Air force of navy

soozabel · Apr 8, 2009

I was in the Air Force, so my opinion is a bit biased, but I'd pick Air Force over Navy. However, you should probably consider why you want to join the military and what you want to get out of it, to decide which branch whould be best for you. If you plan to go in as a nurse, you probably want to see which branch will offer you the best enlistment bonus and opportunities for travel. There's the possibility of being stuck on a ship for weeks at a time with the Navy, not so with the AF. You could possibly be a flight nurse with the AF, I remember having to service the med flights that came to bases I was on. I was stationed at Ramstein AB in Germany for two years and we used to get a C9 medical flight that would come in a few times a month. One of my jobs was to clean the plane up and get it ready to fly out. But I got to do and see a lot while in Germany.

Whatever you decide, take advantage of the traveling. I don't know if it's the same now, but back when I was in, you used to be able to take flights to any base the plane was going to for free, $10 to go overseas - but that was over 20 years ago so things may be different now. But I think the experience was great and I highly recommend it!

Good luck!

FLmomof5 · Apr 9, 2009

AF vet here.....so like the prior poster, I am biased....and I would chose AF.

When I was doing "Project 3rd LT" as a cadet....I went to a biomedical engineering office at an AF hospital in San Antonio. The CPT made it clear that "there is no rank in a hospital"....ie: it operates more like a civilian institution than a military one. Don't know how true that really was because I was only there for a summer.

With the AF, you will stay at your duty station. With the Navy, you could be assigned to a ship (maybe?) and those folks constantly leave for 6 mo at a time. Yeah, you "travel", but don't know how much time they spend on land! Also, these 6 mo deployments get hard on the family eventually.

Ultimately, you are the one who will make the decision.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 10, 2009

i am torn between the navy of the air force. which, in your opinion is better?

the united states army (note: i'm bias). :twocents:

try the "government and military nursing" forum. there are a lot of nurses who can help you more so then this one because many are either in the military or trying to join. gl! https://allnurses.com/government-military-nursing/

Allizar · Apr 12, 2009

I would personally choose Air Force, simply because I would want to travel without it involving a 6 month boat ride

I'm biased too, was USAF (Although I never got to travel until after I got out)

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2009

AF vet here.....so like the prior poster, I am biased....and I would chose AF.
When I was doing "Project 3rd LT" as a cadet....I went to a biomedical engineering office at an AF hospital in San Antonio. The CPT made it clear that "there is no rank in a hospital"....ie: it operates more like a civilian institution than a military one. Don't know how true that really was because I was only there for a summer.
With the AF, you will stay at your duty station. With the Navy, you could be assigned to a ship (maybe?) and those folks constantly leave for 6 mo at a time. Yeah, you "travel", but don't know how much time they spend on land! Also, these 6 mo deployments get hard on the family eventually.
Ultimately, you are the one who will make the decision.

With the Air Force (and I'm a veteran of it and have recently applied to go back in as an RN), you'll be deployed just like in the Navy. You will not be staying at your duty station. According to the head RN I interviewed with, the current deployment cycle is one deployment on (and they are now six month deployments), two off. So plan on spending six out of every eighteen months overseas - and you can guess where.

Many Navy cruises are one year (father and brother both vets; I also looked at the Navy). Most cruises onboard the hospital ships are now eight months to one year.

hot chocolate · Apr 24, 2009

Okay so I wasn't in the medical field when I was in the navy, but I was an aircrewman on a plane that was too big to land on aircraft carriers (the plane is the P-3C) and often had to stay at airforce bases overseas. I, too, am torn between going back to the navy once I finish my degree or going air force. I would like to continue flying as an aircrewman, but the navy doesn't offer a flight nursing program. It's hard to say which branch is better, it really depends on your personality. Since I joined the navy when I was 18 and spent 8 years around the sterotypical guys that you saw in movies like top gun and an officer and a gentleman I'm alot less sensitive to things that many women might find offensive. I doubt that the guys in the medical sector of the navy are as bad as those in aviation, but the airforce is a lot more uptight with drinking and joking with what some people may find cruede. The Airforce is the youngest branch of the military so many of the facilities are very nice and new. Please don't listen to anyone on here that tells you you're going to be out to sea for a year at a time... I was in the navy for 8 years and NEVER set foot on a boat. The longest I've heard of a ship deploying was for 8months and you make port calls and do community service activites and get to chill for a few nights and get a hotel as long as you don't have duty. You're going to move duty stations more frequently in the navy than the airforce, and overseas duty stations are available for both branches. It really depends on you...but also factor in that the navy has to be in areas where boats can go like florida, hawaii, california, washington, japan...you can get stuck in oklahoma if you'r in the airforce... idk about you but i'd def. rather hang out at the beach than go cow tipping somewhere )