Army Reserve Nursing

pipersjo, ADN, BSN, MSN · May 7, 2007

I am so glad you asked this question! I am curious about the Reserves. I am (hopefully) headed to the Reserves after I lose about 15 more pounds. Hopefully, I can get my medical waiver as well. Jeez, I have a lot of crap to take care of! :uhoh3:

athena55, BSN, RN · May 10, 2007

Hello!

I have been in the Army Reserves Nurse Corps for a while now and my only regret is that I should have done it all earlier (smile).

I am presently with the 8th Medical Brigade, 7238th Medical Support Unit out of Fort Hamilton, New York (recently transfered over from Fort Wadsworth, and before that Fort Dix/Picatinny orificenal 4219th USAH)

Your MOS will be 66H (RN) and with your critical care background you will be given an additional skill identifier (ASI) of 8A

OBLC is Officers Basic Leadership Course and I believe it will be ten weeks long(?). When I went it was only two weeks long, much too short for all that you will need to know and learn, so ten weeks is much better! You will qualify in weapons, LandNav, etc.... Once you take the Oath you should be given the Officers Handbook which will fill you in on all you need to know BEFORE going to OBLC.

One thing to always keep in the back of your mind is....You are a Soldier first, Nurse second.

As for our Battle Assembles (BA, old term Drill Weekends) I guess it is according to where your TPU is or will be. Do you know where your nearest Reserve Unit is located? Will you be IRR (Individual Ready Reserve)? These are questions that your Health Care Recruiter - if she or he is a GOOD Recruiter, would have spoken to you about. BUT First things first: You must pass your MEPS after your packet has been approved. [You will be notified if your medical waiver is not accepted]

Any specific questions I would be most happy to answer. You may PM me, if you wish. GOOD LUCK and Welcome to the Army Nurse Corps! Why doncha' check out the ANC website?

http://armynursecorps.amedd.army.mil

athena

lcraigbsn · Aug 15, 2007

I am also thinking about the reserves. I am 44 yrs old. recently relocated to dallas tx from ohio via travel nursing. I did all the paper work a year ago for the reserves but had to lose some weight so decided to do travel nursing. Now it is still in my heart I think? are there anyone who is my age who is in the reserves? how much in shape do I need to be and also can i do the officer's training since i have a BSN and 4 yrs experience? thanks.

athena55, BSN, RN · Aug 27, 2007

Dear IcraigBSN:

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond, just got back from Fort McCoy. (AND I just heard that the Company is "Looking for volunteers" to be MOBed to Fort Sill....Groan, gosh I kind of hope I don't pick the short straw as I would rather go with the rest of the Company where ever we go when we MOB out)

Anyway, I digress: Listen I got an age waiver to get into the US Army Reserves Nurse Corps. I am now PROUD to be 52 and in the best shape of my life!

I would suggest you go to www.hooah4health.com Then click on to Program Overview. For starters crawl over to the APFT. It will calculate (unofficially) how many push-ups, sit-ups and how fast you need to run the two mile course - according to your age and gender.

Lastly, once your packet has been accepted and you pass MEPS and take your OATH you will eventually go to OLBC at Fort Sam Houston.

Bytheby: start to get into Army Shape NOW. See how many push-ups, sit-ups etc you will need to do and start your training NOW. Check out what your maximum/minimum weight should be and start attempting to reach somewhere in between, as long as you do so in a healthy manner.

Let us know how your progress is coming along!

Respectfully,

athena

lcraigbsn · Aug 27, 2007

Thanks, I appreciate the response. I completed the application and am wating for the MEPS. I am actually excited about it. I will keep you informed.

MustangGirl850 · Aug 31, 2007

Hi!

I have been in the army reserves for almost 2 years.. I'm a Dental Specialist... in the process of reclassing to combat medic/LPN... *crosses fingers*

It's alot of fun. We drill once a month usually the 3rd weekend in the month.. We go to the range, teach classes, and other training stuff... It's easy money.. I'm currently in a non deployable unit..

and Lcraig.. it's never too late to join.. We have a 60 year old guy in my unit.. maybe older... it's a medical suport unit..

If anyone wants more information let me know.. I'm an Army reserves recruiting assistant!!

-Heather

SEASTWOODRN · Oct 29, 2007

Hi!
I have been in the army reserves for almost 2 years.. I'm a Dental Specialist... in the process of reclassing to combat medic/LPN... *crosses fingers*
It's alot of fun. We drill once a month usually the 3rd weekend in the month.. We go to the range, teach classes, and other training stuff... It's easy money.. I'm currently in a non deployable unit..
and Lcraig.. it's never too late to join.. We have a 60 year old guy in my unit.. maybe older... it's a medical suport unit..
If anyone wants more information let me know.. I'm an Army reserves recruiting assistant!!
-Heather

Hi Heather,

Would you per chance know any info on how I could find out info about my unit? I only know what my AMEDD recruiter has told me. I have tried to research the unit, but can not find anyting anywhere.

I am currently getting all of my paperwork/packet in. I was scheduled for MEPS today, however, they had to reschedule it for some reasone. So, now I'm going down for MEPS next week. I am going reserve as well Direct Commissioning in as an RN. I am 35, and just graduated / passed Boards this summer. I am also reading alot about a sponsor?? How does that work as well?

Thanks in Advance!

mmm333, LVN · Oct 19, 2009

Hi Heather/ MustangGirl,

I'm a prior enlisted Navy SWCC with 6active/2reserve under my belt. Most of that time was spent in Europe and the Mideast. I got out to attend college in other disciplines, graduated, and almost went to law school, but decided to go back to school for nursing (RN). One of the reasons for this was that like all SWCC or SEALs, I was trained as a medic/medevac assistant(roughly overlapping with EMT-B w/ IV therapy), and I loved that aspect of the job more than anything.

I've been out for a while and all I can say is that I miss the adventure, comradery, and intensity of military life. Despite my BA degrees in basketweaving and daydream science, I am in an ADN program. Therefore the Navy is not an option since I won't have my MSN any time soon. Army Reserve or National Guard seem to be my only options for military nursing right now. And that's fine because I enjoy land stuff far more than being at sea.

You said that you were a recruiting assistant but more importantly in my case is that you seem to have "the skinny" on things. I requested to add you as a friend and I'd like to stay in touch so I can ask you questions later. I graduate from my ADN in May 2010 and take NCLEX-RN in June.

Thanks for offering your advice. I'll probably need it soon.

DrnpChar, DNP · Oct 20, 2009

Athena55 thank you for the encouragement i have lose 23 lbs, i want to drop 20 lbs more, i am working on my weight every day.

lcraig keep the faith, stay focus on the res.

parfum · Oct 22, 2009

Army Reserve or National Guard seem to be my only options for military nursing right now.

it's interesting to learn of the different educational levels [and max ages] acceptable to the various branches. now, to research the pros and cons of the ANC vs the NG. :specs:

CASTLEGATES · Oct 23, 2009

it's interesting to learn of the different educational levels [and max ages] acceptable to the various branches. now, to research the pros and cons of the ANC vs the NG.

Army has one boss, National guard has two (gov and prez). NG has more funding (sometimes-or severely less) but Army units will all get the same funding. National guard commissioned aren't always honored in regular (our ARNG Col was only a Maj when on Fed property so his rank would be displayed differently depending on where we went).

One note I've noticed; the nurse corps reserves can be very very very political. I've seen bad things happen where I believed it was only because they weren't in the "in" group. Some screwed up things will happen only for polticial reasons. You'll see.

My full time duty, we didn't have enough time to plot and scheme so that was tons easier and everything worked great. Too much down time and things would get dysfunctional, people would be fighting, going to jail (yes) and all kinds of mess when we were idle.