Army and Air Force 2014

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I've started reading more about opportunities in Army and Air Force nursing. I've been in the Army National Guard for 6 years and I'm looking to go active. I currently work as a NICU nurse. I've read some posts that talk about dwindling opportunities for nurses in the military. I was wondering about how difficult it would be to get into various fields. I"d be happy with OB, OR, or NICU.

My real questions are: Are the two nurse corps still overstaffed?

How difficult would it be to get a a particular specialty?

Also, where are the initial duty stations for the Air Force?

Thanks in advance for any help!

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

You cannot direct commission into specialties that you haven't previously worked in as a general rule in the active duty Air Force. If you've been doing NICU, then that's what you'll have to apply for. They may allow peds, but they certainly won't let you do OR.

As far as NICU is concerned, the number of bases that even have your specialty is very small (AF wise). It's very competitive no matter what the specialty is right now, but you'd have to ask a healthcare recruiter to get exact numbers.

I think both branches are a bit over-strength, but the Army is definitely worse-off. In the Air Force nurse corps, we've really only been cutting people via volunteer separation packages. No one has been forced-out.

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Chances of going from guard/reserve to AD are about 0.

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