Army Reserve Nurse Corp Contemplation !

[BunkyRN]

Hi out there from doo-dah...

Have not used this site in a looong time but have found it helpful.

I am almost done with my packet to comission as a 2nd Lt in the Army Reserves. I'm totally excited for the opportunity and wanting to talk with anyone in the same boat. I'm wondering about these things, from this audience.

1. How soon could you deploy after your comission and about how long are deployments ?

2. Where could you be sent ?

I have talked with a couple of experienced Army nurses.... my man thinks that I'm going to get sent to the desert and be living in a mud tent treating horror after horror every day for at least a year.... (because I am an ER nurse with trauma experience and all those certifications..... ) (and because he was a Marine on the front lines in Iraq a few years ago....)

I hear that the Reserves are the first to deploy and get re-deployed time and time again.....

Could it be a BAD time to join the Military as a nurse or heck... in general ??????

While I am excited for the experiences, service, etc.... I of course am worried about my family (being a mom foremost.) !

Thanks to anyone who can help shed some more light for me...... just don't want any huge dissapointments.

[athena55, BSN, RN]

Hello Bunky:

I am presently in the Reserves but have my packet before the Board to go Active Duty.

If you have doubts about leaving your child(ren) or not too sure how you feel about deployments, then I would have to tell you that you should not start the process to being an Army Nurse (RC or AC)

As soon as you take the Oath of a Commissioned Officer in the Army Nurse Corps - Reserves or Active Duty, you become a Soldier First, Nurse Second. You become property of the US Government, you go where you are needed as per the Needs of the Army. (as an aside, I spent one month up at Fort Dix then, transfered to Fort Wadsworth, then nine months later, again uprooted to Fort Hamilton. Again, the Needs of the Army come First!)

I know of many Reservists that have volunteered for the current campaign(s) but they have not gotten any orders cut. And I know of Reservists that did NOT "volunteer" to be deployed and they are being deployed for their second time within 5 years. PLUS it depends on the TPU you are assigned to. Again, the Needs of the Army

You won't be deployed until you finish OBLC (Officers Basic Leadership Course) which is 28 days long at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas.

Now BG Pollack has stated that Army Nurses will be deployed for six months (instead of the usual 15-18 months) but not sure when that will take effect, and of course, things change.

You say you are a 66H5M. 66 Hotel 5 Mike is a RN with the ASI (additional skill identifier) of ER, so you are in great demand for work OCONUS (Outside Continental U.S)

Take the time to really think things over before you sign on the dotted line

athena