Air Force Reserve Questions

[starmickey03, MSN, RN]

Hey everyone, I have a few questions about the reserves. I’ve been doing quite a bit of Googling but would like opinions from others before I reach out to a recruiter. I’ve been looking to join USPHS for a couple years but they haven’t accepted nurses for a while so now I’ve switched my focus to the Air Force reserves since there’s a base 8 miles from my house. Forgive me if some of the questions seem silly.

1. Would you recommend the reserves for someone who is married with children?

2. For those of you in the reserves, how often does deployment happen and for usually how long?

3. Is there any actual nursing involved during the drill weekends? And what about the two week activation?

4. Were you able to pick your specialty or is it picked for you based on your resume?

5. Lastly, have you found that the reserves offered a lot of opportunities that you otherwise wouldn’t have had?

Anything specifically I should ask the healthcare recruiter?

[Jer Lightrings, BSN]

Hello, I just spoke to a recruiter 2 weeks ago and just submitted my application, credit report, transcripts, letter of intent, resume, medical report. That was a job within itself. I will do my best to tell you what the recruiter told me.

Yes it's okay to join if you have family, or being a single parent as long as you have a "family plan".

As a far a deployment from what I was told..

Going in as commissioned officer deployments can be 4-6 months...but depending which a.f.b you are stationed at.

From what I was told you do have monthly drills.

Speciality as far as what I was told...they are looking for more icu/er/dou experience so they could be flight nurses. But if you want to be crossed trained the option is there. But what my recruiter told me they use ground nurses more for case management follow up calls.

I would have your list of questions to ask before you call a recruiter. Ask how long the process is to get in. What is the requirements for m.e.p.s and any physical limitations or surgery you have had, ask if there are any waivers. The process to get in is pretty lengthy..unless you are at a a.f.b. where they move quickly and get you in. Good luck and let me know how it goes. Hope this helps.

I'm located in southern California so my a.f.b would be March a.f.b. I don't know how long they take to process.

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Your deployment job should pretty much reflect your reserve unit's mission; ask the unit. There are ground deployment jobs for patient movement/coordination and outpatient clinics. There are deployment roles for med-surg, ICU, ER, and OR nurses. There are oddball deployment jobs too...I know a pharmacist who is doing 'military protocol' at a large base in the middle east for when important people come through.

I think flight jobs deploy more frequently in the reserves. An ground-ICU reserves nurse I know is expected to deploy 6 months every 3 years in his unit.

[phs_rn, MSN, RN]

If you are still interested in the USPHS Corps, we have opened up recruiting and greatly improved our application process. We now have a web-based portal to begin the process.

[starmickey03, MSN, RN]

On 12/7/2019 at 8:15 AM, phs_rn said:

If you are still interested in the USPHS Corps, we have opened up recruiting and greatly improved our application process. We now have a web-based portal to begin the process.

Awesome!! Thanks so much. I’m going to take a look now.

[phs_rn, MSN, RN]

Good luck! Be patient, it’s still a drawn out process.

[starmickey03, MSN, RN]

1 hour ago, phs_rn said:

Good luck! Be patient, it’s still a drawn out process.

I applied but then read the medical requirements. Seems that I don’t qualify because I have a history of gestational diabetes. Completely sucks since my A1c is only 5%. Blah! But I do have an upcoming interview with the San Diego MCC and applications in with IHS and VA. I’ll get in with the fed govt one way or another.

[phs_rn, MSN, RN]

If you get into IHS I would highly recommend continuing to apply to the Corps. The application process is twofold anyway: you have to apply for a commission, and you have to separately apply for a position to commission into. If you have a civil service position in IHS you can then apply to the Corps and then put in the paperwork to convert in place.

For the gestational diabetes you could then try to apply for a waiver. If you are already in IHS the worst outcome would be for them to deny the waiver, and you just keep on being civil service with nothing lost.

[starmickey03, MSN, RN]

Thank you for the advice, I’ll definitely do that! I’m hoping for an interview soon but I know things don’t move fast with govt jobs.