Hello -
I am a male in my mid-40s, and also interested in joining the military as a nurse. According to my information, collected from recruiters and other sources, you are in pretty good shape. You should be able to do your 20 years of service without any problems. There are some qualifiers, though. As an officer with a reserve appointment (all active service officers have reserve appointments unless they attend a service academy or are awarded a permanent commission), you can be RIF'ed (RIF = reduction in force) if you are judged to be excess to the needs of the service, or if you do not get promoted appropriately. The military follows the 'up or out' model which means that in order to stay in, you have to get promoted. Get passed over too many times and you get RIFed. The good news is that healthcare profesionals are in demand, so if you do a good job, you most likely can hang in there util retirement. You can strengthen your case by getting advanced ceritifications; i.e. such as an FNP or CRNA (the army uses Family Nurse Practitioners and CRNAs) - which are in high demand. I am 46, and was told point-blank that retirement was probably out for me unless I got a CRNA, for example, in which case I could probably stay in. There's a waiver for everything; the question is how badly they need you. YOu can also be let go for health reasons, or if you fail to maintain adequate PT scores. Naturally, you can't get into trouble with the law, get caught driving under the influence, etc.
In regards to your basic question, I don't see the age being revised downward; if anything, I see it being raised to accomodate increasingly capable and active middle- and late-middle aged personnel with skills to offer. It's a matter of supply and demand, and right now, the demographics favor upward changes in age cutoffs.
The final wildcard in all of this is the financial state of the federal government itself. Pensions and other military entitlements are just like anything else; they are subject to the same budgetary pressures as medicare and medicaid, to name two other programs. If the money isn't there to pay these benefits, they won't be paid, or they will be cut.
That's another discussion, but myself - even if I get lucky and qualify for a pension somehow - I won't be relying on it alone.
Take what I am saying with a grain of salt: I am a civilian, well-informed - but still not in the military yet. One of the serving nurses on these boards can fill in whatever I missed or got wrong.
'Military.com' is a general military bulletin board on which can be found recruiters who know the regs well. Pay them a visit and maybe they can answer your questions also. Bear in mind most of them are not healthcare recruiters, but they can still direct you to the right place. One of the moderators - 'Cider33Alpha' is a former army nurse.
Best of luck -
Pete aka GaBoy61
Originally Posted by Dino
Just curious because I have intentions of making the military a career move, problem is I will be 38 once I complete my BSN, nursing is a second career for me. Question is I know you have to have 20 years of service before turning 60, or 62, to earn a pension, not sure which is current age for retirement, but the main concern for me is could they change the mandatory age for retirement down, and as a result while I am serving could I consequently not be eligible to earn a retirement???
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