Air Force SOST — Special Ops Surgical Team

[Rizzo02481, BSN, RN]

So I’ve been been applying to military branches for the past 2 years — I wanted the navy initially but they didn’t need me. Now I am going back to the Air Force flight reserves but I just recently discovered SOST — their special ops surgical team. I contacted them and they apparently take ER nurses. 

I had never heard of them and my boyfriend, who had 20+ years in the navy, had never either. 

There isn’t a ton of Info on them and I’m wondering if anyone here knows anything about it. Training? Work life? 

Super interested in them and would love any more info! 

[chare]

Air Force Special Tactics (24 SOW)

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

SOST is equivalent to the Army's GHOST teams.  They are small teams of around 6 people (3 MDs, a CRNA, a nurse and either an RT or OR tech) that perform basic damage control surgery in resource limited environments.  You are the nearby medical support for special operations (I.e. seals, green berets, etc) missions.  

You cannot go right in as SOST or GHOST, etc.  For SOST, you need to wait until you have 2 years at your first base, go to a try out that involves physical, mental and/or clinical testing, and (if selected) go through a roughly 9 month training pipeline before you can work as a SOST nurse.

The website won't tell you the whole story.  SOST is very demanding on one's life.  From what I hear, you are generally away from home 1 day for every 1 day at home.  It's very high ops tempo.

 

 

[Rizzo02481, BSN, RN]

On 9/3/2021 at 5:05 PM, jfratian said:

SOST is equivalent to the Army's GHOST teams.  They are small teams of around 6 people (3 MDs, a CRNA, a nurse and either an RT or OR tech) that perform basic damage control surgery in resource limited environments.  You are the nearby medical support for special operations (I.e. seals, green berets, etc) missions.  

You cannot go right in as SOST or GHOST, etc.  For SOST, you need to wait until you have 2 years at your first base, go to a try out that involves physical, mental and/or clinical testing, and (if selected) go through a roughly 9 month training pipeline before you can work as a SOST nurse.

The website won't tell you the whole story.  SOST is very demanding on one's life.  From what I hear, you are generally away from home 1 day for every 1 day at home.  It's very high ops tempo.

Thank you. Yes the website isn’t very helpful and I’ve combed through it. Was looking more for info on day to day life. Appreciate the info on how demanding it is. 

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

It's purposefully vague so they can be flexible.  Also, you'll find that people in the military like hoarding information to make themselves feel important...whether or not something is actually classified. 

If you have a flexible personal life, it's not a bad gig.  A lot of people like it because you get to work at a civilian hospital when you aren't deployed.  You'll find stateside military hospitals are super boring so that's actually a big plus.  A lot of people get disheartened since it can be a very long road to get there (minimum 3-4 years after you join the military).

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Sorry correction: Base Air Force SOST team composition is 6 people: 2 MDs (typically 1 ER physician and 1 general/trauma surgeon), a CRNA, a ER/ICU RN, a respiratory therapist, and a OR scrub tech.  Keep in mind that sometimes these get shifted around; theoretically a CRNA can fill the RN or RT role for example.  

[Rhody16x, BSN]

The “ones ready” podcast has a good video  on Youtube about SOST. The ED doc goes a bit into their a/s