I have looked all over this site in hopes of finding others that are getting their packets ready and are applying to the Air Force this fall. I have not found any recent threads on this.
I am applying for an ER spot. I have been a RN for 7 years and work in a Level II trauma emergency center. I have my MSN-Administrative Leadership and TCRN. Is there anyone out there that is also getting their packets ready for October boards? My recruiter told me that because of COVID everything has been pushed back and that boards will meet in October this year. He also told me that I would be going to MEPS and doing my medical in the next 3 weeks.
Just in case, ask your recruiter about accession v/s retention bonus because depending on your specialties and depending on "the need", sometime the retention bonus is way better and if I remember right, you can't do both. If your recruiter is willing, there is actually an entire packet on this info that they sent me when hubs did all this and it outlined it all super well! I think it's updated yearly and I don't know what I did with his or I would share it LOL. I do know the ED retention bonus goes back and forth between maxing at $20k/yr for a 4 yr commitment and at time up to $36k/yr for 6yr commitment. There are some requirements for each avenue you take. Also, they gave my husband all the paperwork but he had to re-do it when he got to his base anyway.
Also, I finally got my wings email! LOL. I feel more official ???♀️
Is there a bonus for ER? My recruiters hasn’t mentioned anything to me.
Finally received my OTS date via email. Going Feb. No word on assignment. How/when did you find out?
I found out my assignment when they called and gave me my OTS date about a week and a half ago. But for whatever reason, it all seems different for everyone. Several people have known for weeks and I feel like it was closer to 6weeks or so after my husband found out he was selected before he found out his assignment.
Just in case, ask your recruiter about accession v/s retention bonus because depending on your specialties and depending on "the need", sometime the retention bonus is way better and if I remember right, you can't do both. If your recruiter is willing, there is actually an entire packet on this info that they sent me when hubs did all this and it outlined it all super well! I think it's updated yearly and I don't know what I did with his or I would share it LOL. I do know the ED retention bonus goes back and forth between maxing at $20k/yr for a 4 yr commitment and at time up to $36k/yr for 6yr commitment. There are some requirements for each avenue you take. Also, they gave my husband all the paperwork but he had to re-do it when he got to his base anyway.
Also, I finally got my wings email! LOL. I feel more official ???♀️
So he was able to get a retention bonus right away? That’s not just for people already in?
I found out I was selected mid-November. Got my location and OTS date mid- last week. No word on accessions yet. My recruiter said those are released for the fiscal year starting in January and that I would be offered it at that time should there be one.
I do have a question regarding OTS dates. If you look on the website, there are classes with corresponding dates. I was told mine starts April 6th, however none of the listed classes start on that day. The nearest is end of March. Any idea what is going on there? Were they pushed back a few days or so?
@Sarm19 Oh yea. There apparently is almost always some sort of bonus for ED. It's just a matter of if they are capping it at the 4 yrs or the 6 yrs (some years they won't offer the $36k/yr up to 6yrs but the $20k/yr for 4yrs seems to pretty much always be there). You have to have a board certification like CEN and then there is a list of one other requirement. For example: you have completed a credentialed Emergency Nurse Orientation course and have the certificates, you complete these online modules that are all basically con ED with tests you pass, you take a 2 week long CSTARS course in either St. Louis or Baltimore (which I think every ED nurse takes eventually but it could be a while, hubby just did his in November and he has been in over a year), etc... there are several things on the list. Hubs had his CEN and then did the online modules. His whole profile was messed up from his prior enlisted stuff so it took like 8mo after we got here before everything was straightened out enough for him to apply and get it approved and receive it.
So he was able to get a retention bonus right away? That’s not just for people already in?
Yes. It's weird but it starts and you are basically paid up front. As soon as you meet the requirements, you can fill out the paperwork and get started. So you get paid the bonus and then owe the year, get paid and then owe the year, etc....but collectively, it's for however many years you sign for. Also, there the opportunity to "renegotiate it". So, say they are only offering the max of 4yrs at the time and you sign that but the next year they are offering the 6yr one and you want the bigger bonus, you have the option of renegotiating it.
I have heard some people worry that they are "stuck" in that position until however many years, but there are some caveats to all that and you may still be able to advance or move around more than some people think. Since you can't do much of any of it until you get to your base, I highly recommend asking your coworkers and the finance people. It was a no brainer for us to take the retention bonus. We didn't have school loans that needed paid. There was another coworker who took either the accession bonus or the school loan payment and is getting way less $ in the long run than we are. Again, I would definitely ask your recruiter for the booklet because it gives ALLL the info on which bonuses you can collect together, which ones you can't and which commitments you can do concurrently v/s which you have to compound (Ex: if you accept the student loan reimbursement thing, you owe "x" amount of years for that which can be fulfilled at the same time as your initial 3yr commitment, however, if you qualify for and add a retention bonus, that compounds to your student loan reimbursement time and extends your commitment. But if you just do the retention, the years you owe run concurrently with your initial 3yr commitment so it doesn't add together to make 7yrs if that makes sense.) It's a lot to take in but having it word for word in front of you helps!
@hlwilder I think some of the dates were adjusted but not fixed on the OTS Website just yet. The Feb class still says Feb 16th but is actually 23rd. I think the WINGS email will be your best bet on what's official. I just got mine today and it had the 23rd date that the recruiter had told me and not the 16th that the internet says. Congrats on your acceptance!
Yes. It's weird but it starts and you are basically paid up front. As soon as you meet the requirements, you can fill out the paperwork and get started. So you get paid the bonus and then owe the year, get paid and then owe the year, etc....but collectively, it's for however many years you sign for. Also, there the opportunity to "renegotiate it". So, say they are only offering the max of 4yrs at the time and you sign that but the next year they are offering the 6yr one and you want the bigger bonus, you have the option of renegotiating it.
I have heard some people worry that they are "stuck" in that position until however many years, but there are some caveats to all that and you may still be able to advance or move around more than some people think. Since you can't do much of any of it until you get to your base, I highly recommend asking your coworkers and the finance people. It was a no brainer for us to take the retention bonus. We didn't have school loans that needed paid. There was another coworker who took either the accession bonus or the school loan payment and is getting way less $ in the long run than we are. Again, I would definitely ask your recruiter for the booklet because it gives ALLL the info on which bonuses you can collect together, which ones you can't and which commitments you can do concurrently v/s which you have to compound (Ex: if you accept the student loan reimbursement thing, you owe for that which can be fulfilled at the same time as your initial 3yr commitment, however, if you qualify for and add a retention bonus, that compounds to your student loan reimbursement time and extends your commitment.) It's a lot to take in but having it word for word in front of you helps!
Thanks for the info! I’ll definitely look into this!
Happy to help. I am an "ask alllllll the questions type person," so you can imagine how much I'm sure my husband's recruiter loved me LOL. He was actually really great and when he couldn't fully answer all of my questions when it came to the bonuses, he just sent me the booklet to read. It was great because I got more clarity and felt we could make a better decision. Then when I told him what it said, he read it himself and helped us navigate it. We still couldn't do much of anything with it until we got here but since we knew what we wanted to do, it helped navigate the process a little bit easier.
I don't always have all the answers but I'm always happy to help if it's something we've experienced. I always am thankful when someone else does the same!
@Peter RN YES that is it! I thought it was year specific. It takes a hot minute to read and I had to read it slow and then re-read some of it LOL but it lays it all out there. It let me download it. Bummer that the ED isn't the $35k/yr for 6 right now. It was when my hubs went to OTS but then it went away before they got all his stuff straightened up enough to apply and the highest they offered was for the 4yrs. ? Oh well. The other options aren't too shabby either!
1 hour ago, ttwilbs said:
I also got my OTS date today - going in February as well! Excited to meet some of you! My assignment is Wright-Patterson!
Sarm19, BSN, RN
65 Posts
Is there a bonus for ER? My recruiters hasn’t mentioned anything to me.