Fleet Medical Corps Pins
by Rear Admiral Manitsas #295

Recently, the FMC was expanded to include a Special Operations division.  Several new positions were created, and the CMO requested that I create a new set of FMC pins for the Chief, the Vice-Chief, Leaders, and Members.  Here is where one of my original ideas for the CMO and XMO pins was resurrected.  I decided to use a rectangular ring, reminiscent of the CMO and CMO pins.  The ring itself would denote the Special Operations division, and the number of stars and the color would clearly denote the various levels.

Chief and Vice-Chief of Special Operations would have pins based on the PMO and PNO.  The Leader position would be similar to a SMS, and the Member position would be equivalent to a Doctor.  I was very happy with the Special Operations pins.  They fit in well with the other FMC pins.  The ring clearly denoted a special relationship of the Special Operations division to the command staff of the FMC, and the ranking was immediately recognizable as similar to the DOC-SMS-PMO ranking.  The new FMC Special Operations pins were immediately accepted and approved by CMO/FA Michael Tolwyn and the Special Operations Chief and Vice-Chief.