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Video by Thomas Ferguson, Thomas Webster

Innovations in Navy Medicine: Independent Duty Corpsman (IDC)

Visual Information Directorate-NMLPDC

Dec. 29, 2022 | 3:05

The Independent Duty Corpsman (IDC) has long been a mainstay in the operational Navy. With a growing US Navy Fleet in the early 1900s, the Navy Medicine needed a more senior level of enlisted care to help it meet the medical needs of over 290 commission ships, when only 124 Navy Physicians were assigned to those ships. By 1923, IDCs were serving aboard ships with a crew of less than 125 men, small detachments of Marines and isolated shore stations. Today, IDCs are an exclusive community compromised of 1,400 men and women who serve in four recognized Navy Enlisted Codes (NECs): Submarine Force (8402), Fleet Marine Force (FMF) Recon (8403), Surface (8425) and Deep Sea Dive Technician (8494).

This Innovations in Navy Medicine video is part of an award winning series dedicated to showcasing the important innovations and hallmarks in Navy Medicine history. Stay tuned to DVIDS and Navy Medicine’s social media platforms for future releases.

Produced for BUMED Historian, Communications Directorate.