Air Force Nursing 2013

carlily0513 · Jan 30, 2013

When I joined I was told there was a possibility I would be able to go to RCOT, but they have tightened the reigns on who can go and who can't. They were really clear that only doc's and pa's at this time will be able to obtain a spot at RCOT. With that too, they only have like 2 RCOT dates a year. In our unit, which may be different from most it takes a few months after joining before going to COT so although it would be ideal to go as soon as you swear in be prepared to possibly wait. As far as rank, our more seasoned personnel have come in as Majors and shortly after they were familiar with the unit and sent to COT, they were promoted. Just how we do it, may be slightly different in other units. If you have any other questions feel free to ask, i'll try my best to help you :-)

Mamakellyd · Jan 30, 2013

Thanks! That does help clarify. It looked like there was a pretty good amount of PT in COT and even to pass the PFT I need to get in better shape. I can meet the minimum on everything except pushups, but being the type A personality I am I don't want to be barely passing on that.

Your answer prompts another question- so it would be possible to be given a rank, swear in, and go ahead and drill in advance of going to COT? If I have to wait on COT that would be fine, but I would hate to join and do nothing until that time.

Thanks again!

carlily0513 · Jan 30, 2013

Oh you would absolutely start drilling and then when they could get you to COT you would go. :-)

Mamakellyd · Jan 30, 2013

Thanks- that's what I would prefer to do rather than wait several months. Is the process to let you know you are selected and then give you your rank, then you swear in and sign before drill, or do you find out all that at COTS?And- where do you get uniforms for drill and who makes sure you are wearing it all correctly! LOL I'm more worried about breaking a custom or protocol than I am anything else!

carlily0513 · Jan 30, 2013

You will head to MEPS, turn in your completed packet to the Guard Bureau, takes a couple of months to hear anything back, then they let you know what you will come in as (rank),a week or so after that you will swear in and start drilling the next drill weekend after that. For the most part they will give you a sponsor who will help you obtain all the required gear before hand (your out of pocket cost). I suggest being prepared for the first drill with uniform situated, just looks good. If there is a base close to you I suggest hitting up clothing and sale, someone can help you out there too probably. They should give you a clothing list when you start drilling but make sure you have someone you can connect with before your first drill to help you get squared away. In most cases you drill for a couple of months then they set up a COT date you can attend and then it's off to Alabama for a couple of weeks then back to your unit to drill afterwards. I would say the process takes about 6 months until you swear in, give or take.

ljv84 · Jan 30, 2013

Hi Everyone, my wife applied to the NTP program last year and will be done with COT next week. We got stationed at Travis AFB in CA. If anyone has any questions about the process I'll be happy to answer. I know we had lost of questions about the application process and all of that. I'm out here in California now working, so if any of you are going to be coming to the area and have some questions I can answer them as best I can too.

Mamakellyd · Jan 30, 2013

Can you share what her experience at COT was like? I'm trying to get as much info as possible for making my decision whether or to to join. TIA

kdazzle · Jan 30, 2013

hey ljv84,

yeah, I too am interested in knowing what COT is like. what kind of exercises do they do, what kinds of class work briefings, presentations etc. overall, is it really hard is pretty easy? thanks for the info.

carlily0513 · Jan 30, 2013

Ljv84,

Did you guys have to move when she went to COT? How does that process work? When was she expected to be at her base? Confused as to the whole moving thing works, well really what the time frame is.

Thanks

ljv84 · Jan 30, 2013

So I talk to her every night for about 15-20 minutes during the week and a little more during the weekend. From what I know and what she has told me you get about 4 hours of sleep a night for the first couple of weeks your there. The first week is mainly in-processing where you get your ID card, fill out various forms for your pay. You also do a lot of briefings on the basics of military life such as how to read your LES and other things. Your first test is the first day of your second week there which is on the OPSMAN, not sure if thats exactly what it's called but it's basically rules and regulations of the military. She said that you have to achieve an 80% or higher on the test in order to pass, and it's not included in the cumulative average of your other two tests which you also need to score an 80% or above on to graduate. She said on that first test there were a lot of people that failed it the first time, which if they failed then they had to re-take a longer open book version of the test. I'm not sure what happens if you fail again though. The start of the second week you take your baseline PT test to let you know where you stand in regards to passing the PT test. This test does not go on your permanent record if you fail. You then get the material for the first real test you have to take, and during the week you also do more briefings on various topics and also a ropes course. The start of the third week you take the first test that counts towards graduation, and do more briefings and courses as well as get the material for the last test you take. The fourth week which is the current week she is in now, you take your final PT test as well as your final academic test. After that you go no a two night trip to the field. The last week there which is the fifth week there are a lot of dinners and family activities prior to graduation that Friday.

Of course there is a lot of other things they do like a land navigation course, and a couple of trips to museums. Overall it doesn't sound difficult as much as just time management and preparation. From what she has told me it is nothing like boot camp that I had to go through and all the other priors out there on this board. The main thing is pass your PT and academic courses and your fine. The class is broken into squadrons and then flights. I think there are 4 squadrons and each squadron is broken into 4 flights, but I'm not sure on the exact number. Hope this helps!

ljv84 · Jan 31, 2013

-carlily

We got her orders in October, and right after we got them we scheduled the movers so that we could get the exact date that we wanted our stuff to be picked up. It wasn't hard as I have done all this in the military before so I knew the process. I am already out here because as soon as we got her orders I applied to a job out here and they flew me out here to interview like a couple of weeks later, which I accepted and had to move out here in November. It also helps because it gave me time to scope the area out and find out where we wanted to live in relation to Travis and where I work in Sacramento. I recommend getting a general power of attorney before you go for your spouse, as I needed it a bunch of times. I needed it to get an ID card without her and to sign for her for our new house we are having built out here. She was also contacted by her sponsor out here at Travis which was nice because I needed some documents from her commander at her unit she is going to be going to. We also as soon as she got her orders went to get our reserve ID cards so that we could be put into DEERS before she left. This has helped so much with getting Tricare setup for us. She doesn't graduate NTP until the middle of April and after that she gets 9 days of travel time to get out here, and just so you know when you get to your new command you can take up to 7 days of house hunting leave which doesn't count against your leave balance.

carlily0513 · Jan 31, 2013

Thanks for all of the great info!