Short Arm Inspection

Do you think the Navy still does short arm inspection on those sailors returning from liberty overseas? They used to in my day, but that was 40 years ago. It's somewhat embarrassing to drop trousers, skin it (where appropriate), and see if anything drips out.

Pretty useless considering the incubation period of most STDs

When I was a Corpsman, (1980 -1989 Active, the last 4 of those years attached to the Marines.) we did not do them as a matter of routine. We waited until some sort of symptoms appeared. Once symptoms (like burning on urination) appeared, if we were ashore, we sent them over to Preventive medicine and they would do another exam, swab the urethra, etc. If you did not have a PM Department, then the duty Corpsman would do it.

Now, if you got a tattoo, THAT we inspected immediately and often. (First to note it as an identifying mark in the health record, secondly to look for signs of infection, etc.)

Maybe a bit to the side, but reading the term short-arm inspection made me wonder what the origin is. It could just as well and just as logically, if not more so, been called a short-leg inspection ... 😃

A while ago I was engaged in the publication of a book on prostitution during the Great War in Belgium, and the text writer, despite numerous corrections, could simply not around to accepting that the correct term is short-arm, and not short-leg. I believe it was even erroneously used in the book. Not that any Dutch language reader noticed though ...

But still, anyone know why it is an arm and not a leg?

I also was in the navy 40 years ago. Other than my enlistment physical the only "short arm inspection " I had was when one of the guys in the birthing compartment came down with crabs.