In the U.S. Navy, enlisted medical personnel are known as corpsmen, not medics. A rifle platoon of 40 Marines and two Navy corpsmen manned each outpost. Eighteen Marines, Airmen, and Navy corpsmen were lost in the action. Training for the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) familiarizes navy corpsmen with the Marines. On staff were six medical officers, two nurses and 30 medical corpsmen. The environments that Recon Marines and Recon Corpsmen face during a mission are usually hazardous. Medical battalions provide medical care beyond the immediate care of unit corpsmen. Medical care is provided by the Naval medical personnel&colon; doctors, physician assistants and corpsmen. All were Navy hospital corpsmen attached to the Marine Corps. The patrol included two Navy corpsmen and stretcher bearers. A number of LVTs were converted to armored ambulances carrying a doctor and three corpsmen. The first physician assistants were selected from Navy corpsmen who had combat experience in Vietnam. Twenty naval ships have been named after hospital corpsmen. The medical department consisted of a staff of 11 doctors and hospital corpsmen. They enter that class having already trained as Navy hospital corpsmen.