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NavyMedicalRank #91 of 101 by 4-year cost
HM

Hospital Corpsman

22-week pipeline · Recruit Training + A-School (+ FMF Course for Marine-attached) · JBSA–Fort Sam Houston, TX / Naval Station Great Lakes, IL
Training Pipeline
$31K
22 weeks
Annual MILPERS
$63K
E-4, 3 years service
Equipment Burden
$2K
per year (amortized)
4-Year Total Cost
$293K
DoD investment
4-Year Cost Breakdown
Training Pipeline
$31K11%
Military Personnel (MILPERS × 4yr)
$254K87%
Equipment Burden (× 4yr)
$8K3%
Training: 11% · MILPERS: 87% · Equipment: 3%= $293K
By the Numbers

Hospital Corpsmen serve with every Marine unit and every Navy ship. They're the medical backbone of the naval force — and their training costs roughly half what the Army spends per combat medic.

Training Pipeline
Duration
22 weeks
Type
Recruit Training + A-School (+ FMF Course for Marine-attached)
Location
JBSA–Fort Sam Houston, TX / Naval Station Great Lakes, IL
Pipeline Cost
$31K

FMF-qualified Corpsmen (assigned to Marine units) complete an additional 8-week Fleet Marine Force Warfare course — a full extra pipeline that qualifies them as the only Navy rating to earn a Marine Corps badge.

Equipment & Annual Burden
Assigned Equipment
  • ·Aid Bag (TCCC)
  • ·MARCH Protocol Kit
  • ·Trauma Supplies
  • ·IV Administration Kit
  • ·Airway Management Tools
Annual Equipment Burden
$2K/yr
Medical consumables + equipment amortized
Military Personnel Cost (Annual)
Grade BenchmarkE-4, 3 years service
Base MILPERS$63K/yr
Total Annual MILPERS$63K/yr
Force Structure Context
Annual Accessions~8,000
Avg Career Length6 years
Annual Training Bill$248.0M
Total Force 4yr Cost$2.3B
Other Navy Profiles

Cost estimates derived from DoD Comptroller per-soldier analysis, RAND Corporation military personnel studies, CBO military compensation reports, service-specific training cost testimony, and published equipment unit costs. Error margin ±15%. Individual costs vary by duty station, assignment, and deployment tempo. This is Phase 3 of the Honest MOS DoD Budget Intelligence Roadmap.