Recently I have come to realize this is also true while in the course, reputation wise. Here at JSOMT-C there is atleast one instructor from damn near each battalion of every Group and that includes the Guard. My reputation as a medic began my first day here and it will follow me the rest of my career. Its no longer enough just to graduate or graduate near/at the top of the class. Its about being a team member, which learning all you can is part of being a team player IMHO.

I have watched guys become shitbags here who were squared away at SFAS, PH-II, CLT, etc... They are passing with good grades but they arent dependable, they dont watch out for the other guys in their squad or class, etc. Instructors talk, students talk, and how these two different groups perceive you may determine whether you go straight to a B team, get any specialty team assignments and such forth.

We are being watched and talked about somewhere. The guys we are in class with and the guys in classes ahead and behind us will be the guys we serve with. The instructors have friends on teams and they want them taken care of by medics who are dependable and have their shit wired tight.

During my near 10 years in the course (thanks NDD) I have learned, and continue to learn everyday, there is more to learn while in the SFQC about being a Special Forces soldier than whats on the training schedule. Pay attention, I know I am.

The Quiet Professionals here are great examples to follow.

Crip

Crip,

You just brought a smile to my heart. Those same comments were made years ago in front of my class by the instructors we had.

Crip: I like your thinking brother. Just to add my own 0.2 cents here about prior EMS/NREMT-P. I have been a paramedic since 1990. I have every "LS" class available in my area. (these are classes that have life support in their title) ABLS, ACLS, BLS, BTLS, HMALS, HMBLS, PALS, and PHTLS..
Even after all that training Id go through anything they required of me without any expectation of skipping stuff or other preferential treatment.

The fact is Im always trying to learn new things in medicine. We owe it to the people we get the honor of treating.

I would also never volunteer to anyone that I am a NREMT-P. Id keep my geriatric mouth shut and enjoy the hell out of the WHOLE experience.

PM Inbound
 

NDD-

PM Inbound.

Books

Have there ever been any PA's who made it through 18D without letting anyone know they were a PA? Does the gray man metaphor work here or is it considered dishonest to withold that bit info from the cadre?

Crip

keep up the good outlook and focus.
I have respect for anyone that can graduate the 18D course infact one of your instructors sewed my eye up so good i can't see the scar anymore. and a year later i had to get my face sewed up again on the other side from a diffrent 18D, I can see that scar but barly but that one was almost a loss of eye sight so im not complaining.... hehehehe


Doc ive got icky belly can you fix it lol oh what fun awaits you young Delta's on a Team.

This really is a reversal of the traditional pathway. There probaby haven't been many to go through in the first place. I do know of one Emergency Room physician though (from Florida) who enlisted in the Army as an 18D and was subsequently KIA.

Eagle

Its very hard to keep things like being a PA or a paramedic a secret during the SFQC. While at SFAS, PH-II, SERE, etc you sit around with the others in your team, squad, student ODA and talk about each others lives, experiences, etc and get to know those guys on a more personal level for several reasons. If you do manage to keep it a secret its because you really didnt get to know the guys you are in training with and they didnt get to know you, not a good thing. It will eventually come out as it did in my case.

I get outed for being a paramedic by someone in my class with each new block of training here in the Delta course. Sometimes it works for me and other times against me, but I cant complain (not that it would do any good.)

Crip

during the 18D course I was working at Womack in the ER - forget the the SF guys - its The O wives that are the biggest PITAs around - if their kid is sick or hurt watch out - but it is a great way to really learn Peds Med - another guy and I got to sew up a kid who fell off an AC unit and really gashed his leg - I think it was 250 or 300 sutures 50% internal - the kid was great - the parents really sucked, kept the kid scared until we had them removed from the ER. REmember D's and C's are the biggest CA ambassadors on the team - we heal the sick and build the latrines and homes....

18D to NREMT-P?
 

A quick question for the younger guys. Does an 18D become National Registry certified as a result of passing the Q-Course? I understood that to be the case at one time but heard that it's no longer so. In my day (early 80's), if you were lucky, you could basic EMT certified in Fayetteville at the community college.

Back then, a lot of the guys thought EMT Basic was a big leg-up going through Phase II/Med Lab. I didn't think it helped much at all since we already learned most of the same stuff in 91B school and well above that in 300F1.

The short answer is no. An 18D can challenge the NREMT-P test(s) but it isnt given at the schoolhouse any longer.

SOCOM has what they call the ATP (Advanced Tactical Practitioner) certification that all SOCM grads must take now. It is more difficult, IMHO, than the NREMT-P test ever had time to be. It is much more applicable to what we do in the military side of the house but the drawback is that its useless in the civilian world...

HTH,

Crip

Eagle- If I am thinking of the same guy you are talking about he was already tabbed, a batt. surgeon and wanted to deploy. He had to then go through the course to become an 18D prior to deployment. It was a shame to lose this man.