Air Guard enlisted to Active duty Nurse Corps

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Specializes in CMSRN.

Hi Everyone,

I'm hoping you can help me.

I am currently in school full time working on pre-reqs to apply for BS Nursing. I have a lot of pre-reqs left to do as I do not have an associates degree.

I was considering attempting to join the Air Guard (enlisted) Aerospace Medical Services Specialist (4N0x1) really to get some medical experience. Based on the credits I already have and the tech school, I understand that I would have an Associates Degree Allied Health Science.

While serving my time with Air Guard it would be my intention to get on the BSN program with the new associates degree

Being Air Guard, what route would I take to apply for Air Force Nurse Corps? I understand that Nurse Enlisted Commission Program would not be apply to me as I would not be Active Duty. Would I apply to Nurse Transition Program upon completion of the BSN and after taking the NCLEX-RN?

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide me.

Angela

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I found myself in almost the exact same situation while completing my prerequisites, but unfortunately a mistake by MEPS delayed everything so long that by the time I got it all cleared up I had been accepted to nursing school. So I chose to finish up college while I had the chance. I had people telling me the entire time I was trying to enlist in the AF Reserve that they thought I should just wait until I had my degree because it is very difficult to go from enlisted to officer. I don't know how true that is since I don't have first hand experience with it, but it is definitely something you should consider. Is being a nurse in the Air Force what you really want to do? If so, I would wait until you have your degree. If you just really want to be in the Air Force like I did, go ahead and enlist. Since you have a lot of pre-reqs left you could also try for AFROTC if your school has it. I really wish I had done that. In my opinion it is the best route to becoming an officer/nurse in the military.

I'm not sure about how everything works as far as applying to be a nurse if you were already enlisted in the reserve or guard, so I'll leave that to someone who has better knowledge on the subject.

Hopefully some of that helps, let me know if you have any questions....

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Specializes in CMSRN.

Thank you for your response.

I too have been hearing that it would be more difficult to switch over once enlisted so I think I will just go ahead and focus on the degree and wait to start the application as an officer.

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Specializes in CMSRN.

Thank you for your response.

I too have been hearing that it would be more difficult to switch over once enlisted so I think I will just go ahead and focus on the degree and wait to start the application as an officer.

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Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.

Not sure about the AF Reserves but for me it was not diffucult at all to switch in the Army Reserve to active. With the draw down things are changing so it could be diffucult now in the Army Reserves just because of numbers; AF could be the same.

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Angela,

The reason why I left USAF Reserves was the inflexibility to get transferred into health care once I was slotted as a mechanic. This is even before I was tasked to go for training! Needless to say, I never went, interviewed with a Army Reserve unit, got the permission to transfer away from USAF and never looked back.

I actually ended up joining the Army National Guard (similar to Air National Guard) and ended up SMP/ROTC. It was a culture shock (the infantry portion, not the SMP/ROTC portion) but I survived and eventually realized it was the best decision given the circumstances. In my opinion, Army has more slots & opportunities for nurses, compared to USAF.

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Specializes in CMSRN.

Rustynail,

My husband is Army National Guard (WLC Instructor currently). I cannot go for army due to my age. I'm 36 right now and by the time I finish my BSN and get the 2 years required exp for army I will be over the age limit of 42. The air force have a program for newly qualified nurses, I think the Navy also have a program.

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Angela,

If you are between 6 months - 24 months of finishing your BSN, you are qualified for ANCP (Army Nurse Commissioning Program). Navy has a similar program, not sure about the Air Force. Neither requires RN experience.

Alternatively, if you can commission before you turn 40, you might want to try the Army ROTC route. It is a lot more challenging but also a guaranteed active duty slot, as long as you meet all the requirements. Commissioning at the age of 39 would require a Brigade-level waiver, however. There are 8 brigades throughout the country. Find out if your school participates in ROTC for nurses and if yes, what brigade they belong to.

I went through the ROTC program and loved it. Sometimes I felt like a grandpa but whenever I saw a need, I was there to help. I commissioned at the age of 39, yet later found out I was not the only cadet commissioning so late! There was at least one other cadet but I don't know her branch or brigade. It's not impossible if you put your mind to it.

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