interviewing with NP and Chief Nurse (air force)

I was definitely freaking out about that. Being unable to do much else but work eat and sleep for a week (or 6 months of deployment) would be rough for anyone :/

I am hoping to get into the January COT as well. I still have those 'what am I thinking?" days, but in terms of doing anything else with this degree, I have found that this is the best option. I need to get out of my parents house!!!

I was more worried about getting their on time than the actual interview content. To be a nurse you have to be decent at improvisation.

does anyone know how often apps are rejected? i hate my current job and really want to quit but can't until i know that i'm accepted into the air force. i'm told the board will meet nov 11 and decide by nov 20- prior military folks, does that seem like it will actually happen or since it's close to thanksgiving might i not hear anything until december??

I was told by my recruiter, who served for 20 years, that he has never heard of or had a nurse being turned down :/

I would expect that there WILL be RNs turned away as the number of applications increases with the tanking economy - my recruiter said the same thing but I still held my breath.

With the board meeting so close to T-giving I would expect one of two things: either they'll rush to get results out before the holiday or they'll laze around until after Turkey day. So - either is a possibility, but I'd say December is more likely to happen.

But Newsweek announced the recession is over!

question...when the board meets do they make their decisions at the end of their week long 'session' or do they accept/reject people on a daily basis? just curious if i should be on pins and needles as of Nov. 11 when they meet or wait until the 20th to start jumping every time the phone rings.

This is going to sound like a smart answer, and it's not meant to be - the board does what it wants how it wants to do it. And I don't think anyone but them knows for sure. What I do know is all results are released at the same time on the same day - HOW they reach their conclusions is a mystery.

Can someone please spell out the process it took to get you all to this point? I am EXTREMELY nervous about even talking to a recruiter because the father-in-law has always said that a recruiter's job is to screw you (he was a grunt in the Marines).

I am a 25 year old dude set to graduate with my BSN in decemeber 09. I am also married with a brand new baby, so this is really important that everything works out. Please give me the rundown. Does the starting salary actually go to me, or do all my "benefits" get deducted from that? Anything else I should know?

Thanks guys, I'm really nervous and it would kill me if it didn't work out for my family. Thanks!

Dane

There are no benefit deductions in the military - except for things you choose, like your life insurance (and you'll never get $400K in coverage as cheap as you will in the AF), your GI Bill (which is a temporary deduction - I think it's still $100/mo for a year but someone may have more current information), and any other voluntary retirement contributions (called the Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP) or charitable contributions (through the Combined Federal Campaign, the CFC).

Your health insurance is FREE as long as you're active duty (there is a deductible for outside- the-military-system health care, but it's stupidly, stupidly low), you will draw a housing allowance (BAH) based on your duty location and your dependents (for San Antonio, which is where I'm headed in a month, it's $1249/month) unless you live on base - in which case you don't draw the allowance but everything except your phone and cable (and some bases have basic cable included) is free. You will also draw $223/month for what is called Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) (ie, groceries) - but this is only intended for the military member (even though two hundred a month is a good chunk and a good start for the grocery bill).

ALL of these pays - your housing and your BAS - are NONTAXABLE allowances, so it's as though you're getting twenty-five percent more money than you're actually getting.

So yes, essentially your take home pay goes to you - which as of 01 January will be $2745 for an O1 without prior service and this is subject to tax. (But think of the military in terms of your ENTIRE pay - which would actually be $2968 PLUS whatever your housing allowance is - if it were San Antonio, for example, your gross pay would be $3947 - and then they break down your taxes out of that). Remember - you will only pay your personal bills from your pay (car, clothes, etc) - your housing will be paid and you will have a big contribution to your groceries.

You don't have to spend the whole housing allowance on rent or mortgage - if you find what you want for say $900 a month (which is what it's looking like in San Antonio for us), you pocket the difference - our housing allowance will come very close to paying EVERYTHING for us, including utilities.

And there are other bennies as well - I just signed all our insurances over to USAA and our car insurance dropped by a whopping $500 every six months (yes, it dropped by that much!), I've gotten both of us an additional $250K each in life insurance with a guaranteed rate for the next thirty years for $56/month - for both of us - and I've set up a USAA checking account, which is completely free with free checks for life. You can join USAA as soon as you're accepted to COT.

It bothers me when I read on this board how people say "I'm taking a pay cut to go into the military" just because their base pay might go down. What they're failing to realize is they won't be paying rent and all that other stuff out of that pay, and that any tax-free allowances are actually worth about 30% more. If they're taking a pay cut, I want to work where they're working!

So here's the short answer - no, stuff doesn't get deducted unless you choose it, and actually, a whole lot of stuff gets added!

I'm prior service Air Force and am leaving for COT in ONE WEEK (!!!).

Damnit! I wish I were in your shoes! I am stuck in limbo right now and bored out of my skull waiting on this mystic board to make up their mind on whether they want to control my life or not!

I never had a NP interview either. I can't remember if I was told if I would or wouldn't have one, it's been to freakin long!