Army Reserve Nursing

athena55, BSN, RN · Apr 6, 2011

other questions i have that i could ask a recruiter but wanted to hear from an insider's non-recruiter, unbiased standpoint:

1)what exactly is involved in drill weekends? is it pt and classroom study like other reserve units? what is involved in the 2 week drills?

it depends if you are assigned to a tpu (troop program unit) and what their metl is (mission essential task list). if you are assigned to a msu (medical support unit) you will be mixed in with other 66h's, medics, 31b's etc. you may do some teaching to the other sms in your tpu, you may go on a medrete (i was lucky enough to go to places like el salvador!). two week drills: well my tpu went to fort mccoy one summer, another time we went to fort dix. another year the unit went to germany. depends again on what the higher ups have planned for your tpu and again what your metl is. most reserve units are "fillers" meaning we back fill when other units need bodies. right now we have activated reservists working in the medcen for a year and then they go back to their home post. or your entire tpu could get mobilized and work out of another army post for one year.

2)is it possible to complete more than the required drills and still get paid (would be helpful to know while i'm job searching lol)?

yes. once you attend obc and pass you could volunteer or be asked to participate in other stuff like going to different army posts to assist in soldier readiness (getting their medical files up to date in order for the sm to deploy or mob). that is extra money plus it gets you "out there" and extra experience. win-win

3)also, i have only been a nurse for a year and my experience all comes from ltc. i would like to be able to get training/certifications that would make me more marketable in the civilian world. would my unit be able to give me career resources and support as well as being able to help me meet my education goals?

yes. again, once you graduate from obc and keep passing your apft you can apply for short courses like the cbrne course out in maryland, stuff like that. or volunteer to be your unit's upl (unit prevention leader) or safety officer. one great thing about the army, active duty or the reserve side of the house, there are opportunities out there. you have to be proactive. good luck and keep us posted!

sorry i have a lot of questions and the internet sources i've found thus far are pretty vague. i hope someone can help!

angelkerri · Apr 6, 2011

Thanks! So reading between the lines, I want to get finished with OBC as soon as possible? Nothing extra I can really do until then? I just talked to my recruiter today and my name was selected on Feb 28 and they're just waiting on my scroll which, at this point, should be arriving anytime now.....

GretchRB · Apr 7, 2011

Hey everyone! I've enjoyed getting info from this thread. I am currently a Post Partum/L&D RN. I spent 5 yrs AD as a medic before getting out and going to school (BSN). I miss the Army...I know its crazy. :) So question: I've been out since Dec 07...do I have to do the entire OBC or can I only do the "new" stuff? I also heard that I might have to repeat basic, but I think thats for AD. Also...do you think it will be a problem that I'm not in the ER/ICU/CCU? Are there any prior service people reading this that want to help me out? Thanks!

angelkerri · Apr 7, 2011

Hey everyone! I've enjoyed getting info from this thread. I am currently a Post Partum/L&D RN. I spent 5 yrs AD as a medic before getting out and going to school (BSN). I miss the Army...I know its crazy. :) So question: I've been out since Dec 07...do I have to do the entire OBC or can I only do the "new" stuff? I also heard that I might have to repeat basic, but I think thats for AD. Also...do you think it will be a problem that I'm not in the ER/ICU/CCU? Are there any prior service people reading this that want to help me out? Thanks!

I'm still green to this myself but aren't medics enlisted? If you go in as a nurse I know they will want you to do OBC if you haven't already...for Reservists it's only 2 weeks at Ft Sam Houston in TX.

As for experience/type of experience. I am a newer nurse. When I applied for the board I had barely a year of experience and it was in LTC. I had a lot of other good stuff going for my app package, too, so I wasn't made select for AD but I was able to get on the OML (waiting list) at a position high enough to be a select for Reserves. From my understanding any nursing experience is an asset and I have heard that prior military experience practically makes you a shoe-in. It may very well be that they don't have any labor and delivery spots open right now (I couldn't tell you truthfull if they do or not) but Army has its share of pregnant people popping out babies, so it's not as if they don't have some level of need for L&D if that's the route you want to go. During my board, I was asked if I wanted to change from Med Surg to OR...that if I made that switch I would be made select for AD...well OR is not my scene at all so I had to bow out of that one. Taking that into consideration, I would say they really need OR nurses right now, but, it just depends on what you're interested in I guess.

I'm new of course and waiting on my scroll to show up any day still...so others might have more to add who are actually serving right now...but those are the impressions I've gotten after what has now been a year-long process.

stephgor · Apr 7, 2011

BOLC is 26 days for Reservists, not two weeks. The best bet is to contact an army healthcare recruiter, not the recruiters in the mall. Active duty BOLC is 7 weeks plus AOC specific training. http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/obc/ Check out this link for all info.

angelkerri · Apr 7, 2011

BOLC is 26 days for Reservists, not two weeks. The best bet is to contact an army healthcare recruiter, not the recruiters in the mall. Active duty BOLC is 7 weeks plus AOC specific training. http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/obc/ Check out this link for all info.

I got the 2 week number directly from my AMEDD recruiter. It's also on this site:

http://www.goarmy.com/reserve/jobs/browse/medical-and-emergency/nurse-corps-officer.html

stephgor · Apr 7, 2011

i am going 21 september to 17 october. that web site is old and needs updated. go to www.atrrs.com and plug in 6-8-c20b and it will show you all of the dates for this course.

jerrylundergard · Apr 8, 2011

Ya I go to OBC this June and its 26 days.

I wanted to go earlier but there was always a problem with coc losing papers or not inputing something and the class filling up. Got to be way proactive with it. Its best to get it out of the way if you want to start doing all the cool stuff the army has to offer...

Cursed Irishman · Apr 8, 2011

What day do you report Jerry?

angelkerri · Apr 8, 2011

Thanks for the info! I take back what I said :) Does anyone know what the compensation is for OBC? I did also hear that you have to be really proactive to get a spot. Random question also: being reservists do we have to buy our own uniforms or is there some allowance?

jerrylundergard · Apr 8, 2011

Report is June 30. Class is from 7-1 to 7-26. Theres 3 of us coming from my unit.

@ angel

They say you get your uniform allowance paperwork at OBC so well see. It was 400$ or 600$, cant remember what they said but it was something like that. Im not for sure but I think the idea of having us only 26 or 28 days or whatever is so we dont get the housing allowance, I could be wrong though. So it would just be the going daily rate for your rank/tig. Thats my guess but ill ask around. Maybe someone here can say thats btdt.

GretchRB · Apr 9, 2011

thanks everyone! And yeah, I would never go to the mall recruiters for this...def AMEDD...not that green. :) Good luck all!