Air Force Nurse

[SP1CEGRL]

I have always wanted to be an Air Force Nurse for many reasons. One of them being traveling and seeing what nursing was like all over the world. However this has always been one of my goals in the future. I got my LPN, RN and now I finally finished my Bachelor's a few weeks ago. My Bachelor's degree was the only thing my recruiter was waiting on to submit my final application. I already have a year of med/surg experience so I am applying as a fully qualified Air Force Nurse. I do understand that I could be placed anywhere the Air Force needs me, but I still am excited to fill out my "dream list" as they call it. I originally wanted to fill out my base preferences with my first choices being overseas: Italy, London, Germany, etc. but now that this is all so close to me I'm starting to really freak out. Can I handle this? I am a single 26 year old girl who will be doing this solo and I know I will have to find my own housing overseas since I am a commissioned officer and I will not have a family living with me. This scares me along with thinking about transportation - having no idea what these places are like and how I will be able to get over there, get a drivers license all over again, purchase a car, etc. I'm starting to feel so overwhelmed and almost to the point of debating backing out- but this is something I've ALWAYS wanted to do. I want to become a flight nurse. I hope some nurses out there have been through this and can calm my nerves a bit but still be honest with me.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

There are so many resources for service members no matter where you move, be it in the US or overseas. Typically you will have a sponsor at your duty station who will help you with logistics. Don't be scared!

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

I've had this conversation before with a former Air Force nursing assignments officer. Nurses with less than 4 years of experience (i.e. those entering as 2nd LTs) rarely are put in any of the small overseas clinics or the hospital in Germany. It's not good for their professional development. The enlisted healthcare recruiters unfortunately don't know this, because most of them have no clue how the Nurse Corps works. A lot of them turned wrenches on planes before becoming recruiters.

Your most likely landing spots regardless of what you put on your dream sheet are: JBER (AK), Langley (VA), Travis (CA), Keesler (MS), SAMMC (TX), Wright Patterson (OH), Eglin (FL), and JBER (AK).