Air Force Officer School

[Sabadudu]

I am interested in the Air Force however I have a lot of questions.

I have 7.5 years experience as a RN. 3.5 since my BSN, 2 since my MSN.

I wonder how difficult the Officer training school is? I'm in good shape, 36 years old, but am not a 'crossfit' person. I'm just wondering how intense it is. I watched the video on line and it showed people climbing walls, etc.

My most recent experience is in PACU and preop.

Does anyone know about sign on bonuses and how easy it is to select an international base in Europe as a first assignment.

Any information on deployment?

I plan on talking to a recruiter tomorrow as well.

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

With the MSN and experience, you'll have enough to enter as an O-3 (Captain). I'm curious what your MSN is in. If you're applying as an NP or CRNA, you won't be nearly as strong an applicant as if you were applying as a clinical nurse (many applicants have DNPs these days). You seem to be a strong applicant overall, barring any medical conditions.

Deployments are really rare these days. Most AF nurses have possible deployment windows of 6 months every 18 months. Manning assist missions are a possibility. They are often shorter than deployments (a few months), but send you to a understaffed base rather than a war zone.

Overseas assignments aren't extremely common for your first base. However, if you want Alaska (JBER) you'll likely get that (as a staff nurse). Germany (Landsthul) is an outside possibility. The smaller overseas clinics really aren't meant for new officers (I do know one person did get Kadena Japan for a first assignment but it's not common).