Medical Cadet Corps

It started in the 1930s in the United States with the intention of preparing young men of draft age for military service in noncombatant roles.

The training included drill, first aid, military courtesies, organization of medical corps, defense against chemical warfare, principles of anatomy and physiology, physical exercises and character development.

The program was deactivated by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in early 1972 but continued independently in a few locations with an emphasis on rescue and disaster response.

[2] In 2016, the Medical Cadet Corps, a component of the World Service Organization that is under the umbrella of the General Conference Department of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries, was reactivated as a worldwide program.

Divisions When the Seventh-day Adventist movement was formally organized in 1863 during the height of the American Civil War, military conscription was one of the first major challenges to be addressed by the fledgling denomination.

This latter position ultimately emerged as the denomination's policy and set precedent for future periods of conscription in the United States.

Church leaders quickly moved to acquire this recognition from state governors in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and finally the Federal government.

In the United States, efforts to support drafted church members were more orderly and the government continued to make provisions for conscientious objectors.

The denomination's initiative to support draftees and the war effort in general was multifaceted; encouraging church members to support government conservation programs, calling for pre-induction medical training, providing camp pastors, and planning to set up Servicemen's Rest Homes in Europe.

The short time between the United States' entry into the war and its end meant that some of these actions were not implemented and the effectiveness of others is undetermined.

First, Adventists working in the Medical Corps (United States Army) experienced the fewest conflicts regarding the keeping of Sabbath and bearing of arms.

[5] Following World War I a number of faculty members in Adventist colleges believed that pre-military training and guidance should continue to be given students of draft age.

At Emmanuel Missionary College (now Andrews University) in 1927 Lewis S. Williams started a program, but when it was criticized as being "too militaristic" it was stopped.

[9] With other Adventist colleges following suit by installing similar programs, the Fall Council of the General Conference Executive Committee in 1939 gave it official sanction and centralization under the name of Medical Cadet Corps.

[11] When the General Conference met for its Autumn Council in 1939 shortly after fighting broke out in Europe, church leaders finally sanctioned the Union College Medical Corps program, but formally adopted Courville's Medical Cadet Corps name; although the program would always focus on preparing enlisted soldiers.

This relationship resulted in a curriculum continuously revised to meet evolving military standards and recognition for Adventist soldiers which routinely placed them in the Army's Medical Corps.

When this system developed flaws, Dick was asked to direct the program nationwide which he did until he returned to full-time work at Union College in 1942.

However support for the MCC in the United States declined after Dick's retirement, perhaps more due to the U.S. Army's implementation of its own noncombatant training program at Fort Sam Houston.

The MCC continued to operate locally in some areas but with an emphasis on disaster response and collaboration with Adventist Community Services rather than pre-induction military medical training.

From 1951 until 1958, Everett Dick commanded Camp Doss aided by a core group of MCC leaders who gathered at Grand Ledge each summer from across the nation.

Visitors and inquiries about the camp came from Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and South Africa.

In collaboration with the American Red Cross, medical training includes Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), advanced rescue, and preventive health and care among others.