AFR Flight Nurse

suds1228 · Jan 22, 2009

I am an active duty USAF FN. Be patient but do not be forgotton. Things move slow until the paperwork starts to drop then it will hit all at once. I would drop a call every couple of weeks for an update though.

Flight school @ Brooks City-Base in San Antonio is a blast! You'll love it.

All FN's and AET's now must attend Survial School Level C (same as what the pilots go through) @ Fairchild AFb, WA. ***THIS IS A NO SH*T SURVIVAL PROGRAM.*** I do not want to concern you but for real...it will be unpleasant. This is a recent change in 2007, as many of us went through Level B survival training which is significantly easier. In the level B pgm, we had 4-5 days in the field. in 4 days I ate 3 powerbars, a small portion of rabbit (which we butchered ourselves), one potato and some fish jerky. Thats it. I can't discuss much more but I have never felt so cold or tired in my entire life. Reminder, this was the easy course. Fairchild is longer, harder and more intense.

On the plus side, the SERE guys work hard to equip you with the training you need to survive. I left that pgm knowing that if I was ever in that survival/evasion situation I could survive (at least for a short while).

USAF Flight Nursing is the bomb. It is hard at times but I have absolutely loved every min.

LBB15 · Jan 24, 2009

Thanks for the info suds.

You said you were active duty...what kind of stuff are you doing now? Does a reserve FN do the same kind of missions that an active duty FN does?

Sorry this might be a really dumb question, but I told you I was new and know nothing!

just_cause, BSN, RN · Jan 24, 2009

Suds,

great posting!

If you have the time to talk more about AF flight nurse I'm sure a lot of folks would love to hear more about your journey, opportunities and sage advice... thanks for the great posting!

v/r

ugaRN · Jan 25, 2009

Hello LBB15 -

I am also in the process of joining the USAFR as a flight nurse and have gone through the same thing as you - I have gone through a number of stages wondering what is going on. My process has been a long one but here is a very quick overview of what I have gone through

April 2008 - Contact with USAFR healthcare recruiter and intial paperwork started

May 2008 - Visit to base and squadron and interview with Lt. Col and another person (they were impressed and said they "wanted me") ..... recrutier started to set up date for physical

June 2008 - flight physical completeted but needed to wait on some Ob-GYN results that will be in July at my own MD

July (end) 2008 - Test completed and results recieved and faxed over to flight med

August 2008 - no word on anything and could not get any answers

Aug or Sept 2008 - new recruiter assigned now

Sept (beg) 2008 - told my packet was being sent to SG

waiting.......

Oct 2008 - call recevied that flight med was waiting on one more piece of info from me (needed another spinal xray on my own dime) but I was never told about so I was just waiting

Oct 2008 - did the test and faxed over results to flight med

Nov 2008 - called to check on my paperwork to make sure and they tell me that they have everything and it will be sent to MAJCOM (higher power) soon

Dec 2008 - I actually got an email from a SSgt at base that my packet is sent with 1 waiver to MAJCOM

waiting.......

Jan 23 2009 (just last Friday) - got an email from SSgt at flight med that my physical and waiver were APPROVED!!!! YAY!!!!!

ok, so now what......I have no idea. I contacted my recruiter (who I have not spoken with in about 4-5 months - all contact the past few months has been with flight med and handled myself) ..... Have not heard from yet but hoping he will call me back on monday to see what happens next and get the ball rolling.

Im excited but hope it all still works out well. Good luck and I hope this helps you or at least makes you feel less stressed realted to the delay in anything.

What AES are you intending to join?

LBB15 · Jan 25, 2009

wow. and I thought I was persistent.....this whole thing amazes me. When I tell my friends how long this is taking and the verrrryyyy long intervals between communication with the recruiter (and it's me calling him for an update), no one can believe it. It is reassuring to know that others are having the same experience. I keep wondering 'what is wrong with me...don't they want me...why is this taking so long?'

maybe it's not me.

suds1228 · Jan 26, 2009

No difference in qualifications or expectations between AD or reserve FN's. Most crews are mixed when deployed anyway. The AE Chief Nurse/D.O. will likely break up the crews and get the mix in chemistry and exp levels. Only real difference is where your squadron is located. I would suggest researching the busiest AE sq in your area. In fact I know a few nurses who actually live 5-6 states away from thier assigned squadron but love the people enough to FLY to thier UTA's every month. That's loyalty!!! Anyway, The bigger the squadron the more flight time you'll get. The 433rd out of San Antonio is a rockin crew, they are among the biggest if not the biggest Reserve AE sq. I have flown w/ many of those guys and they are all #1.

suds1228 · Jan 26, 2009

BTW, where your squadron is at may also dictate what your primary MDS is (what aircraft you fly on). For example, the 433rd in San Antonio primarily fly C-130's, the 315th in Charleston, NC fly C-17's, the 452nd out of March AFB CA, fly KC-135's and C-17's. Just FYI...

LBB15 · Jan 27, 2009

What do you know about the 914th in Niagara Falls?

I didn't really have any say about where I would be based. The recruiter said that unit had an opening and that's where I went. Pittsburgh would be closer, but the recruiter said if I felt comfortable with the folks at Niagara that's where I should focus my efforts.

It is about a 4 hour drive from my home...not the best situation, but worth it to me. Fortunately, everyone I have met there so far have been great.

suds1228 · Jan 27, 2009

I've met many Pittsburgh flyers. That is another busy bunch. There's at least 1 FN who flys out of Pittsburg and lives in Chicago. I met a few Niagara folks in Germany doing downrange missions.

ugaRN · Jan 28, 2009

Thank you Suds1228 for all the info - im kind of pressing myself onto this thread as well. Talked to me new recruiter today and said he is going to try to get my packet up to his boss by the end of next week to get this next part handled so Im excited and nervous all at the same time.

Do you know anything or have any opinions on Maxwell or Dobbins ARB's?

Any advice or words of wisdom would be much appreciated at this point. I am open to hearing the good, bad, and sometimes ugly in order to be prepared. Although I have done a lot of research up to this point and know what I am getting into I just feel BLIND AS A BAT when it comes to the actual process and 'military way' as I have no prior service.

Thanks again for your previous threads!

Britt

suds1228 · Jan 28, 2009

Thank you Suds1228 for all the info - im kind of pressing myself onto this thread as well. Talked to me new recruiter today and said he is going to try to get my packet up to his boss by the end of next week to get this next part handled so Im excited and nervous all at the same time.
Do you know anything or have any opinions on Maxwell or Dobbins ARB's?
Any advice or words of wisdom would be much appreciated at this point. I am open to hearing the good, bad, and sometimes ugly in order to be prepared. Although I have done a lot of research up to this point and know what I am getting into I just feel BLIND AS A BAT when it comes to the actual process and 'military way' as I have no prior service.
Thanks again for your previous threads!
Britt

You're welcome. I wish I could give you concrete good/bad between Dobbins /Maxwell. I have been to Maxwell for OTS (you will go as well) but I have never been to Dobbins. I have found though it is usually best to hitch up to reserve units co-located on an AD base like Maxwell because important flights like the MPE, Flt Med as well as the normal base perks are open M-F 9-5. On a reserve base your access and availablity could be minimized because many of those elements are only open on the UTA weekend and are wicked busy. This is good in the event that you have paperwork to do you can accomplish it during the week rather than on your UTA weekend. Now Dobbins may run full on w/ all the services of an AD base. I don't know. But I would ask. This also depends on your commute to the base. For me, the commute would be issue #1. Good luck.