The Navy — whose medical corpsmen have been treating wounded sailors and Marines since the days of the Revolution — are under a lot of stress in Afghanistan and Iraq. That’s why the Navy has just published The Docs, a graphic novel designed to give those yet to deploy to a war zone a preview of what they’ll face. “Their dual roles as caregivers and combatants puts them at high risk for stress injuries,” says Capt. Greg Utz, who as the commanding officer of the Naval Health Research Center is basically publisher of the 200-page tome. “So we developed this graphic novel as an innovative way to help our sailors prepare for and interpret situations they may see in theater.”
The Navy spent $450,000 to produce and print 5,000 copies, which will be distributed to docs-in-training (“Doc” is a term of endearment — and respect — for both Navy corpsmen and Army medics). For youngsters used to video games and graphic novels, it sure beats the text-heavy, black-and-white training manuals their older siblings — and parents — ignored. Take a peek (warning: big file — 32 MB).