Medical Cadet Corps

Background

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. Even before 1863, Adventist beliefs about combatancy generally fell into one of three opinion groups: pacifists who felt any military service was a violation of God's command to not commit murder; militant abolitionists who felt that military service would honor God's will in ending slavery; and non-combatants who believed it to be their Christian duty to support the government in roles which did not violate the fourth and sixth commandments (see Ten Commandments). This latter position ultimately emerged as the denomination's policy and set precedent for future periods of conscription in the United States. When conscription became law in March 1863, most drafted Adventists took advantage of the option to purchase an exemption which cost $300 per person. This sum was not easy for many to come by and church leaders encouraged all members to contribute toward purchasing these exemptions for drafted members. In February 1864 the conscription law was amended to allow conscientious objectors to serve the military in noncombatant roles. A short time later this provision was revised so that it would apply only to recognized conscientious objectors. Church leaders quickly moved to acquire this recognition from state governors in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and finally the Federal government.

Following the Civil War, the United States military returned to an all-volunteer force. The Indian Wars and Spanish American War did not require large numbers of soldiers. Adventist denominational history is mostly silent in regard to these conflicts. When World War I erupted in Europe there was much more cause for concern. The Seventh-day Adventist Church looked at the issue in the Autumn Council of 1916 in the General Conference Committee for a way in keeping with the church’s noncombatant beliefs, to allow the young men of the church to fulfill their obligations and the medical military service was the direction they took.

However, since 1863 the Adventist church had grown both inside and outside of the United States. Members in Europe were divided by political and battle lines, sometimes isolating them from the rest of the church. The war in Europe began so quickly it was difficult for the church to form a cohesive policy or to support drafted church members. In the United States, efforts to support drafted church members were more orderly and the government continued to make provisions for conscientious objectors. However, misunderstandings did arise between some Adventists draftees who took extreme positions and their company officers who often did not understand or respect the position of conscientious objectors. It is unknown how many Adventists were actually drafted during World War I. Charles Longacre, who was in charge of church military relations in the United States for most of World War I, claimed that 186 American Seventh-day Adventists were court-martialed during the war and 35 were imprisoned in disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth at the end of the war. 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.

The experience of American Adventists during World War I generated several lessons which shaped the church's response to the draft during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. First, Adventists working in the Medical Corps (United States Army) experienced the fewest conflicts regarding the keeping of Sabbath and bearing of arms. Second, pre-induction military medical training enhanced the effectiveness of Adventists who did serve and reduced the problems they faced. Third, educating church members regarding their obligations to both God and society reduced the extremism which often led to courts-martial.

Origin

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. At Walla Walla College (now Walla Walla University) students directed a set of questions to the General Conference regarding whether it was better to enlist or be drafted, clarification regarding appropriate duties for Sabbath, whether it was ever okay to bear arms, and whether the moral nature of a conflict changed one's responsibility for military service. The students' questions were discussed by a General Conference committee of seven individuals charged with studying noncombatancy. However, this group could not reach a consensus, so the questions remained unanswered.

The College Medical Corps was founded by Everett N. Dick at Union College in 1934 as a way to train males for noncombatant medic military service. The Medical Cadet Corps was founded for students of the College for Medical Evangelist in 1936 by Cyril B. Courville. In 1937, Dick present his program to other Adventist educators which led to other college adopting the program. In 1937 in Glendale, California, a new Pathfinder group was founded which also added military drills from the MCC. 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. In various places, a Women's Cadet Corps also existed. The GC appointed Dick as the denominational program director and recommended that all Adventist colleges start a MCC program. 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. About this time, Everett Dick and two other leaders met with officials of the U.S. Surgeon General's office to establish a unified curriculum for the MCC. Thus started a twenty-year relationship between Dick and officers of the Surgeon General's office. 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.

World War II

Nearly every Adventist college and secondary school in the United States participated in the MCC program. Each one chose its own uniform, but patches were used in common. Training manuals also differed from location to location. Everett Dick, on temporary leave from Union College, was placed in charge of the central region of the country. Chris P. Sorenson was in charge of the eastern third and Floyd G. Ashbaugh was in charge of the program west of the Rocky Mountains. Each man was expected to promote the program in his region and to conduct officer training camps which trained leaders for the corps established on Adventist academic campuses and, in some places, churches. 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. Women first received training at Atlantic Union College and many academies required training for both men and women. Summer camps were held in order to facilitate training for men who were not attending Adventist academies or colleges. With the cessation of World War II, many campuses stopped teaching the courses. Only Union College and Southwestern Junior College (now Southwestern Adventist University) continued their MCC programs without interruption.

Cold War Era

With the end of World War II, the program ended. The Corps was reactivated in 1950 in response to the reestablishment of the draft continuing in parallel with the draft with its end in 1972 in the US. In other countries with mandatory military service or a draft, their similar program still operates. The MCC was officially reactivated in 1950 with an officer's training camp in a former Civilian Conservation Corps camp (now Mountain Park) near Beulah, Colorado. The MCC program took on a different feel during this decade. Uniforms were standardized and all officers were required to train at national camps so that every MCC unit across the nation operated under the same guidelines and instruction. Leadership was centralized under Everett Dick, who as MCC commander held the rank of colonel and beginning in 1954 was also associate secretary of the War Service Commission.

Decline

After Everett Dick resigned in 1958, Clark Smith who had worked with Dick since the MCC's beginning at Union College in 1934, became the commander. Camp Doss continued to be held in the summers through at least 1970. 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. Most Adventist colleges and academies stopped offering MCC courses by 1960. Interest further declined as the war in Vietnam grew increasingly unpopular. When the draft in the United States ended in 1973, the General Conference closed the denomination-wide program. Similarly MCC programs in other countries which were strong while the countries were under military dictatorships declined when more democratic governments gained power. 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.

Camp Desmond T. Doss

In 1951 a 10-day summer camp training program was held at Grand Ledge, Michigan on the Michigan Conference camp meeting grounds. Named for Desmond T. Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor, this camp became an annual event until about 1970. Doss himself frequently attended, an attraction that helped bring more young men to the camp each year. 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. The camp also attracted international visitors interested in creating MCC programs in their home countries. Visitors and inquiries about the camp came from Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and South Africa.

International Expansion

With the reactivation of the MCC, its proven success for American Adventists, and promotion by American missionaries serving internationally, interest grew in establishing the MCC in many countries around the world. During World War II, MCC training was initiated independently in a few locations, but in 1951 the General Conference purposefully began promoting the MCC program throughout the world through the newly established International Commission for Medical Cadet Service. Everett Dick was invited to Canada in 1951 to assist with creating a training program for officers. In 1953, 1955, and 1957 he traveled to the Far East to establish and supervise corps. He also visited the Caribbean and Lebanon. In each country where the MCC was adopted, relationships were established with the local military and the curriculum adapted to the standards of that country. The MCC was most popular in countries ruled by military governments or under immediate threat of conflict. It was not popular in Europe and was established with reluctance in Japan.

Philosophy

The Adventist Medical Cadet Corps in Puerto Rico is administered by the Youth Department. Cadets may be male or female and at least 16 years of age. They are trained and equipped to serve God and the community in order to provide aid during natural disasters or accidents. It effectively organizes personnel and materials to provide spiritual and logistical aid. The program's motto is “ Serve, Serve, Serve”. The organization promotes spiritual growth for its members. In collaboration with the American Red Cross, medical training includes Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), advanced rescue, and preventive health and care among others. A regimen of physical training promotes mental and physical discipline in the cadets.