When Do You Get To Call Yourself "Doc" ?

[HM2Wallace]

Well, I got bloodstriped, walked the line, and told "Congrats Doc" when I got promoted, so I guess I was a "Doc". An Honorific that is not just passed around. To have this ass-wad of a non-rate, paint chipping, reserve dodging pilonidal cyst wanting to be called "Doc" is disrespectful to say the least. We had a couple of guys in FMSS that suffered from MPH Syndrome right before the humps, and were sent the way of the washout after two missed or truck ride humps. And even the graduates weren't called Doc. You don't get to be called Doc until YOUR Marines call you Doc. PERIOD.

[jeepinva]

You "rate" when everyone who knows you calls you doc.

There's always someone who likes to blow their experience out of proportion. Hopefully people are quick enough to see through the smoke screen as soon as possible, recognize the individual for what they truly are and then beat them. It's even better when everyone recognizes these traits and allows them to continue for daily amusement, accompanied by very amusing beat downs shortly thereafter. You can't stop someone who continues to run their mouth after they leave that command. They just spew B.S. wherever else they go, typically uninhibited by those around them until they too catch on. Vicious cycle really.

Report him.

[Sarc88]

Many on this board were in combat units during DS/DS and can verify or him right or prove him wrong. Tell him to log in here and post an intro with his gulf war unit named.

If what you say is true, tho, its not necessary. Hes a filthy Poseur and it sounds like hes bought into the lie himself after so much time and so many times telling it. If he divulges his info and is proven right, i will apologize in public on this forum and send him a membership to the Beer of the Month club.

[jason]

His E-3 stripes were I believe red. That was in 1995.

I'm not sure how things were back in 1995, but now, I believe if an E-3 has red stripes, that person is a fireman. E-3 corpsmen have white stripes with a caduceus.

I just got out of FMTB, and when people call me "Doc", I tell them I'm not because I haven't done anything yet.

[doctony34]

You don't get to call yourself "DOC". It is a name that must be earned. And, once earned, you are "doc" for life.
My marines still call me doc and that has been since November 1967-1967 when I served in Vietnam with the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines.

[HMC-FMF-PJ]

We have a sibling that is driving us all nuts. He enlisted in the Navy Reserve, and went to the two weeks Reserve Basic training at Great Lakes, IL the first year... our brother went to some, but not all his monthly weekend musters. The following year he asked to attend some initial Corpsman training in San Diego. For whatever reason he washed out of that. The following year same story. Third time being the charm he apparently completed the 10-days of training on his summer active duty.

Does he have a NSHS graduation certificate or military form indicating he graduated from the Hospital Corpsman Basic Course? It could be on a DD214 or as a Service Record entry of training completed or NEC awarded (ie. HM-0000).

He signed some document (PG-13?) that allowed him to wear Marine uniforms as part of his assigned duty..

This implies that he was officially assigned to a Marine Corps unit. Sailors assigned to Marine units have the option of electing to follow Marine grooming & appearance standards or staying with Navy standards. A Page-13 is the correct form to sign to document the decision. Those that elect to go with the Marine standards are issued the Marine service uniform and wear that instead of the Navy service uniform. However, the Sailor does not need to be a Corpsman to do this. Non-Corpsman can do it too and it certainly does not mean any combat was involved.

Our brother volunteered to go active duty during Desert Storm. He made many calls, and finally converted to active duty status and sent to Great Lakes, IL where he took medical histories of new recruits at RTC for about three days. They then put him on a detail where he was raking lawns for about two weeks before sending him home, no longer wanted for active duty, (war was still ongoing). He went back to his job, returned to Reserve status.

There was not any combat in Great Lakes, IL, during Desert Shield or Desert Storm. I am also unaware of any Marine units at RTC Great Lakes during that time. However it is possible he was activated/mobilized to work in the hospital and then assigned to the clinic at RTC (likely to back fill a spot left vacant by a Corpsman that got deployed overseas). Yet with only 17 days of duty (3 taken vital signs & about two weeks moving grass) it is also possible that he was simply performing his regular reserve Annual Training (AT) (aka: summer active duty) in Great Lakes.

The notion that he was removed from the clinic and sent to mow lawns is a big indication that there was a problem. It could be nothing but my first thoughts are that there was a disciplinary problem, personality conflict in the clinic, or a lack of clinical skills that led to him being assigned to mowing lawns. This idea is reinforced by his quick release from active duty. It sounds like he was assigned to working party during a legal hold/admin hold while they were doing the paperwork to send him home. --- yet it might have just been a period of Annual Training and the active duty staff may have just wanted to give all the "Reservists Sailors" all the crap details around the base. Some commands can have a very bad "active vs reserve" mindset (especially back in the early 1990's) and may try to treat Reservists poorly. Not to mention that as an E3 low on the totem pole (& FNG at the command), any Sailor in that position is a prime candidate for working parties doing the stuff no one else wants to do.

Does your brother have a DD214, evaluation, or other documentation for this service? That might shed light on his duty/performance.

Since that time he has told numerous people that he was "in the s#!*" during the war.

Mowing lawns and raking leaves sounds like a s#!* detail if you ask me, so it sounds like he was "in the s#!*" during all that. In fact he might have been in deep s#!* for some reason and that is why he was on working party...

He is also telling everyone that he was a "Combat Corpsman in the Marine Corps".

Does he have a DD214, certificate, old orders, or Service Record entries to support his claim? Was he awarded a campaign medal for his war service or a Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) for his "combat" performance? Or does he use the term loosely and equate the name "Combat Corpsman" in a similar manner as many Soldiers use "Combat Medic"? Does he see "Combat Corpsman" as a job title he was once assigned or as a duty or service he performed? This could be a debate over semantics and typical macho exaggeration to bolster self importance.

This is typically followed by an assortment of "hoo-rah's", Semper Fi's", "Roger That!" and so on.

After doing that for over 15 years with my Marines, its a hard habit to break. I often find myself doing it with Sailors, civilians, and Soldiers because it is buried so deep in my lexicon.

He insists that everyone refer to him as "Doc".

Anybody can be asked to be called whatever they want. Look at the emails, screen names and avatars as examples. Stage names and military call signs are great examples too. People can even go file paperwork to have their name legally changed. Is Robert now Bob? Is William know as Will or Bill? Does James now want to be Jim instead of Jimmy? Is Dwayne Johnson the Rock? Isn't John Bongiovi better know as Jon Bon Jovi?

However, just because junior wants to be called MC J-boy, Grand Master J, Gunny Slaughter, or Death Reaper by all his friends, that doesn't mean his family is going to stop calling him John... If John insists he wants to be known by some nickname then his family and friends each need to make their decision on what they call him and how they address him. You can try telling him its inappropriate for family members and civilians to call him by a nickname or title used in the military (like Doc, Sarg, Gunny, Top, Skipper, Chief, etc) but that might not float with him. There are plenty of military titles and nicknames out there. (30 years after the Corps, former Staff Sergeant R. Lee Ermey is widely know and referred to as Gunny.)

A short time after finally completing his two weeks of training in San Diego he received a call from the USNR C.O. of the base he was assigned. He was ordered to bring in all his uniforms, materials, ID cards and so on. He was being discharged from the Reserves for missing too many weekend musters. ... He was lucky and was apparently given an honorable discharge.

Each monthly drill weekend can be 4-5 drill periods long. A reserve Sailor may be kicked out for "unsatisfactory performance" after missing just 9 drill periods within a rolling 12 month period. The Reserve Center CO executes the paperwork regardless of what unit the Sailor is assigned to (Navy or Marine).

...He was discharged from USNR in mid 1990's. Since then this "I am a Marine" and "They call me Doc" has continued.

The vast majority of Marines would argue that a person cannot be a Marine without first graduating from MCRD (Marine boot camp). Your brother never did that. However a brother-in-arms may informally give the title out of respect for doing outstanding things for Marines within their group. The title of Honorary Marine may be officially bestowed on individuals IAW MCO 5060.19B by the USMC Commandant but since less than 75 people hold that title I doubt your brother is one of them. Numerically speaking, it is harder to become a Honorary Marine than it is to just become a Marine.

"They" can call him Doc all "they" want but you are not them. Rarely does anyone in my family refer to me or call me as "Doc" or "Chief" and they typically have some reason if they do use a title.

For the family's sanity ...

IMHO, that is an internal matter and has little to do with the guy's militay service or lack of service.... Reading between the lines it sounds like there are other dynamics at work.

1) at what point in training do you and your peers call you "Doc"?

As mentioned earlier, you do not give yourself the name/title "Doc". (At least you are not suppose to.) Others give you the title. For some individuals, or in some commands, this can be a title of honor reserved only for those they trust and respect. In other commands, or with some individuals, it is a generic nickname for all Corpsman like Devil Dog is for Marine. Thus it holds different meaning for some people.

2) as USNR assigned (so he said) to support Marines, is it acceptable to call yourself a Marine, and wear Marine T-Shirts and polo shirts that have the Marine Emblem and "Doc Xxxxxx" monogramed upon them, especially 15 years after being asked to bring in your uniforms?

Anyone can wear a USMC t-shirt. Elementary school and high school kids do it all the time. Sailors assigned to USMC units can definitely wear USMC shirts. Personalized shirts (Doc name) are okay too. People wear lots of college shirts or sport attire but were never a student or a member of the sport team. But why does the student alumni or old team member even wear a shirt for a group they no longer belong to? To support or honor the institution? Glory by association? Clinging to past glory days? Reclaim a feeling of days gone by? Some form of pride? Vanity maybe?

In my book, a title earned is a title you can keep for life (unless you do something to loose it). The numbers of years isn't the issue. The question is if he earned it or not. From what you've written it sounds like he has not, but this is your version of events. He is welcome to come talk to us here but as a veteran I certainly would not go login to some internet forum in order to "prove" myself as a veteran. If I was a fake, I certainly would not want to login to some military forum that could ruin my story.

3) With the exception of regularly saying he was "in the s#!*" during Desert Storm, but never claiming to us to have been given any metals for his actions, but claiming service, insisting that he be called Doc, and stating he is a combat corpsman, can he get in any legal trouble from the Stolen Valor Act or other laws?

I seriously doubt it, especially if he receives no gain (money, free stuff, awards, public honors) for doing it.

4) What is the risk of real Marine pounding him for regularly spewwing this crap?

Assuming his story is BS, that all depends on the Marine, Corpsman, or other veteran that he tells his story to. Its sort of like telling a martial arts expert that you are a bad ass black belt. Many will just shake their head and laugh at the fool that you are. Some will pound you into the ground to proove how wrong you are or to punish you for wrongfully claiming a title you did not earn.

[HMC-FMF-PJ]

Trivia: Chuck Norris and Jim Nabors (Gomer Pile) are Honorary Marines. Bugs Bunny is a honorary Marine Master Sergeant. Bob Hope is an honorary USMC Brigadier General and, by act of Congress, America's first and only honorary veteran. Actor & former Marine Staff Sergeant R. Lee Ermey is officially an honorary Gunnery Sergeant.

[Sarc88]

Your entire post.

Wow. HMC, you put way more time and effort into that post than this phony "Doc" deserves - my hat's off to you.

To the original poster, Lash9866: instead of worrying about opening a can of worms here. Send the link to HMC's post - and the entire thread - to your family members. Including the village idiot you want to expose. You've got the community response (allegedly HIS community), it is your nut to crack.

[HMC-FMF-PJ]

One of those days I guess...

I haven't visited for a while and started tapping away at the keyboard....

[HM3_Brown]

Oh man, this guy is just blookin to get into some trouble. I have orders to be attached to 1st Marine Division as my next comand, and from what I heard from my friends over there, the MARINES call you doc, once they trust you and know you can take care of them. Also, even if he were a doc, wearing the UMSC EGA around is basically false advertising. If he wanted to wear the EGA, he shoulda joined the Marines, Plain and simple.