I'm about to finish my ADN and was wanting to join the Air Force. Come to find out I would enter as an E-3 and wouldn't be able to perform nursing duties. I was wondering if anyone has found anyways around this? If so please give me some advice.

Thanks in advance,

Shawn

Shawn, I've looked into Air Force Nursing as well. From what I can tell, there are not active duty military compenents that allow you to serve fulltime as an ADN. Most reserve components have reserve nurses with an ADN. I believe the closest thing you will be able to get to would be the Air Guard. Hypothetically, you could join the Air Guard for a few years, work at a civilian hospital and do your one weekend a month,two weeks a year. Use the Air Guard to pay for your BSN and then request a transfer to the Active Duty Air Force.

Best of luck!

the air force currently has two options for enlisted commissioning. the afrotc - airman education & commissioning program (aecp) and the nurse enlisted commissioning program. you have to be currently serving as an enlisted member although i am unsure if you must be on active duty, or if you can apply if you are in the reserves.

there is a recent thread, nurse enlisted commissioning program usaf - nursing for nurses. you might either find information contained in one of the posts, or get some of your questions answered if you post them there.

you might also contact carolinapooh. she is one of the allnurses guides who is currently serving as an air force nurse.

good luck in your future plans.

As far as I know only the Army Reserves accepts ADN's all the rest require BSN's. From what other threads have posted there is only a small number of openings for the next fiscal year in the Army. If that is true it would be best to finish your BSN then apply for your commission in the service of your choice.

All of the above is correct...

I've found that the AF will accept ADN with a Bachelors on a case by case basis...

I would recommend NOT joining with an ADN as an E3... it would be well worth your efforts to get BSN and then enter in terms of scope, pay, advancement grad opportunities, lifestyle, choices, etc etc.

You have been talking with an AF recruiter who is not a AF health care recruiter.

I'm going to piggyback on what Just has already said.

You really need to talk with a Health Professions Recruiter. These guys and gals aren't the ones in the shopping malls and shopping centers; you have to sort of hunt them down.

If your end goal is a commission, you should pursue the commission and not enlist first. Once you enlist, they sort of have you, and it gets harder and takes longer to earn the commission. Once you enlist, you have a minimum amount of time you have to spend at your current learning level, at your base, and in the pay grade you end up in. It could take your entire first term - which is typically four years - just to be able to apply for a commissioning program, and then there's no guarantee you'd be accepted.

I'm currently an LT in the USAF and am prior enlisted. This was my fourth attempt at a commission - I tried twice while enlisted and once while a civilian. I had very good test scores, an exemplary service record, and outstanding recommendations - and I didn't get into OTS while I was enlisted. It's harder to do.

I'm pleased to see the Air Force has updated their recruiting website to something more user friendly! Here's a link to a recruiter locator:Recruiter Locator - Contact the U.S. Air Force - AirForce.com

You can choose to search for Health Professions recruiters only - and those are the folks you want to talk to.

All of the above is correct...

I've found that the AF will accept ADN with a Bachelors on a case by case basis...

I would recommend NOT joining with an ADN as an E3... it would be well worth your efforts to get BSN and then enter in terms of scope, pay, advancement grad opportunities, lifestyle, choices, etc etc.

You have been talking with an AF recruiter who is not a AF health care recruiter.

I'd like to clarify in the first sentence I'm referring to AF Reserve...

I've been trying to get in touch with a healthcare recruiter for a month... He's emailed me back once but hasn't returned any calls... looks like I'll be waiting a few more tears to join up..

Are you planning on obtaining BSN to commission as a nurse or ?

Best of luck!

v/r

I am... Already working on prerequsates.

In his defense, a HP recruiter serves a VERY large area - to help put it into perspective, in San Antonio there are something like 8 enlisted AF recruiters for active duty. There's one - ONE - health professions recruiter and he is responsible for most of Texas and also parts of Louisiana. I was living in NC when I came back in and that recruiter is responsible for NC, southern VA, and northern SC - and I believe she said they'd given her part of TN as well.

The health professions recruiters are spread very, very thin. Keep calling and/or emailing if you're truly interested. But the AF enlisted recruiters can't help you become an AF RN.