# Questions about being a Medic in the Navy



## oakek (27 Apr 2013)

so I am just finishing up here at cflrs and I know my next posting is the cfmss in Borden but I had some questions about med tech and navy.
I was informed by my staff that even though im Navy I will be keeping my army kit too and I can underatand keeping the cimbats but does anyone know if ill be keeping everything? like my rucksack, tackvest, etc.
I also am unsure if I actually have to go to SQ or not. the websote aays amry recruits go. and one of my navy staff say I wont be but on here ive read that I do. 
I also am not sure anymore if I would like being posted to an army or airforce base. I get that im purple trade and really navy just means the uniform I wear. so now im at the point where its always been my dream to be in the navy and I feel like im faced with the decision to remuster toa navy trade or suck it up and pray that one day ill get on ship.  if ant navy medics could help me out thatd be great.


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## MikeL (27 Apr 2013)

I'm not sure if you will keep all your kit or not,  but Med Techs(Army, RCAF and RCN) do attend BMQ-Land. If your first posting is not Navy,  that doesn't mean you will never be posted to the Navy at a later point in your career(if you make it one). Lastly,  you can request to change your trade,  but there is no guarantee it would be approved.


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## oakek (27 Apr 2013)

when I applied I actually had no idea that I could be posted to other units. I dont come from a military family, so this process is very new to me.


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## Blackadder1916 (27 Apr 2013)

oakek said:
			
		

> . . . pray that one day ill get on ship.   . . .



Pray may be your only course of action at this time.  Things have probably changed considerably since I retired but don't hold your breath for the several years before it would be likely (and then it is luck of the draw) that you *could* be posted to a ship _or diving unit_ (actually the only true navy postings).  There are not that many medics afloat.  The frigates and destroyers have a PA (PO1/WO) and one junior NCO Med Tech (LS/Cpl, ?maybe a MS/MCpl).  The supply ships are the same but also have a doctor.  The subs have one PA.  Just like medical jobs in support of the army and air force, they can be filled by a medic wearing any colour uniform.   So, it is likely that you would have to wait a minimum of three to four years before you could be considered for one of the rare junior NCO positions.  There are greater odds of a newly qualified PA going to sea (eons ago that was often the first and only time that a medic went to sea), but then you would have a longer wait  - 10 years if one were exceptional, but more likely in the 12 to 20 year range if you were simply very good.


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## Eye In The Sky (27 Apr 2013)

I may be mistaken but aren't the Jr Med Tech's posted to a ship required to be QL5 qual as a minimum?  If so, the chances for a ship posting 'right off the 3s' isn't possible.


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## Cansky (27 Apr 2013)

More than likely you'll be ashore until your a QL5. Good chance your going to one of the field ambs BUT it is always at the whim of the career manager.  Medic regardless of what element uniform you wear is a true purple trade.  I have many friends who are navy and never spent a day on a ship.  In fact have one of my PO's who spent 22 years here in Edmonton between Air Force and army in spite of wearing the navy uniform.

By the way your next posting isn't CFMSS, it stopped being that a few years ago, it's CFHSvcTC.


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## CombatDoc (28 Apr 2013)

oakek said:
			
		

> I get that im purple trade and really navy just means the uniform I wear. so now im at the point where its always been my dream to be in the navy and I feel like im faced with the decision to remuster toa navy trade or suck it up and pray that one day ill get on ship.  if ant navy medics could help me out thatd be great.


Oakek, if I'm understanding you correctly, you're talking about a VOT to a "hard navy" trade before you've even completed your trades training?  I suspect that this is unlikely to happen at the present time, but only your career manager/CoC can provide the DS solution.  

My recommendation is to do your best at the schoolhouse to learn your trade as a Med Tech, and hopefully you'll get a posting to an Army base as your first posting.  This will allow you to learn essential fieldcraft and green Army skills that will stand you in good stead for the rest of your career.  After some TI and consolidation of skills, THEN would be the time to look for a posting to either coast.  The "baby doc" on board ship is a Cpl/LS, and even as at Esquimalt or Halifax you can expect to be posted to ship and then back to the clinic to maintain the ship:shore balance.  It is much easier to go to the RCN or RCAF after an army background, then to do the reverse much later in your career (or, on an operational deployment without the requisite background).  Good luck at CFHSTC.


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## Eye In The Sky (28 Apr 2013)

CombatDoc said:
			
		

> Oakek, if I'm understanding you correctly, you're talking about a VOT to a "hard navy" trade before you've even completed your trades training?  I suspect that this is unlikely to happen at the present time, but only your career manager/CoC can provide the DS solution.



FWIW, IAW the regs (CFAO 11-12 and the Basic Trg List Admin Guide, BTAGs), a NCM can request a MOC Reassignment if they haven't started their QL3, or if they are between 25%-75% complete their QL3.

Of course, it is a request and can be denied.


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## kratz (28 Apr 2013)

[quote author=Eye In The Sky]
Of course, it is a request and can be denied.
[/quote]

Now you've gone and done it. Putting all those barrack room lawyers out of work next weekend.  :sarcasm:


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## Eye In The Sky (28 Apr 2013)

Or gave them 'more of an argument'  8)


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