SKimmed this forum/website, contacted AMEDD by email and phone - nada to date and while I continue my pursuit I could use any related feedback.

I'm wanting to know what the ballpark chances of the military having any interest in someone with the following qualifiers:

BSN, Masters Social Work, Masters Management (lt)

Current Florida RN

20 years plus experience in mental health - mostly inpatient direct care

57 years old, good health, no previous military (I did apply to the Air Force around '90, was accepted by didn't go in).

and the real kicker.............haven't worked in mental health since '98 - since then a real estate investor then live-in care of my elderly mother for some seven years.

My guess is zip, but I don't know that, and I'd like to know before I enroll in a Psych NP program starting classes 8/23/10

All input/ideas more than welcomed and thanks in advance.

None; age alone disqualifies you.

None; age alone disqualifies you.

Age was why I looked into the Air Force at the time I did but I've seen a number of posts on this website referencing waivers for nurses age 58-60 (at least) but they didn't address details (previous military/whatever). They may have been talking about extending their stay into the military to that age but I didn't get that impression.

None; age alone disqualifies you.

For what it's worth,

just sent off an E-resume to Sergeant Winslow in Mobile. According to her, there is a waiver (OPAR, or something of the nature) for those in specific fields, including psych nursing (66c in recall), who are in the age 60 arena with no previous military experience. In surfing the net, I'd ran across such a waiver and designation but the details were always sketchy. Never the less, it seems the conclusions I'd reached were the same as those Sergeant Winslow expressed.

I was primarily concerned with the option and initial screening so I still don't have the details, but I'll post them as I get them down so that anyone in a similar situation who is interested can follow up with some confidence.

I've been trying to phone an AMEDD recruiter in Mississippi since the original post. The Jackson office number is no longer in service and the Lakeland office I've gotten no response in three calls over the period of a week. The voice messages (good luck contacting a human) don't even identify the number reached, more like CIA than military recruiter. The public perception that recruiters go to the the extreme of abducting recruits off the streets in the dead of night is not accurate in my experience. I've found them hard to find and hard to make contact with. Apparently the Mobile office is all there is for much of the southeast region.

The public perception that recruiters go to the the extreme of abducting recruits off the streets in the dead of night is not accurate in my experience. I've found them hard to find and hard to make contact with. Apparently the Mobile office is all there is for much of the southeast region.

This perception is outdated; there is no shortage of applicants these days, even on the enlisted side. Good luck in your endevours.

I only am responding to such an old post because there has yet to be an fully accurate response.

Branches of the armed forced can write waivers for anything they want if a particular recruit fills a need. According to the Navy Reserve website, waivers may be granted to age 67 for persons in the medical corps. HOWEVER, if staffing levels are currently high, the chances of receiving a waiver decrease.

For anyone considering military service at this time, it should be known that ALL members of the military can be "crossed over". That is, you might sign up for the Navy, then the Army experiences a shortage in your specialty and tomorrow, they hand you an Army uniform. It happens, but recruiters don't talk a lot about it.

I think your pursuit will find that a waiver will not be granted - that being said you will only verify this by going through the motions.

best of luck.

For anyone considering military service at this time, it should be known that ALL members of the military can be "crossed over". That is, you might sign up for the Navy, then the Army experiences a shortage in your specialty and tomorrow, they hand you an Army uniform. It happens, but recruiters don't talk a lot about it.

What are your experiences/sources related to this?

What are your experiences/sources related to this?

This has always been the case, though it is not commonly practiced. I am a 5th generation military veteran. My father was pulled from the Navy Seabee Corps to work with Army Engineers in Korea. The medical Corps are the most crossed over, but that is usually during times of war. These, of course, are times of war.

Every enlistment contract includes a phrase which basically says that during a war, it doesn't matter what you signed up for. In the Navy, the saying is, "as dictated by the needs of the Navy." Ultimately, as a commissioned officer, you are bound to the direction of the Executive Officer (the President).

When I was a weapons officer in another life, I used to get young sailors telling me, "I am a barber (or whatever). I didn't sign up to run a machine gun." My reply always was, "if we are under attack, no one is going to need a haircut."

Ultimately, when you are in uniform, you follow orders.

Being a slice element is in no way the same as what you implicated in your original post. You may be attached to another service for a period of time, but you're still a member of your parent service.

My apologies if there was any misunderstanding. "Crossover" is the term with which I am familiar. "Slice element" is new to me. As always, slang changes from service to service. The purpose of my post was simply to state that any nurse, regardless of the branch in which s/he enlists, may be called to front-line service.

stinky,

You intentions are good but there is no way this would ever happen. A nurse might be near the 'front lines' in the nurse job capacity but would never 'be a infantryman' or to work in that capacity. This is a huge stretch that you have brought forward - thanks for your prior service.

I perhaps confused my meaning by speaking of collateral assignments.

Yes, I have never heard of a Nurse converting to another job (infantryman) and I NEVER meant to imply that. However, I often hear students say they will Join the Navy Reserves (for tuition assistance) because they believe they will never see combat, as if they have a choice. Navy corpsman and nurses are regularly assigned to Marine units. My many years on board amphibious aircraft carriers confirms this. That is all I meant to say.