air force nursing questions

allnurses Guide · Mar 26, 2009

hi everyone,
this is my first ever post, i've been browsing the site looking for answers to strange, specific questions i have about joining the air force, and still have some unanswered.
i'm 21, in a bsn program, graduating may 2010. i have met with my recruiter, am going to meps april 17, going to missouri to meet the head nursing officer woman in may, and find out if i get selected in october/november (if any of this sounds odd to anyone, please let me know). ok, here goes:
1. i am planning on getting married immediately after graduating in may 2010, officer training school would be in august, and then 10 weeks of new grad training at hopefully whatever base i'll be stationed at. i was told currently the sign on bonus is $30,000, but that it might go down a little because of the economy. at what point would i receive the bonus?
2. i'm a little bit baby hungry, and concerned about deployment. i know its definitely a possibility/probability if i sign for the 4 years, and my recruiter told me every 18 months i could go for 4-6 months. this confuses me a little...out of every 18 months i could be gone for any six? or 18 months goes by and then i'm eligible for deployment? also, if i decide to have a baby after i've been in for a few months, could i be sent immediately after my 6 weeks maternity?
3. i'm also a little confused about the day to day life of an air force nurse. i've been told that officers are generally the first to arrive and last to leave, which doesn't bother me, i'm just wondering how many hours you work a week, if there are the 12 hour shifts, etc.
wow this post was long, i'm sorry. thanks in advance to anyone with information for me.
-jeanette

Let's sort things out here....there are a lol of variables in your questions...lol

1. I received my entire bonus about a month after I reached my permanent duty station. I am not sure how that will work with NTP, although your recruiter or the Chief Nurse that you are scheduled to talk with should be able to give you a more definite answer.

2. Deployments clarification: "The original AEF cycle is divided into five pairs designed to have all Airmen on a 1:4 dwell ratio for deployment. In other words, during contingencies, Airmen should expect to deploy for 120 days and return home for 480 days. Manning for almost half of the Air Force career fields make it impossible to maintain the 1:4 ratio in current circumstances." The deployment cycles are about to change or have changed already for some, but as far as I know it should stay the 1:4 way as above for most nurses. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123101035

Try this link for military maternity leave: http://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Military_Maternity_Leave basically it is a 4 month deferment from deployments. Also, just because you are in the bucket to deploy does not mean you will deploy, not everyone deploys every cycle and not everyone deploys on that exact schedule sometimes it is shorter and sometimes it is longer or not at all.

3. Being an AF nurse isn't a lot different than being a civilian nurse on a day to day basis, especially when you are just starting out. Shifts are generally 12hrs on the wards and 8hrs in clinics/PACU etc. Basically a work week for the ward would be work MT off WTh work Fri/SAT/Sun and then off MT work WTh off Fri/Sat/Sun. Now the big kicker to that is you are a military nurse and you will have meetings, extra duties, appointments to do on your time off so you can plan on probably spending an extra 8-10hrs a wk on your off time doing other stuff for the military. In general the AF revolves around a M-F 0730-1630 work week, and they don't really care that you nights/days/shift work etc.

Hope this helps...

jeanette21 · Mar 27, 2009

thank you very much, that was a LOT of really good information, much appreciated :)

Leyla~ · Mar 31, 2009

I don't know if this helps or not, but I recently spoke to an AF Nurse recruiter. He stated that during your first 3-4 years that there's a slim to none chance of being deployed, that they want you very well trained first. According to him you aren't likely to deploy unless you sign on for a second term.

Since I'm 30 and haven't had a baby yet I'm getting a bit of the baby bug too and was worried about having to be gone too. I'm also hoping to get into a midwife program which will keep me stateside longer also. PLUS, he said that if I were to go into a specialty such as midwifery that if I was deployed it would be much more likely that I'd get a 3-4 year assignment overseas (think Germany, Italy, Japan) and that my family will be able to move with me.

allnurses Guide · Mar 31, 2009

I don't know if this helps or not, but I recently spoke to an AF Nurse recruiter. He stated that during your first 3-4 years that there's a slim to none chance of being deployed, that they want you very well trained first. According to him you aren't likely to deploy unless you sign on for a second term.
Since I'm 30 and haven't had a baby yet I'm getting a bit of the baby bug too and was worried about having to be gone too. I'm also hoping to get into a midwife program which will keep me stateside longer also. PLUS, he said that if I were to go into a specialty such as midwifery that if I was deployed it would be much more likely that I'd get a 3-4 year assignment overseas (think Germany, Italy, Japan) and that my family will be able to move with me.

I would put what that recruiter said into the questionable to outright lie category, maybe for the 1st year you aren't likely to deploy but after that I haven't seen any difference in deployment rates. Most AF healthcare recruiters don't have clue what the medical side of the house is like or how it is even ran.

In general most AF healthcare recruiters come from line side jobs with minimal knowledge of AF medical.

Leyla~ · Apr 1, 2009

I find that very frustrating. As a civilian I have little to no idea what to expect from the military. We rely on the healthcare recruiters, our point of contact for information, to be knowledgeable about the in's and out's of the career they are introducing us to. We rely on them to provide accurate information so that we can make an informed decision. Making the decision to join the military is a *huge* commitment, one that shouldn't be taken lightly. I want to be informed before joining, and staying stateside verses the possibility of being away from my husband for 4 months is a very big deal for the both of us.

jeanette21 · Apr 1, 2009

Leyla, I couldn't agree with you more. Deployment is a HUGE part of choosing a military career, and being away from my guy and our future children for 4-6 months would completely break my heart. I have heard from a couple of military friends (marines, not air force) that when air force people are deployed, it is a lot more likely that they will go to germany or some place that their family can come with them, but no guarantees.

Thank you everybody for your replies, I don't really have anyone else to talk to about this, so it's been very helpful. :bow:

allnurses Guide · Apr 1, 2009

Leyla, I couldn't agree with you more. Deployment is a HUGE part of choosing a military career, and being away from my guy and our future children for 4-6 months would completely break my heart. I have heard from a couple of military friends (marines, not air force) that when air force people are deployed, it is a lot more likely that they will go to germany or some place that their family can come with them, but no guarantees.
Thank you everybody for your replies, I don't really have anyone else to talk to about this, so it's been very helpful.

Don't count on going to Germany, again that is a misnomer as a nurse you will more likely go to Iraq or Afganistan. During normal TDYs and deployments your family doesn't go with you (the government defintively won't pay for them on a TDY/Deployment) your family can come visit at most TDY locations, but again it is on your dime.

deftonez188 · Apr 7, 2009

Not sure how it is from a nurse's perspective (

I would really question whether that recruiter is certain on their information - I have a pretty laid back enlisted job currently and deployments come up every 2 years or less depending.

Spencer2002 · Apr 9, 2009

Hello everyone and thanks for the information. I have been a nurse for six years and now pursuing active duty in the Air Force. I have submitted my paperwork and waiting for everything to come back OK. My recruiter has been really upfront with me and gave me an expected time line for everything to happen. I'm just working on my PT so I can make weight :yeah: The recruiter wants me to be 5 lbs under.

1. I'm nervous about the Chief Nurse interview, MEPS, OTS and all the unknowns of being in the military?

I have read tons online but looking for answers/advice from nurses who have "Been there, done that"

LIttle Greek · Apr 10, 2009

I would put what that recruiter said into the questionable to outright lie category, maybe for the 1st year you aren't likely to deploy but after that I haven't seen any difference in deployment rates. Most AF healthcare recruiters don't have clue what the medical side of the house is like or how it is even ran.
In general most AF healthcare recruiters come from line side jobs with minimal knowledge of AF medical.

I don't know if this helps or not, but I recently spoke to an AF Nurse recruiter. He stated that during your first 3-4 years that there's a slim to none chance of being deployed, that they want you very well trained first. According to him you aren't likely to deploy unless you sign on for a second term.
Since I'm 30 and haven't had a baby yet I'm getting a bit of the baby bug too and was worried about having to be gone too. I'm also hoping to get into a midwife program which will keep me stateside longer also. PLUS, he said that if I were to go into a specialty such as midwifery that if I was deployed it would be much more likely that I'd get a 3-4 year assignment overseas (think Germany, Italy, Japan) and that my family will be able to move with me.

Leyla--

I wanted to add on to what wtbcrna said. I'll give you an example of what just happened to a nurse at my hospital. This nurse just recently completed COT and was inprocessing at our base. During her inprocessing she ran into the Squadron C/C who congratulated her on her upcoming deployment! This nurse hadn't even spent one day on the unit and had only been AD for two months. I'm fairly certain this rarely happens, but it goes to show that you are not immune from deployment, even with less than one year AD.

I also wanted to mention that the openings for AFIT Midwife slots is VERY small. I don't have the numbers in front of me now, but I'm pretty sure it was less then 5 openings last year--that's AF wide. Not to mention you have to have two years TOS (time on station) prior to applying. In other words, you can't apply for school right away. And even when you do, the selection process is strict because there are so few slots open. A Capt I work with applied for an AFIT slot for WHNP and made alternate. She was just informed that no one declined their spot so she was not selected. This is someone who has been AD for 5 years. Now she's PCSing and she'll have to wait to apply again.

Spencer2002 · Apr 10, 2009

the health professions recruiter i'm working with told me, "it's not if if you get deployed, it's when." my wife and i are planning that in the next three years, six months will be spent being deployed some where........of course that is when i actually get into the air force......i'm still waiting on paperwork approval and going to meps.