Senior Nursing Student thinking about Air Force

Camo-angel · May 27, 2015

Welcome to the site! You have a lot of questions, and I'll try to answer the ones I can. Just so you know, I am a new grad nurse (Dec 14) and I applied last year and this year for the Air Force.

1. So the process is very long, generally taking 6 months minimum to complete. You do not just walk in to an office and sign up, you have to apply for a spot and then wait for the Board to make their decisions. In other words, you are competing against nurses all over the country. They normally take 40 new grads a year (less than 6 months experience or must be within a semester of graduation). So IF you are selected, you would be notified probably in August (the board usually meets in July) and then you wait for your training which may be a few weeks to months away. It's not fast.

The process, as I said, is long but I will hit the highlights. First step is to contact a healthcare recruiter. Contact Us: Find a Recruiter - airforce.com click "healthcare student or professional", then enter your zip code. Your recruiter can help explain this process better and answer questions. Your next step is mountains of paperwork about you. Everything from where you've lived for your entire life, your family, jobs, education, qualifications, any criminal background or misdemeanors, every injury and illness you have. Basically everything. Once you get that basic stuff going, you'll get the "ok" saying you're at least qualified to move onto the next steps. After MORE paperwork, you start working on your actual packet for the board.

Your packet will consist of your CV (military style resume your recruiter can guide you with), questionnaire (9 short answer questions including why you chose nursing, what are your goals, what do you have to offer the Air Force etc), 3-5 LORs (letters of recommendation from professors, preceptors, employers, etc), base wishlist (where you would prefer to be placed), your chief nurse interview summary (you won't do the interview until EVERY other item is complete), and basic papers on your background and physical from MEPS (military physical that takes a good 4-6 hours). That's the highlights...

Before I move on, please understand that this is COMPETITIVE. The minimum GPA required is now a 3.5, and you will have to stand out among anywhere from 150 to over 300 people across America who are competing for this opportunity. So if you're dedicated to this, stay on track!!

2. New nurses can only be med-surg or OB, they take 35 med-surg new grads and 5 OB new grads most years, like this year. So you can chose what tract you'll apply for, but you can't switch to a new unit type until you've served a few years first.

3. As long as you are stationed at a base in the US or in a non-threatening country your husband can absolutely join you. He can't come with you for deployments, but otherwise he will come along, no problem.

4. Others can answer this one better, I'm just trying my darndest to make it this year!! I know the Air Force is where I belong and it's where I will become the best nurse and person I can possibly be.

5. The contract you first sign is generally 4 years or 6 years. After that you can chose to separate or stay in, unless they decide they don't need you (unlikely if you're a hard worker). Deployments are 6 months with the Air Force.

6. There are multiple pros and incentives with the Air Force. As an Officer, you will get a base pay of 2934 a month plus housing allowance of 1000-1700 per month plus food allowance of around 250. Add it all up to get your monthly pay and that's pretty amazing. You will have free health insurance for yourself and health insurance for your spouse. If you want health insurance and dental for your spouse it might cost a whopping $15 a month...with no loans to pay, you can get a sign on bonus which I believe is around $20,000-$30,000? You don't get it all at once, but over your contract time it's added in. Then of course you can further your education with the GI Bill or go to school while in the Air Force (but then you owe them a time commitment, usually another 4 years). You will have life insurance of around 400,000 and of course retirement down the line would be amazing if you stick it out. There are more incentives, like the always nice thought of serving your country, serving others, traveling, etc.

7. Well I guess I already answered this one...basically once you add everything it's around 4650 a month before taxes. After taxes though still around 3900 a month, which is way better than normal new grads, at least in my area. You won't get the housing allowance if you live on base, but you'll have a very nice size house with some amenities taken care of so it evens out.

I think that's all of them...feel free to ask more questions, there are lots of people on here with more knowledge than I!!

sconnie · May 27, 2015

Thank you that was very helpful. If I am graduating in May 2016 are the applications due July 2015 or 2016?

Camo-angel · May 27, 2015

Graduating in May 2016 you will apply for the Board of 2016 which will meet summer 2016. The board for this year is meeting in July, so you won't apply to this board. I'd suggest contacting a recruiter in fall/winter about applying for the NTP of 2016. You can contact one sooner if you want, but they won't likely work on your packet much since it's so far off and they still have other Boards that meet for FQ (fully qualified nurses with experience, they apply as a different group than us new nurses!).

Oh, and everything is due to your recruiter at least one month before the board meets. For example, the Board this year meets July 14th, so my recruiter must send everything for his applicants around June 14th, so he is asking us to have everything turned in to him before that so he can send everything early.