Talk:68W

What's
What's a MOS? can someone fill in the full term for the MOS first refrence? Mike McGregor (Can) 17:56, 16 February 2006 (UTC) hey look! there's a link that answers my question! Mike McGregor (Can) 17:57, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

It's not 68W for Combat Medic, it's 91W now. Also, it's not 20, it's actually 2O (as in 2-Oscar) - the second digit of the 20 identifier identifies what additional skills the person holds. the 'O' means no additional skills. The 'P' identifier is used to denote 'Paratrooper'.

Hey guy the new MOS is 68W is just isn't fully in effect yet, any medic can check there ERB and find out-Blinks

This is a poorly written article that seems to be largely copied from recruiting websites. Major cleanup seems needed, as well as spelling and grammar editing. I'm too tired to get that far into detail on an article for an MOS that I'm not in. --ShawnLee 25 Oct 2006

Combat Medics are now 68W. Be very sure before you challenge any statement especially if you are not an expert in thAT FIELD. It's actually 17 weeks of Advanced Individual Training.9 weeks of basic combat training is for every soldier not just medics. A few extra weeks could be incured considering travelm time from basic combat training to AIT in at Ft Sam Houston and time spent in-processing. The article here does not describe every Whiskys' work to detail but is correct generally.


 * Has it occured to anyone that combat medics exist in other nationalities other than the USA? In the UK a combat medic is not refered to under 6 8 whisket so if anything a merger should retain the title combat medic.WikipedianProlific(Talk) 06:48, 12 April 2007 (UTC)


 * It may not have occurred to other folk, nonetheless, I am agreeable to that type of merge. Navou   banter  10:27, 12 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Support merge, nonetheless. There is nothing from keeping the combat medic article from having subsections. MadMaxDog 10:05, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

From a soldier training to be a 68W
Actually, it's 9 Weeks of Basic and 16 Weeks of AIT. And you obtain the EMT-Intermeidate rating from National Registry of EMT, but can do much more above that in terms of scope of practice. You are also able to attempt to test to obtain your paramedic. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.190.178.41 (talk) 07:34, 3 May 2007 (UTC).

No, that's actually incorrect. The National Registry will only award a 68W with an EMT-Basic certification (pending a passing grade on the NREMT), and they can only gain Paramedic if they put themselves through paramedic school. The 68W school does not cover enough medical information for a person to pass the Paramedic test. --Gear-Richie (talk) 21:13, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

The 68W AIT has changed length and specific coursework many times since the move from 91B to 91W (to 68W). It's an MOS (interminably) in transition, individual school experiences will vary. Shifty-Mo (talk) 20:24, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Support Merge
I support the merge for one reason. Combat Medics teach CLS to other MOS's. If I have time I wouldn't mind adding more info to both subjects as far as training and equipment used. As far as the previous statement about numbered suffix. 68W10 denotes skill level 10, SPC/CPL and below. Sergeants are 68W20, Staff Sergants 68W30, Sergeant First Class 68W40. I believe at the rank of First Sergeant the MOS changes to 68Z. There are skill identifiers for the 68 series, but P does not stand for paratrooper. P3 is Ophthalmic Assistant, N9 is Physcial therapy specialist, M6 is Licsenced Practical Nurse, etc.

So, I have no idea who put the above information in because they did not sign it. P does stand for Parachutist, but only when you are talking about SQI vs. ASI. An SQI is a Special Qualification Identifier. An ASI is an Additional Skill Identifier. Sounds confusing, but an ASI is usually something that is somewhat related to your MOS, whereas an SQI is MOS Immaterial. For example there can be an 11B2P, but there cannot be an 11B2O M6. 75.70.33.110 (talk) 03:05, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

I may not be experienced with editing wikipedia, but it's NOT supposed to recruit people, right?
Just look at the description (paraphrasing here): "Whether it be fighting alongside their comrades, saving downed allies, or getting education to work in a hospital after their service....."

Like i said i paraphrased but it's frighteningly close to what's actually written. I mean, it ta---

you know....just read the description part and you'll see what i mean.

I put a tag (or whatever you call them) up for advertising and POV-Check, both of which will agree with me i (strongly) believe.

-Indalcecio (talk) 01:20, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Bad news is that most of this article seems to be directly copied from the Army recruitment website. The good news is that it is very factual and as a U.S. government publication it is in the Public Domain, and can legally be copied wholesale. I don't think the "author" intended to recruit anyone, but was just lazy by copying instead of using original writing. Cuvtixo (talk) 02:08, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Okay, I'm a 68W with an associates in English - I helped out the description as best I could to remove the recruiting feel to it. . . I'll work on the rest of it later. ..

UMMM - I'm confused as far as the skill levels of Medics goes. Medics don't have "Skill levels" in the Army. I went through AIT and took the same classes alongside E-5, E-6, E-7 Sergeants, Lieutenants and a Captain. . . We all took the same courses and received the same level of training across the board. As an E-1, I was actually a squad leader in charge of E-5s during AIT so I want to know where that information comes from. I say it's invalid and wrong. 0931 hours 04 Apr 2008 PFC Stovall soldier.medic.stovall@gmail.com

68W's have skill levels (SL), just like any other, enlisted, US Army MOS. The 91W STP defines SL 1: PVT-SPC Health Care Specialist, through SL 5: Medical Company First Sergeant. 68W BNCOC and ANCOC both have medical coursework. By the by, I think 68 series Sergeant Majors are all 68Z instead of 68W5O. Agree with the POV tag. Shifty-Mo (talk) 20:35, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

-Skill levels are there... thats a human resources thing, don't get wrapped up in that - a Sergeant is supposed to be able to supervise, regardless of what his background is... so he gets the 2, etc tacked into a database somewhere. Probably this article could benefit by a reference tot he regulation that spells all this out. A long time soldier, with several MOS's that have transitioned MOS codes many times... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.45.31.16 (talk) 03:12, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Combat Lifesaver (CLS)
How many hours training is required of a Combat Lifesaver, and is there a civilian equivalent? Likewise, I think the article could give a better idea of the civilian equivalents of the various levels of the 68W. I gathered from this talk page, but not from the article, that a rookie 68W is like an EMT -Intermediate? - 121.208.89.240 (talk) 08:20, 12 September 2009 (UTC)

the new CLS class effective 01oct2009 has an hour requirement of 40 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.195.78.98 (talk) 13:27, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

The civilian equvialent to the combat lifesaver certification is DOT/NHSA's First Responder certification. A soldier is trained during basic training in first aid and CPR roughly equivalent to the RED Cross's First Aid and CPR Certification. Combat Lifesaver's are, as stated above, roughly equivalent to a First responder. The main difference is that in the military most soldiers are trained at these levels to start intravenous infusion. 68 Medical Specialists are the equivalent of EMT-B's in the civilian world, not EMT-I's. Nick M, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.107.108.55 (talk) 12:04, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

As written, this article stated that Medics and their associated docs and nurses ARE AWARDED the CMB and the EMB. This implies that it is automatic-- simply not true. The EMB is won by taking a pretty exhaustive test of the combat medic skills, and lots of medics (and even docs) fail the test. The CMB is awarded ONLY to those medical department personnel serving with infantry forces below some set organisational level (I think Brigade or below, but not sure)-- Most docs are not eligible, even if they supervise and support combat medics, and the last time I checked the regulations, no nurse in the Army is eligible. I also stuck in a few minor changes to try to make it more clear that this discussion applies only to the U.S. Army. Medevac6 (talk) 15:12, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

18D
Should the section on 18D be expanded upon, and the name of the article changed to Medic (United States Army)? The reason being 18D being its own MOS and requiring additional training. Grouping it the way it is now would be like taking the former 91C (LVN/LPN), and saying it should fall under 68W because it requires that one pass 91B first.

By the way former army medic myself. --RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 16:37, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

I'd recommend leaving the two separate. An 18D is a Special Operations career managed Soldier. A 68W is an Army Medical Department career managed Soldier. 68Ws are considered protected personnel under the Geneva Conventions. I believe 18Ds are not. I think there's enough difference to warrant separate pages.Eltrace (talk) 12:53, 5 August 2011 (UTC)

Expert Field Medical Badge/Combat Medical Badge
Aside from the fact that there are factual errors in the EFMB/CMB section (after 1993ish Army Medical Department Soldiers organic to Brigade level and lower Infantry, Armor, and Cavalry units are eligible to receive the Combat Medical Badge if they meet the other requrements) I think it probably should be eliminated from this article entirely. Any Army Medical Department Soldier may test for the EFMB, and while most recipients of the CMB will be 68Ws, the badge is not exclusive to their MOS. Also, there are a number of badges that they can wear that aren't mentioned. Finally, there are separate article pages for the EFMB and CMB. I'd recommend the section be removed.Eltrace (talk) 12:51, 5 August 2011 (UTC)