No Females Allowed for 2007

[AlphaFemaleActionFigure]

So I just got my heart broken. My recruiter told me today (14 days before I was to go to MEPS) that the Navy Reserves is not allowing any females to enlsit in the HM ratingfor fiscal year 2007. He also mentioned that that could possibly change (he says sometimes things change on a monthly basis), but didn't want to get my hopes up. Is this for real? I am so sad and pissed off that I finally made a great decision in my life just to have a door slammed shut in my face because I'm a female. I ain't getting any younger and was ready to move forward posthaste with enlisting. :(

[0311_DoC]

Since when is that a rule??? Ok somaybe you wontbe able to be on the front line with the Marines, but you should be able to abe fleet hospital or clinical Corpsman. I think that is BS......

[Da-Chief]

Alpha,

Give me a day or 2 to contact VADM Cotton (Boss of Naval Reserves), He used to be my CO for my sqaudron way back in the day.

His Chief of staff should be able to get back to me on this.

Don't let your hopes down, I think your Recruiter is full of BS but let me check.

Keep a stiff upper lip lady!

Da-Chief.

[AlphaFemaleActionFigure]

Thank you Chief!

[puckmedic]

Alpha Female--

Chief is an absolute believer in helping folks. It's why, I'm one of his big fans. HMC has a huge contact, and he's going to pull a string or at least find a way to get an answer on the topic.

If you suddenly get a call from the recruiter telling you , you're in, you know the admiral is doing Chief a favor.

With that being said, your entire career I'll ask you to not let either of them down. It must start with A school and you must perform very well in all aspects, academically, physically and as a servant to the fleet.

The admiral will certainly keep a look on you, I wish you well no matter what. If it is something he can not adjust, you can still attend some sort of EMT civilian school, and enter when you can. The time spent with extra course work, ohysical training etc will be beneficial and help keep you focused.

Thank you for wanting to be an HM. I hope we hear you got to go now. If not, it's still doable just on hold is all.

[DevilDoc]

Alpha,

For the record, I think your recruiter is incorrect. I had heard that they are only taking select females for FMSS, but not for the HM rating. Sounds like bull. It's not a combat rating, and so they can't make a regulation like that,without it going through Congress. It goes against your Constitutional rights and against all the laws set up to protect us. The reason for the possible "select" females rule, is that alot of them get hurt at FMSS or aren't strong enough to make it all the way through. That doesn't mean that they aren't good corpsmen. I saw several of them lose their rank and rates for failing FMSS. One of the stipulations that they were starting to set.

Probably the recruiter wants to get you into some other rate that is in demand and they can't get filled. Anyway, hopefully the Chief can find out for you. Don't give up hope.

Devil Doc

[old navy]

Any word on Alpha female? Did she get in?

[Da-Chief]

Not lately, she was @ our last chat and was still trying..

I can tell you this though most if not all the female billets are full for the FY07,

We are full for Jan, Mar, May, and have a few billets left in Aug...(17 as of last Friday). After that no more.. all full...

V/R
HMC

[AlphaFemaleActionFigure]

To All on board:

Thanks for all the advice and support as I go through this odd eventin my life. Sadly,I met with nothing but the same dismalanswer....and my recruiter has since changed his "positive outlook" that if I got in as a DEP recruit under the Master at Arms rating, we could possiblydelay my ship date (possibly for all 12 months allowed under the DEP program) until the Navy changed its mind about denying females the HM rating (in California for the Reserves anyways). It was a long shot but I was willing to take that chance. Well I guess that false hope was just to get me to sign a contract at the end of MEPS, because as soon as we got back, he abruptly changed his tune from hope to exasperation that I was still bugging him about HM. Pre-MEPS he had said that it would be a small thing to file a DAR (??) and put off my ship date each month. Post-MEPS, a request to delay would be looked at as an attrite - as in,a DEP drop-out. So, having had time to get good and (more) pissed about being female in 2007, I decided that it just wasn't meant to be. I am now employed as an EMT with the largest ambulance company in my county and am still hammering away on my nursing pre-requisite courses- I will be applying for RN school next summer.

All I wanted to do is helpheal our battered soldiers, to care for them with my hands and heart,and let them know that someone is there for THEM as they are in harm's way for US.

[hm1park]

Sorry that your plans didn't come out as you hoped. I'm sure it is frustrating. I don't know the behind the scenes issues with shortages of billets, but just like rating quotas, there are also quotas for females. To not consider those as quotas would cause problems with many aspects of our lives unless we're all ready to have a "Starship Troopers" military which has no regard for male or female sleeping quarters and bathroom facilities, etc. I don't think we're quite ready for that. Most of our ships have converted to male and female crews yet it is a slow process. I was on a the USS Dubuque a month ago and there wereabout 5females aboard. Thetwo enlisted ones had to sleep in officer staterooms due to there being no female berthing. It's quite an old ship.

Glad to hear you got a good job and still pursuing your goals. Have you considered going active forces? I can honestly say you'll have MUCH more fun doing that, much more work experience and training,and get an actual taste of what being in the Navy is all about compared to the reserves experience. Just a thought, otherwise I hope you continue to check in with your recruiter monthly to keep an eye on the quotas and maybe find yourself on the doorstep of Corps School soon.

[DevilDoc]

Alpha

Although I hate to say this....it hurts...ouch!

Try going for the Army as a medic...that's something I looked into when I was trying to decide which branch to go to. Also, maybe find a new recruiter! I still think he's full of crap! Probably trying to fill his quota. Never take No for an answer! That's what I have learned. If there is a will, there's a way. And congrats on your new job! I loved working EMS...best job I ever had! Very exciting! Good luck with Nursing school. It's a lot of work, but so worth it. I am almost finished myself. One year left till graduation! Yeah!

[Da-Chief]

I can tell you she is getting the straight gouge. I just got off the phone with N-7 in COMNAVRESFOR. Our female billets are indeed full for FY07.

Sorry to break the news to you..

Da-Chief.

[DevilDoc]

So...maybe Army is the way to go for her....


Or wait till FY 2008...that's beginning Oct 07...so not all that far away.

[popsie]

Alpha, Sounds like you have your sh*t together. Working your magic in the streets of EMS on the civilian side. Is doing your part. Although the Navy lost another optunity to gain another member to their team. I'm a believer in fate. There's a reason for experience. Tommorrow is another day and with it new challenges and needs. Who knows Navgod sometimes realizes their oversites. I hope you get your shot. I have never regretted being a Navy Corpsman. Maybe that why I 'm still a practicing street paramedic after 26 years.

[AlphaFemaleActionFigure]

Thanks, I am thinking of it that way, and will try again in 2008...by that time I should be slick as snot with my field skills and make an even better Corpsman. Something to look forward to in addition to my EMS career, which I think is going to be long and rewarding :)...

[dustmans]

With the way the wind is blowing with Corpsman advancements, going Army isn't too bad of a deal, that is if you can stand heading to the sand box for 12 to 18 months. They're offering huge reenlistment bonuses for people who aren't doing a much different job then we are but that's because they're asking a lot out of them. At least you have job security, just avoid joining a Stryker unit, those guys sure aren't happy.

Good luck on what ever you decide!

[old navy]

dustmans wrote:

"At least you have job security, just avoid joining a Stryker unit, those guys sure aren't happy."


Are females assigned to Stryker units?

[HMC-FMF-PJ]

If you have as much piss & vinegar as it sounds -- EMT-1A & 2 are going to get old rather quickly, especially in CA. Go EMT-P so you can do more than Pt trans with O2 BVM 15LPM.

If you are really still contemplating playing with the military, pay the extra couple bucks to get your EMT certs in the National Registry. The county certs don't always transfer that well.

RN degree could get you a commission. You may want to talk to an officer recruiter (NROTC (https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/nursingoption.cfm)) and see about getting the Navy to send you to school and pay for it. (Or one of the other services) There are AD & Res options out there.

FY2008 starts on 01Oct2007. Call up your recruiter again (or a new one) and ask when they start filling the FY08 billets. I think the DEP may let you cut a deal a few months early.

All recruiters are not created equally. 2nd & 3rd opinions are a good thing to seek before putting ink to paper. Working with a different office is also an option that needs to be exercised from time to time.

The US Army (http://www.goarmy.com/JobDetail.do?id=150)& CA National Guard (http://www.800goguard.com/medicalprofessional/medical.html)are both options if you are eager to get into a uniform in FY2007. Of course I have a bias towards Navy Corpsmen and I haven't always been impressed with other services, but sometimes ya gotta do wot ya gotta do...

Of course once you get to HM school, remember that you are a student again and need to do things the HM school way for the duration (not the CA EMT or street medic way).

[dustmans]

I've asked two Stryker guys and they say that there are females in some MOS's but they're not sure about medics.

[kmax123]

Hey, new to the site just this week but wanted to reply to this thread and say I just got hm-8404 as a reservist and I am female. I don't ship til Oct' though. Origianlly wanted something sooner, but apprently after talking to manydeppers and navy personnal not many females gethm-8404( exceptially ones who are 5'4 and 100 lbs soaking wet like me)so i was happy with what i got .Honestly, I knew I wanted hm-8404coming into Meps but I knewgetting a corpsman spot, let alone 8404 was going to be a long shot, but apparently they admire someone who is firm in what they want and isn't willing to back down from getting it.

[Da-Chief]

Congrats, it also helps you are going in the next FY.

Others were trying to go this year, this is why they dep'ed you to OCT.

V/R
HMC

[kmax123]

True, I forgot the fiscal year is different for the navy. hahaha, they need to regulate every buisness and organization to have the same fiscal year, it would make life a little easier.

[DevilDoc]

Kmax123,

Just a pointer, since you said you only weigh about 100 pounds....make sure you are lifting a lot of weights and doing some serious strength training before you go to FMSS. It is very physically demanding. Alot of the smaller girls failed out because they couldn't keep up in the hikes. The packs are heavy! Even to the stronger females. Men had trouble too! Just keep that in mind and train train train before you get there! Make us female DevilDoc's PROUD!!!

[kmax123]

Im def. working overtime on this iniutitve, I am going to school to be a firefighter so it's almost like cross training for Fmf. I do stair workouts with fifty pound packs on and run and run and run for miles now. Plus, I just got the chance to start doingpt with the marine ocs group on my college campus twice a week.

[kamon8404]

Kmax,

Sounds like you are on your way then. I would keep training! Make sure you tell your center that you want the active duty course! The reserve course is not as intensive. If I were you I would start doing pull ups, sit ups, lunges until you can't anymore, and continue to run all day long. That should get you golden. I'm a smaller male, but I found that everything is a lot easier when you are mentally tough. You can do anything that you put your mind too. So go for it, and want it like you haven't wanted anything before.

[Da-Chief]

Females don't do Pull Ups, they do the

60 Second Stare of Death test..

Hanging from the pole for 60 secs with thier chin above..

Nuts..

:shock:

HMC

[DeeDee]

Frankly, I'd rather do the pull-ups :shock:

Later

DeeDee