// Active Rating · HM · Medical & Dental

HOSPITAL CORPSMAN (HM)

The Navy's enlisted medical specialty — the only enlisted force authorized to provide direct medical care to Marines in combat.

Rating Badge

Rating Code

Community

Medical & Dental

Paygrade Range

E-1 to E-9

ASVAB Minimum

VE+MK+GS=156

A-School

Joint Base San Antonio – Fort Sam Houston, TX · ~19 weeks

Clearance

Standard

Obligation

4 years

OVERVIEW

Hospital Corpsman (HM) is the U.S. Navy's enlisted medical rating. Corpsmen serve in clinics and hospitals ashore, in sick bays at sea, with the Fleet Marine Force as combat medics, on submarines as Independent Duty Corpsmen, and embedded with Navy SEAL teams as 18-Delta-equivalent operators. The HM rating is the largest single rating in the Navy and is the only enlisted rating authorized by law to provide direct medical care to U.S. Marines in the field.

Corpsmen earn dozens of Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) codes that define sub-specialties — Field Medical Service Technician, Surgical Technologist, Cardiovascular Technician, Search and Rescue Medical Technician, and Independent Duty Corpsman among them. The rating's combat lineage and twenty-two Medals of Honor make HM one of the most storied rates in the U.S. Navy.

The medical community supports the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps as the Navy's organic medical force, operating Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Commands (NMRTCs), expeditionary medical facilities, hospital ships, Fleet Marine Force units, and operational platoons. Hospital corpsmen are uniquely also assigned to Marine Corps units as 'Devil Docs.'

A-school for the rating runs ~19 weeks at Joint Base San Antonio – Fort Sam Houston, TX, where Sailors complete the technical foundation needed to report to their first fleet command. Entry requires the ASVAB line score VE+MK+GS=156 and an enlistment obligation of 4–6 years. HMs advance through the standard enlisted paygrade structure (E-1 through E-9), competing in the Navy-Wide Advancement Examination (NWAE) at E-4 through E-6 and via the Selection Board at E-7 through E-9. Senior HMs typically serve as Leading Petty Officer (LPO), Work Center Supervisor, Leading Chief Petty Officer (LCPO), or Command Master Chief (CMC), and may pursue Limited Duty Officer (LDO), Chief Warrant Officer (CWO), or commissioning programs such as STA-21, MECP, or OCS.

Across the active force, HM Sailors are essential to the Navy's mission readiness, and the rating remains an in-demand career field with strong reenlistment bonuses (SRB), advancement opportunities, and pathways into Navy Reserve, civilian DoD, and industry careers after service.

WHAT HMs DO

Hospital Corpsmen provide direct patient care, emergency trauma care, preventive medicine, and battlefield medicine across every Navy and Marine Corps environment. General-duty Corpsmen run clinic appointments, immunizations, and shipboard sick call. Field Medical Service Technicians (FMSTs) deploy with Marine infantry battalions as platoon "Docs," providing tactical combat casualty care. Independent Duty Corpsmen (IDC) serve as the sole medical authority on small ships and submarines, performing autonomous diagnosis and treatment underway. Surgical Technologists assist in operating rooms ashore and afloat aboard hospital ships USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Hospital Corpsmen provide direct patient care, emergency trauma care, preventive medicine, and battlefield medicine across every Navy and Marine Corps environment. General-duty Corpsmen run clinic appointments, immunizations, and shipboard sick call. Field Medical Service Technicians (FMSTs) deploy with Marine infantry battalions as platoon "Docs," providing tactical combat casualty care. Independent Duty Corpsmen (IDC) serve as the sole medical authority on small ships and submarines, performing autonomous diagnosis and treatment underway. Surgical Technologists assist in operating rooms ashore and afloat aboard hospital ships USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort.
Stand watches and qualify on the rating's Personnel Qualification Standards (PQS), maintain training jackets, and mentor junior HMs as required by the chain of command.
Lead the HM work center as Leading Petty Officer or Work Center Supervisor — managing maintenance documentation in 3M/MFOM, parts ordering, and personnel qualifications.
Support general military training (GMT), damage control, force protection, and watch-bill assignments common to every Sailor regardless of rating.

THIS RATING ABSORBED

The HM rating's mission today includes work that flowed from the following decommissioned U.S. Navy ratings:

DT · Decom 2005
Dental Technician

HISTORY

The U.S. Navy Hospital Corps was established by an act of Congress on 17 June 1898, consolidating earlier loblolly boys, surgeon's stewards, and apothecaries into a single rating. Since then, twenty-two Hospital Corpsmen have been awarded the Medal of Honor — the most of any U.S. Navy rating — primarily for life-saving actions while serving alongside U.S. Marines.

In 2005 the Navy briefly disestablished the Dental Technician (DT) rating and merged it into HM, broadening the corpsman's scope to include dental support. The HM rating today encompasses general duty corpsmen, Fleet Marine Force corpsmen, Independent Duty Corpsmen, and a wide range of advanced clinical and surgical specialties.

TRAINING PIPELINE

1. Recruit Training (Boot Camp)~10 weeks
Naval Station Great Lakes, IL
Initial entry training for all U.S. Navy enlisted Sailors at the Navy's only boot camp.
2. Hospital Corpsman A-School~19 weeks
Joint Base San Antonio – Fort Sam Houston, TX
Initial rating-skills training for HM accessions.
3. Fleet / Operational TourFirst sea or operational tour
Marine infantry battalions (FMF)
On-the-job training and qualifications in the HM rating with a fleet unit.

TYPICAL CAREER PATH

E-1/E-3
Apprentice Corpsman
Complete A-school and C-school NEC pipeline; first assignment to a clinic, ship, or Marine unit.
E-4/E-6
Petty Officer Corpsman
Lead small medical teams, qualify in advanced NEC (FMF, IDC, Surgical Tech), serve as platoon Doc or department LPO.
E-7+
Chief Hospital Corpsman (HMC) and above
Senior medical leader — Senior Enlisted Medical Advisor on a strike group surgeon staff or Command Master Chief of a hospital.

TYPICAL PLATFORMS & UNITS

Marine infantry battalions (FMF)
Submarines and small surface ships (IDC)
USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort hospital ships
Naval Hospitals at Bethesda, San Diego, Portsmouth, Camp Lejeune

EXAMPLE NECs

L02A Field Medical Service Technician
L09A Independent Duty Corpsman
L24A Surgical Technologist

How to address

As an enlisted Sailor by paygrade and last name (e.g. "Petty Officer Smith" for E-4–E-6, "Chief Smith" for E-7+). The rating abbreviation "HM" is appended to the paygrade in writing — e.g., HM1 Smith for HM Petty Officer First Class.

Prerequisites

U.S. citizenship and minimum ASVAB VE+MK+GS=156
High school diploma or equivalent
Pass the Navy physical and medical screening

Common assignments

Marine infantry battalions (FMF)
Submarines and small surface ships (IDC)
USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort hospital ships
Naval Hospitals at Bethesda, San Diego, Portsmouth, Camp Lejeune

RELATED RATINGS

MA · General Surface & Combat
Master-at-Arms

RELATED BASES

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Yes. After completing Field Medical Training Battalion (FMTB), Corpsmen earn the FMF NEC and serve in operational Marine units as platoon corpsmen — often the sole medical provider for a forty-Marine rifle platoon in combat.

Hospital Corpsman A-school at Fort Sam Houston is approximately 19 weeks. Many Corpsmen continue immediately into a follow-on C-school for a specialty NEC such as Surgical Tech or FMF.

The caduceus — a winged staff with two intertwined serpents — was adopted as the U.S. Navy Medical Department insignia in 1871 and has marked the Hospital Corpsman rating badge since the Hospital Corps was founded in 1898.

SOURCES

Last updated 2026-05-02

All Medical & Dental Ratings All Navy Ratings