Source: United States Navy (Medical)
Sailors from Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Twentynine Palms gathered for a team building, morale, and marksmanship event on Feb. 26, 2025, reinforcing weapons proficiency and strengthening unit cohesion. The event provided Sailors across various rates with the opportunity to practice shooting, many of whom do not regularly handle firearms in their daily military duties.
“The shooting event was great for team building and served as an opportunity to exercise our lethal warfighting capabilities,” said Religious Program Specialist 3rd Class Diego Escalante from San Diego, Calif.
Participants used the event to emphasize the importance of basic firearms knowledge and safety for all service members, regardless of their occupational specialties.
“Being in the military, I feel all rates should have at least some familiarity with basic firearms and firearms safety, which this event allowed us to cover,” said Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Samuel Schoep, from Hudson, New York. “Shooting is a requirement for my rate, so being able to get out onto the range helps keep my required skills fresh.”
The event was especially beneficial for Sailors in roles where firearms proficiency can make up a component of their rate’s responsibilities.
“As an RP (Religious Program Specialist), we are expected to be skilled with firearms due to chaplains not being able to fire or carry. We serve as their protection and point man.” Escalante said. “In this unit, my mission changes within the dynamic of a hospital environment, so I don’t use firearms regularly. However, that won’t always be the case at future duty stations.”
“For my rate I must qualify for Marksman annually on the Navy Handgun Qualification Course, so having the opportunity helped me brush up on my shooting,” added Master-at-Arms Seaman Apprentice Thuan Nguyen from Bradenton, Florida.
For a hospital corpsman, shooting proficiency can be critical in operational environments where they may be required to provide medical aid in combat situations. Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SW) Logan Wilkerson, from Columbus, Georgia, highlighted why corpsmen need to be capable of being armed in the line of duty.
“For the general population, the thought of medical personnel using a weapon is generally unheard of,” Wilkerson said. “However, in the military, a Hospital Corpsman providing life-saving measures in a combative environment is very likely. When caring for an injured service member, we (corpsmen) can turn to the Hospital Corpsman Pledge — specifically, ‘I will not knowingly permit harm to come to any patient.’ To me, this means defending my patient.”
Wilkerson explained the historic importance of firearms use for corpsmen by referencing the heroic actions of Hospital Apprentice 1st Class Robert E. Bush, the namesake of the hospital where he serves, who received the Medal of Honor for his valor in the Battle of Okinawa.
“With the (plasma) bottle held high in one hand, Bush drew his pistol with the other and fired into the enemy ranks until his ammunition was expended,” Wilkerson recounted. “History has proven that familiarity and practice with putting rounds down range can mean the difference between life and death for a corpsman’s patient. After all, a common saying from corpsmen is that one of the best forms of medicine is rounds down range.”
The event also served as a platform for fostering camaraderie among service members beyond their typical work environments. Lt. Jason Wang, Operations Management Department Head and Healthcare Administrator from Sylmar, Calif., shared that one of the reasons he set up the event was to offer a unique way for colleagues to bond.
“There are a lot of private gun owners or individuals — both civilian and active duty — who know how to shoot and safely handle a gun,” Wang said. “Bringing together individuals who enjoy and share this hobby allows co-workers to relate to each other in ways beyond just their job functions.”
Twentynine Palms provides unique opportunities for shooting practice due to its desert environment and access to range facilities on base. While some service members expressed that shooting ranges are available at most duty stations, the terrain in Twentynine Palms offers a distinctive experience and more access to opportunities.
“The major difference from other duty stations is the terrain,” Wilkerson said. “Out here in the desert, with the mountains and rocks as backdrops, it doesn’t take much imagination to put yourself in a different time and place.”
“The environment allows more opportunities to shoot in the desert and on base than other larger metropolitan bases. Additionally, the base here is more relationship and network-based which creates opportunities in comparison to larger bases where it is easy to get lost on who is who in the zoo,” added Wang.
Sailors expressed a desire for more frequent opportunities to refine their weapons-handling skills, recognizing the value in staying proficient even if their current assignments do not require regular firearms use.
“The concept of firearms can be foreign to many and basic bootcamp isn’t remotely enough to gain comfortability and skill. Different rates and units come with different priorities,” Escalante explained. “In a place like a naval hospital, even though our corpsmen often serve a different mission here, at least one to two refresher courses per year would only benefit us as service members.”
The event underscored NMRTC Twentynine Palms’ commitment to bolstering operational readiness, morale, and unit cohesion.