Do Army Nurses see combat?

Thinking of Commissioning through ROTC as Nurse Corps Officer and I’m wondering if I will get the opportunity to deploy and work on the front lines. I want to see combat and deploy. As a nurse I have heard that most of the career is in a hospital doing clinical nursing. How competitive is it as a nurse to be part of a FST or to work on the front lines? Are there MEDEVAC nurses? How do I guarantee a career path for this? What route would let me see combat as a medical or nurse corps officer?

It might, and probably does, vary by service. If you're lucky @Devil Doc, or someone else, might be able to provide some meaningful info. My own guess, and it's only a guess, is that only corpsmen will be on the front lines with the troops; and I'm pretty sure those are enlisted only positions. You should be able to use your favorite search engine using Army corpsman, Navy corpsman, etc to see what those MOS's are all about. Alternatively you could visit the Army, Navy, and Air Force websites to see what things a nurse might do in that service, and a corpsman too for that matter.

Always a good idea to check primary sources when available and you'll be able to ask more probing questions here.

Hello @Salsold nurses are not assigned to units which would “let you see combat” as you desire. They are assigned to fleet surgical teams and fleet hospitals. Nurses also are assigned to carriers. I had one at CBIRF but he did mainly admin stuff. It’s been awhile since I was at a medical battalion but we used to have a Shock Trauma Platoon (STP) task organized to trace the route of the infantry in order to provide immediate trauma care. The reality of today’s battle space and air evac capabilities to include aircraft and trained personnel negate the need for the STP.

Nursing is a great career but nurses are not assigned down range. As @kinnem above recommended, check online for various jobs that might interest you. You may even find exceptions to what I wrote but those exceptions are rare. Also, the Army uses medical department officers differently than the Navy. They may have combat nurses for all I know.

If you are interested in becoming an Air Force Nurse they have something called Special Operations Surgical Teams (SOST) who deploy with Special Ops teams. They aren't on the front lines but they aren't too far behind them (usually a few kilometers behind).

SOST teams are composed of active-duty Air Force medical professionals, including a trauma surgeon, emergency physician, nurse anesthetist, surgical scrub tech, critical-care nurse and a respiratory tech. During combat operations, the teams provide far-forward medical care.

“A SOST is a mobile surgical team with advanced medical and tactics training which can deploy to austere or hostile areas to provide surgical support,” said Lt. Col. Ben Mitchell, SOST leader and emergency room medical doctor, in the release. “Our mission is to provide early, potentially life-saving surgery to wounded American military personnel or to the local population.”

Linked is an article about a SOST Team receiving bronze stars for the work they did:

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/...ront-lines-of-isis-war-receives-bronze-stars/

Salsold said:

Thinking of Commissioning through ROTC as Nurse Corps Officer and I’m wondering if I will get the opportunity to deploy and work on the front lines. I want to see combat and deploy. As a nurse I have heard that most of the career is in a hospital doing clinical nursing. How competitive is it as a nurse to be part of a FST or to work on the front lines? Are there MEDEVAC nurses? How do I guarantee a career path for this? What route would let me see combat as a medical or nurse corps officer?

Click to expand...

Yes. There are Army Nurse Corps officers deploy and work on the front lines... and see combat... and die for their country too...

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/military/article152423844.html

Thank you for your selfless service to our country CPT Moreno. You're a hero...

I initially missed “Army” in the thread title and focused on “front lines” and conflated that with a nurse being assigned to a line unit.

Of course military nurses have a long history of heroic action.

Certainly there are enlisted positions of medic/ corpsman (health services technician) who can be deployed with a unit, may carry a primary/ backup weapon to use to defend themselves and those they are caring for, and who are right in the soup of combat to provide aid. these positions exist - lifesavers, on the front line, often going forward into danger when a colleague needs aid. I personally don't know if there are officer positions that do the very same.

For officers, maybe a helicopter medevac trauma team position would suit you? That could be a good fit for a RN who wants to be in the soup. Otherwise, I would imagine you'll be a bit farther away. Sounds like you're already in ROTC at a university per prior posts, and pursuing a nursing degree- the RN degree is IMO more specialized than a corpsmen (does one say Corps-person now?- you know what I mean). and may be put to use a bit farther off the line. That's not to say a surgical trauma unit isn't as graphic as it gets and life impacting - it just may most often not be on the front line.

I will say this WRT combat - my dear grandfather was on the bridge of large ships in WWII, guiding large military ships into and out of port in the Mediterranean. By definition he was not on the front line, but... Be it a phosphorous dolphin or a torpedo that he spotted in the water and sounded the alarm and dealt with, he saw both. He didn't have a weapon in his hand usually, but he "saw combat". He had enemy aircraft dropping their ordinance on them. Machine guns tat-tat-tat-tatting from enemy planes, artillary from enemy ships a mile away reached them, and many lives around him were lost. He was on the bridge and yet "saw combat". And my dear friend is a trauma surgeon and while deployed miles from the front line, they still live with the threat of incoming missiles, IEDs, SCUDs, suicide bombers coming through the perimeter, rogue trained locals... he describes the danger and tension as palpable/ real- my point is I think all deployed troops are in the soup (though hats off to those on the front line - I get the difference). If you want constant "in the soup" pressure of the front line, but you have the specialized skills to help be a trauma team member, then think about where you can do the most good for "the team". I suggest you describe exactly what it is you want to do - is it like the fella in hacksaw ridge, or a trauma team member on a medevac or do you want to be an overqualified corpsmen on the front line? What will the military allow you to do after you've trained to become more specialized? There is no wrong answer to what your heart wants. And think about - Where can you do the best good? Whatever you choose thank you for your willingness and interest to put yourself in danger to serve the soldiers around you and our nation - good luck and I hope you find the dream job for what you want to do. Talk to your leadership about career paths and see if there is a way to do your dream job.

Perhaps others on the board can continue advise if there are specific officer medical positions who deploy on the front-line in the theater of combat. Other than medevac trauma team member, I'm not aware but really I am not in the know.

Good luck!

No, the title is still Corpsman. Just as the rank of midshipman has not changed to midshipperson.

Current Army nurse here, yes there are options to be “on the frontline” however these are extremely competitive and are usually are only available after 6-8 years in your career time line. Being a 66S (critical care nurse) or 66T (emergency nurse) are the two AOC’s that will open the door for what you are looking for. After you gain experience in the hospital you can be assigned to a FRST (the new FST) you can always try to go to JECC (joint in-route care course) and be a flight nurse. Army flight nurses do see some point of injury pick-ups but traditionally they are used to manage critical patients being transferred to a higher level of care. ERST ( emergency resuscitation surgical teams) are the newest addition the “sexy high-speed” units, they often support SOF. Nurse anesthetists (66F) are used in all these high speed units. To sum it all up to get to these units you would; commission as an active duty nurse, complete CNTP, apply to the 66T/S AOC course, complete the utilization tour (about 3-4 years working as an ICU nurse or ER nurse in a hospital), apply for these units listed above. To maximize your chances to get to these units you should try to get your EFMB (expert field medical badge), go to airborne or air assault, rack up nursing certs ie. ACLS, C4, CCRN/CEN, and most important be a good nurse and build a good reputation for yourself as these units will often ask around to see if you are legit. Best of luck, it’s a great long term goal to have so start setting yourself up to success now! FYI military medicine is being completely restructured due to the DHA transition so more options may open up.

Just to make it clear you won’t be running and gunning in any or these units listed above. If that’s something you’re interested in you should look into some of the enlisted SOF medical jobs like special forces medic or being a medic in a ranger batt