I work in microbiology. Through my thirty year lab jaunt, I have run
into three military techs (no one since the 80's). One worked as a
generalist in a small hospital I worked at in 1977, another worked as a
second shift generalist in the 80's. A third worked general lab and got
into computer stuff.

The general feeling everyone had of two of these guys is that they
didn't do things "by the book" and winged it a lot. One ended up getting
fired. To be fair, he had many other problems and has ended up having
problems throughout his working career. I don't know what happened to
the other one. The computer specialist sadly is not working any more and
has left the field due to disability.

I guess I lean on the side of documented training. We have a couple
MLT's in micro/virology who just don't do as well as the MT's. To be
fair, we also have an MT who is struggling right now and does far worse
than either of the MLT's. Management is FINALLY dealing with this
problem after many complaints.

I think supervisors must 1) have proper documentation of all workers to
meet current CLIA regulations and 2) make sure EVERYONE can do the
assigned work in an efficient manner following procedures. 3) not ignore
problems until they piss everyone off in the department.

I also will readily admit that working in microbiology is unlike working
in any other part of the lab. Our STATs are not the same as others in
the lab. Sure, we have things we need to do right away, but there's
always a little bit of time to puzzle and figure things out. Micro
people are puzzle solvers and this is attracts a different type of tech
than any other part of the laboratory. The pace is slow and steady, as
opposed to explosively busy with down periods (which is why I like
it...).

I also think that assuming everyone who is military trained is superior
to those who are not probably passes over many competent people. After
all, a typical hospital lab is in the civilian world, so I think the
percentage of non-military people applying for jobs would be greater
than military (unless you are in a city with a large base, which I
admittedly am not). I will admit I have not run into any military people
in the last 15 years, so hopefully standards are better than they were
in the 70's. Every job candidate must be judged on his or her own
merits.

Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP)
Microbiology 30 years

 The military train techs I have meet have been superior in motivation
and ability.  I