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Courtesy story by Alvin Plexico, Navy Office of Community Outreach
MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Every sailor’s story of naval service is unique. For Petty Officer 2nd Class Connor Cameron, this story began in Hollywood, Florida, where skills and values learned there would be foundational to success in the Navy.
“Growing up in South Florida, I learned that life can be easy or it can be as difficult as you make it, Cameron said. “We as people are responsible for our outcome in life, and I have carried that with me every day as a reminder that I am blessed with the position that I am in.”
Cameron graduated from Hollywood Hills High School in 2020.
Cameron joined the Navy five years ago.
“I joined the Navy because my great grandfather was a commissioned officer in the Navy during the Korean war,” Cameron said. “I wanted to do something to better myself.”
Today, Cameron serves as a hospital corpsman assigned to U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (USNMRTC) Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
USNMRTC Guantanamo Bay focuses on three critical mission priorities: warfighter readiness, medical force generation and supporting the delivery of high-quality health care at U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay.
U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay provides health care to the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay community, which consists of approximately 4,500 military members, federal employees, U.S. and foreign national contractors and their families. The hospital also operates the only overseas military home health care facility, providing care to elderly special category residents who sought asylum on the installation during the Cuban Revolution.
Navy Medicine – represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian health care professionals – provides enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea, and ashore.
Cameron became an Emergency Medical Technician while assigned to USNMRTC Guantanamo Bay and is certified through the National Registry of EMTs.
“My proudest achievement in the Navy is graduating from A-school to be a Navy Corpsman, after serving as a Professional Apprentice Career Track (PACT) seaman for two years,” Cameron said. “I am also proud of all the sailors I have been able to guide during my time in service.”
Cameron serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation’s prosperity and security. With 90% of global commerce traveling by sea and access to the internet relying on the security of undersea fiber optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across the rich fabric of America.
“Serving in the Navy allows me to be something larger than myself,” Cameron said.. “Being part of a force so great, I can say later in life I served in the world's greatest navy.”
This year, the Navy is commemorating its contribution to the nation’s defense as the United States celebrates 250 years of independence. According to Navy officials, for more than 250 years, the Navy has sailed the globe defending freedom and protecting prosperity.
Cameron is grateful for opportunities to make the Navy a career.
“I was going to get out of the Navy to be a paramedic,” Cameron said. “Then I saw how well I did on the advancement exam when I was a third-class petty officer. I knew I’d take one more exam before getting out of the Navy, so I took it and advanced to second class.”
This advancement inspired Cameron.
“I wanted to be able to do good things for sailors, good things in medicine and also as a corpsman working in a hospital.”
When Cameron completes his tour of duty in Guantanamo Bay, he will be moving to Twentynine Palms, Calif., where he will be assigned to 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines.
“I’ve never [been assigned to] a Marine Corps unit,” Cameron said. “I feel a sense of duty going to a Marine Corps unit and doing all I can for the Marines. I would have felt like I left a job undone if I didn’t go ‘greenside’ with the Marines. I’m excited to get out in the field, get a change of pace from the hospital, learn everything I can and teach as much as I can to the Marines about medicine.”
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery 7700 Arlington Blvd. Ste. 5113 Falls Church, VA 22042-5113 This is an official U.S. Navy website This is a Department of Defense (DoD) Internet computer system. General Navy Medical Inquiries (to Bureau of Medicine and Surgery): usn.ncr.bumedfchva.list.bumed---pao@health.mil