Al Quaida.

[Mairead]

6. It's 'Viet Nam' in Vietnamese (nt)

[Vickers]

4. The ones I knew carried a sidearm (9mm), not a rifle

:shrug:

[underpants]

7. As I understand it they can only fire to prevent personal injury

they can not be a part of carrying out a mission only to care for the injured. They do carry a sidearm usually (thus cutting down on their range of impact should they fire).

At least that is how I understand it.

[rzemanfl]

8. Found this:

"An American military pamphlet on the law of war provides this definition: An unlawful combatant is an individual who is not authorized to take a direct part in hostilities but does. ... Unlawful combatants are a proper object of attack while engaging as combatants. ... If captured, they may be tried and punished. As examples, the pamphlet mentions civilians who engage in war without authorization; non-combat members of the military, such as medics or chaplains, who engage in combat; and soldiers who fight out of uniform. In the Second World War, the United States captured eight German saboteurs who were out of uniform and executed six of them."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/iraq/genevaconventions.html

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

9. as a former corpsman

if you were assigned to the marines, you had to go through field training
and live like a grunt for awhile. we were trained to shoot and maintain a .45 and a M-16. you can carry a weapon for self-defense. that picture of the "doc" doing grunt work is a little strange. usually, the docs are not so visible. if the marines are so short of men that they have to use corpsmen, then things are really fucked up. i bet they are posing for a photo op and the doc is hamming it up a little.

[GoldenOldie]

10. I bet the Volunteer Army is so far under its quota.

That the Commander-in-Chief doesn't care where he gets the cannon fodder from.

This chickenhawk administration waged an illegal war and then taken our States National Guard Units and Reserve Units and sent them into Foreign Lands and perform as Regular Army....thus leaving our own shores un-protected.

This chickenhawk administration sent our military both Regular Army, Reserve and National(homeland)Guard into an unplanned, unequipped and untrained war......a success for failure. While they themselves go on vacations???? They know that to initiate a draft would bring them down in a heart beat so they have no problem using the troops into whatever positions they want no matter what their specialties might be.

Has anyone questioned why the Navy has listed casualties....unless they are seals??

[jmowreader]

11. If you were a medic in this war, you'd carry a rifle too

Medics are allowed to be armed for self-defense. Usually they just carry pistols because carrying a rifle would interfere with their medical tasks. If you're putting a splint on someone, what do you do with the rifle? Pistols are far more convenient.

But in this war, I'd want some long-range protection. Pistols don't offer that.

[LittleWoman]

12. At Iwo Jima the Japanese targeted medics

on the theory that if they could kill the medics then more Marines would be likely to die from their wounds. At least that is what I learned from a program on tv this last Memorial Day. One of the sources of information was a Navy corpsman who was there. I am sure that in many situations in the last 100 years that red cross on the medics and ambulances has been a target. The awful truth about war is that it is kill or be killed and people on both sides do whatever they can to survive. This reality was totally ignored in the run up to this most recent war. Pre-emptive war is just another name for mass murder.