Pvt. Andrew Jon Shields U.S. Army KIA 31 MAY 2008 in Afghanistan

I hate days like today.

It breaks my heart every time I post one of these stories. Andrew was doing the Nations bidding helping our Armed Forces Hunt those who started this war back in 2001.

Andrew was 19 years old.

19 years ago he was a baby in his mothers arms.

At 19 years old Andrew could not buy a beer but could give his life for his greatful Country, the United States of America.

Andrew, we at corpsman.com, “the Doc’s Site” Salute you and your family and friends.

We grieve for your loss brother, As all Doc’s who are your brothers and sisters, we grieve for you.

Taps has been sounded.

Da-Chief

Flags fly at half-staff for medic

VANCOUVER — Flags in Battle Ground are flying at half-staff in honor of Pvt. Andrew Jon Shields, a U.S. Army medic killed Saturday in Afghanistan.

Shields, 19, was the 120th member of the military with ties to southwest Washington and Oregon to perish in conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kuwait. He is the 13th from southwest Washington.

He was a 2007 graduate of Battle Ground High School and a former member of the Clark County Fire & Rescue cadet program. He was appointed a battalion chief shortly after joining the program his senior year.

“His leadership qualities were immediately identified and that’s why he rapidly rose to be a leader in his class,” said Battle Ground Mayor Mike Ciraulo, a division chief with Clark County Fire & Rescue. “He was morally and ethically superior in his standards and beliefs. He was well respected by his classmates and the instructional staff.”

Shields was the son of Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Jon Shields. The younger Shields served with the 173rd Special Troops Battalion, part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Bamberg Germany, according to the U.S. Army.

The U.S. Department of Defense said he and another soldier died May 31 in Jalalabad City, in eastern Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

His family asked for privacy.

In a statement, the family said Shields joined the Army while in high school. He completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; the combat medic course at Fort Sam Houston, Texas; and basic airborne training at Fort Benning, Ga.

While at Fort Benning, Shields met and became engaged to another medic, Loren Elizabeth Combs, who is serving with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.

While attending Battle Ground High, Shields played football. He enjoyed his family and friends, competitive shooting, hunting and fishing.

Ciraulo said Shields visited the firefighter cadet program a month or two ago, after completing his basic training and just before deploying to Afghanistan. He shared his experience with the cadets and said he was soon heading to Afghanistan, Ciraulo said.

“He was trustworthy and could always be counted on to do the right thing,” Ciraulo said. “This is a hard one. He was a standout.”

As mayor, Ciraulo said he ordered city flags to fly at half-staff, likely until Shields’ funeral.

Shields is survived by his mother, Wendy Campbell; father and stepmother, Jon and Carol Shields; sister, Ryleigh Campbell; and other extended family members.

Following is a link to Shields’ MySpace page: www.myspace.com/CowboyUp.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Researcher Lynne Palombo contributed to this story. Holley Gilbert: holleygilbert@news.oregonian.com

Army Field Manual 3.0

I apologize the link was broken on this post. It has now been fixed.  You can download the field manual at your hearts content. :-)  –D/C

Well folks what has the world come to?

A squid writing articles for the Army!?!?!?

My brothers and sister medics out there are worth it though. I hope more of you come to our site, Corpsman.com, which started as a Navy Corpsman site but now is a site to take care of “DOC’S” from all services.

Help me out here, if you are a Army Medic and you want to help out on our site, email me as I am playing golf in 80 M.P.H. winds… (I actually did this in Hurricane Andrew.. great drives btw, but my putting game sucked..)

Enclosed in this article is the Army Field Manual version 3.0. Now knowing the Marine Corps as I have served with them, I would bet this is the “BIBLE” for you Army folks. I would also bet Advancements are hinged on you knowing this thing.

With that, I want all Doc’s to advance if they do the work, I give you the Army Field Manual.

This link will also be housed over in our Ships Library once it is set up. Yeah the Navy still hauls the army around.

Good Luck and Good Reading.

You can comment on this manual or ask questions of the staff in our Scuttlebutt Forums.

Come introduce yourself.

Master Sergeant Brendon O’Connor receives Distinguished Service Cross

Medic gets Distinguished Service Cross

Master Sgt. Brendan O’Connor on Wednesday received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army’s second-highest valor award, for his actions during a 17-hour battle in Afghanistan.

The 47-year-old Special Forces medical sergeant spoke with humor and humility after the medal was pinned on his uniform in a ceremony at Bank Hall on Fort Bragg.

“My word!” O’Connor said, reacting to praise by a three-star Army general and a four-star Navy admiral. “My name is Brendan O’Connor, and I didn’t fully approve that message.”

In his self-effacing remarks, O’Connor apologized to his children for missing birthdays and thanked his wife, Margaret, for what she has done in raising their family in his absence.

Margaret O’Connor writes a Home Front column for The Fayetteville Observer.

Master Sgt. O’Connor, who resigned his commission as an officer and then took the rigorous training to become a Special Forces medical sergeant, said his “momentary courage” pales in comparison to people who cope courageously with difficult situations daily, such as Capt. Ivan Castro, who is blind, and Harry Hubbard, a friend who suffered a stroke in his mid-30s.

The audience included former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy, a friend of the O’Connor family, and former 7th Group commanders.

The heroism of O’Connor and his team in the face of an attack by 300 Taliban fighters received national attention April 20 in a segment on the CBS news show “60 Minutes.”

Adm. Eric Olson, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command at Tampa, Fla., pinned the award on O’Connor’s uniform.

Olson hailed the contributions of the Green Berets and said the demand for Special Forces may grow as conventional forces are reduced overseas.

“Master Sgt. Brendan O’Connor exemplifies the spirit of these warriors,” Olson said.

The admiral wore his white Navy dress uniform. O’Connor was in his green Army dress uniform.

O’Connor led a quick reaction force June 24, 2006, in Kandahar province’s Panjwai District, described by Special Forces as one of the most hotly contested areas of southern Afghanistan.

He maneuvered his force through Taliban positions and crawled alone through enemy machine-gun fire to reach two wounded soldiers, the citation said. He tied a signal cloth to his back to identify himself to aircraft overhead. While under fire, he provided medical care and carried a wounded soldier more than 150 yards across open ground. He climbed over a wall three times under enemy fire to help wounded soldiers seek cover. Then he took over as the operations sergeant and rallied, motivated and led his team.

“Thank God for men like Master Sgt. O’Connor,” said Lt. Gen. Robert Wagner, commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg.

Maj. Sheffield Ford said after the ceremony that O’Connor picked up Sgt. Joseph Fuerst and carried him over his shoulder and ran while under fire.

“Knowing that bullets were coming in all around him, he didn’t hesitate,” Ford said. “He continued to get up and move because he knew he had to get Joe back if he was going to have a chance to try to save him.” Fuerst died, and Staff Sgt. Matthew Binney survived, Ford said.

Former Sgt. 1st Class Abram Hernandez received the Silver Star, the Army’s third-highest award for valor, on April 17 on Fort Bragg for his actions in the same battle. Master Sgt. Thomas Maholic was killed in the fighting and received the Silver Star posthumously Nov. 15.

During training, Special Forces medics, who have extensive training and upon whom the entire team depends, are told to wait for others to bring the wounded to them, but O’Connor realized the soldiers needed immediate help and the battle was not going to stop, Ford said.

Staff Sgt. Charles Lyles said O’Connor paused before going out on the mission to make sure he was taking everything he would need.

“The seconds he took to make sure he had everything ready, I believe, made the difference,” Lyles said.

Staff Sgt. Brandon Pechette remembers O’Connor being “calm and cool and very intelligently funny while we were there, keeping the morale high, which is very important because we were such a small force against overwhelming odds.”

The award came 40 years after O’Connor’s father was killed in Vietnam.

The last time soldiers of the 7th Special Forces Group received Distinguished Service Crosses was in July 1964, Wagner said. Capt. Roger Donlon received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest valor award, for his actions in the same battle, he said. He was the first Medal of Honor recipient of the Vietnam War.

Tribute video to US Army medics. IMEF CASEVAC

This is posted on the Front page as well. Video author: rayethon
Tribute video to US Army medics. IMEF CASEVAC

Welcome to Corpsman.com Version 3.0!!

We are the #1 site for all Doc’s in the United States Military. We are a site for Doc’s run by Doc’s.

We are back up online with Version 3.0. CrazyCajun has been working on this upgrade for 2 months. Drop him a line and thank him!

You will find quite a bunch of new changes in this version.

If you have a story or you see news that we should put on our front page, please email me @ admin1@corpsman.com with a link etc. We always give credit to the email writer as well as the site supplying the news.

If you wish to write a article for our site or our newsletter, please email it to DeeDee @ editor@corpsman.com.

We have also Created a FLICKR account for Pictures of Doc’s doing their thing. What we don’t want are the “STOCK” Navy, Army, AF, Coast Guard pictures.

We want them from you, the folks doing the real job they do.

Vets you aren’t to be left out either. Do you have a function you want to promote?

Let us know. Do you have pictures from a reunion to put out? Let us know..

We ask though that all pictures you submit to us, you give your permission to display them on the front of our site in
our rotating picture area.

Please, if you find any bugs please drop us a line.

Please remember, the Forums are still here.. Just hit the forums button off the front page.

We will still be hosting our chats etc. in the E-Club chat area.

Thanks so much for your Brother, and Sisterhood. I have been out of the Navy “1″ year this month. I have gained a much bigger family through you all on Corpsman.com!

Thanks!

Army Ranger Medic Handbook 2007

I wish to thank HMC-FMF-PJ, and 0311_Doc for this information.  Like I said before if you have a contact with the Army, please have them contact me @ hmc.crone@corpsman.com . We would love to have them help us put up accurate and current info to help our fellow medics.

Pick up the Army Ranger Medic Handbook (2007) by clicking the hperlink.

You can comment on this manual or ask questions of the staff in our Scuttlebutt Forums .

Air Force Medics??

Well I just spent the last 45 minutes to a hour searching for Air Force Medics doing their thing in Combat, either in Iraq, or Afghanistan.

What did I find??

BUPKUS!!!!

I was on af.mil, searched for “MEDIC” as the keyword in their photo area.  What did I get?

OFFICERS? CHAPLAINS?

When I did get a pic of a Medic, it was usually taking care of some sim-man etc..

WTF Air Force?  Your not promoting your best specialty, the Air Force Medic!!

Now I know they are out there putting their keesters in harms way, but it seems th “O’s” like the limelight.

That being said, if your a Air Force Medic, and you have some pictures  you want to share, please contact me @ admin1@corpsman.com .   We will get to you asap and get you involved.  We want your stories as well.

Hope to hear from ya..

You can comment on this manual or ask questions of the staff in our Scuttlebutt Forums.

Army Medic Pvt. Erick Rodriguez Awarded Bronze Star

Bravo Zulo to Pvt. Erick Rodriguez!! You did your unit, yourself, and the Doc Community Proud!!

Pvt. Erick Rodriguez, a medic in Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, receives a Bronze Star with Valor, from Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of Multi-National Corps - Iraq, March 20, on Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq. Without regard for his own injuries or safety, Rodriguez provided medical care to injured Soldiers after an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle, Dec. 12.

Photographer: Pfc. Amanda Mcbride, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

You can comment on this manual or ask questions of the staff in our Scuttlebutt Forums.

PT INSTRUCTIONS, OPNAVINST 6110.1H

So you always have questions about the PFT program. Why not educmate yourself so you know what is what instead of going by word of mouth? PT is serious business during this war climate. I myself have fallen off the wagon since I got out 1 year ago today. Why do I write this? Because I am getting back on the wagon and starting PT today.

The Navy has always (In the past) had a culture of being portrayed as “FAT & LAZY”, unless you were a DOC who has served with the FMF. Those days are over especially since the IA (Individual Augmantee) program has kicked in. We now have quad zero’s with boots on the ground in IRAQ as well as Afghanistan and Africa.

Our culture itself has made us fat and lazy with the ease in which we can do things. When I was young as my son is @ 6 years old, I would have been outside all day long playing Cops and Robbers, or Cowboys and Indians (Now Native Americans of which I am one). I would come in after the day hot, dirty and sweaty and complain that I needed a bath.
Not anymore since the advent of Cable, Fast Food, and Video Games, Kids are now couch potatoes. Why? Look who is sitting next to them. Who are they emulating?

Well I myself even though I am retired am going to read this instruction, and am going to incorporate PT (Good for you, Good for me) in my daily life as are my kids. I even have convinced my kids principal to start a Daily PT Program each day with 30 mins of exercise next year. Yours truly will be leading it. Who knew?

Anyways, You can download OPNAVINST 6110.1H and the change to it OPNAVINST 6110.1H/CH1. I would advise highly reading it regardless if you are going to PT more as you are a DOC, and we always get questions about this program from shipmates in other rates, and I would bet you will see it again on your advancement tests.