Goal is to become Nurse in Air Force or Army

Hi all,

I have been reviewing this site over and over for any information I could obtain about becoming a Nurse in the Air Force or Army. At this time I think my dilemma is which school to go into and if the military would accept it. In Tucson there is Pima Community College and Pima Medical Institute. I've heard great things about both. I work in the VA Hospital here and many nurses there highly recommend goind to Pima Community College for two reasons. One they are cheaper and two they seem to like a lot of nursing students that they have met.

I guess my worry is if the Air Force would take me with a BSN from University of Phoenix. If I went to either of the two school above I would still choose to attend University of Phoenix to complete my BSN. The only draw back I see to Pima Medical is the amount for college. $40,000 for an associate's degree is a lot! I guess the waiting would be less, but still $40,000! I think Pima Community College would be around $12-18,000. Not sure on that one so don't hold me to it!

If there are any Air Force or Army Nurses out there reading this I would love to hear from you and get your advice. My husband retires in 5 years (at age 37 lucky man!) and I would like to go back in around that time. I'll be 35. I previously did 4 years in Public Health as Enlisted, but after having the kids I wanted to get out to be with them. Now my goals are to get back in and finish out 16 years. Since working at the VA I have really been interested in the Nurse Practitioners as well. I have big goals, but I have to break them down little by little. Right now is finding the right school path so that I don't get turned away from going back in.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Napiertj