Army Reserves Nurse vs Active Duty

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2010

hello,
i was commissioned september 2006 in the army reserves through the strap program. i was a rn with an adn and starting the process of completing my bsn summer 2006. while in strap i was paid a monthly stipend for almost two years during the completion of my bsn (completed bsn in dec 2009). for every 6 months of monies paid for strap, that's a year obligation. so basically i am obligated for four years. my question(s) are:
1) do i have to complete this obligation for strap first in the reserves before going active? if you started it under the old strap program you might have to. if it was under the new strap you do not and your pay back time is 1:1 i believe. look up the ar reg on this for more details
2) how long is the process of transfering from reserves to active?
can take up to 1 year. you will need to go thru the board process again. from other post it appears that there is no more slots for this fy. since you are already in the reserves the process is not hard it is just a paperwork drill if you have not had any problems in the reserves.
3) i am a 66h and have worked in my civilian capacity in dialysis, labor&delivery, public health and even med/surg. would i be able to do a critical care course or or training program if i go active duty or will they just keep me as a 66h? when i switch from reserves to ad i had my course (perioperative nursing 66e) written into my contract. i started the class appox 3 weeks after i reported to my duty station
4) do i still get to choose where i would like to go or will they just place me wherever they deem fit? you can ask to where you want to go. if there is a slot they will put you in it. from other post it appears that most people are getting on of their top 3 choices.
i want to learn and gain so much more in the military as a nurse but i am not reaping the physical benefits. i am attached to the apmc who actually manage me because i don't have a unit close to me. the unit i am assigned to is over 4 hours away and i never go there for battle assemblies. because of the apmc i have a lot of flexibility to perform my "drills", so i usually go the recruiting station during the week and do administrative work (boring!!). i really need to learn the walk and talk of a soldier because when that time comes to deploy, i don't feel i am "fit" for the part in my role as a 1lt. i have thought about volunteering for a year through the apmc to maybe fort bragg or walter reed to get a "feel" for active duty nursing in the military before actually making that transition.
every year during my birth month i have to go to the apmc for personnel stuff for a week and this summer will be my first year doing at with my unit of assignment from west virginia. i just need some advise or words of encouragement before i talk to the healthcare recruiter. athena55 i know you are out there...please help:)

if you plan on going on active duty next year contact a healthcare recruiter asap to get the paperwork started. if you have the course written into your contract, mine had the class that i was going too, try to arrive at your new duty station about 1-2 months before the class starts unless your duty station host the class. this will allow you to correct any pay or personnal issues. do not let them talk you into reporting directly to the course since they are not set up to bring you on active duty. there are seats in the courses for reservest which usally go unfilled by reservest. they end up being filled by ad nurses. this might be one avenue to look into.

QTNurseBSN · Feb 25, 2010

Jeckrn,

I am not sure if I am under the old STRAP or new STRAP. But I do recall in my contract that if for some reason I attempted to not fulfill my obligation in the Reserves that the ARMY could place me in an active status. Maybe not in those exact words, but something to that effect. So it appears to me that the means of fulfilling the obligation (reserves or active) should not be an issue.

Wow, one year to make the transition. It didn't take that long from my MEPS physical in March to commissioning in September..just 6 months. And I am sure it is a "paper" game to say the least. I am in Virginia and the APMC is in Georgia, so it would be alot of phone calls and emails. But when I was taking the Reserves route, my Recruiter was so on top of things that he was making calls and visits to different places getting the requires forms and signatures and then we met and I just signed everything. Maybe I could be so lucky with the Active Duty Healthcare Recruiter.

One question for you: How would I go about checking into the Perioperative Nursing Course as a Reservist? Would I go the Active Route during my initial training and actually have to train at a duty station then once the training is done, return to my Home of Record?? Definitely sounds like something worth checking into.

Thanks so much for your help. Any other advise would be very helpful!

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Feb 25, 2010

You can use the same recruiter since they recruit both reserve & AD. So if he is on top of it again it should go smoothly and only take 6 months or less. As far as looking for the school I am not sure of the route for you to take since I am not up on how AMPC works. My first step would to be to go to the ANC web site and find the school dates then call AMPC and speak with someone in S-1. If they can not help call HRC. Also when you find the perioperative website email one of the directors they should be able to send you in the right direction.

QTNurseBSN · Feb 25, 2010

Thanks Jeckrn!!

gulfwar vet · Oct 11, 2010

Im sorry Im here to ask you a question. I am an 8 year U.S Navy enlisted veteran and very much interested in joining the Army Reserve hopefully as commission. I heard that the U.S Army Reserve may accept foreign BSN grad with NCLEX RN?

Please inform..

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Oct 11, 2010

They will but it depends if the school has the proper accreditation.

just_cause, BSN, RN · Oct 11, 2010

is education foreign or is the applicant...

here is what the school requirement is.. not sure about the citizenship of the applicant..

a. Applicants for any AMEDD corps must be graduates of educational programs accredited by an accrediting agency or association under the U.S. Secretary of Education and approved by TSG.

b. The Army will consider online degrees for both RA and AR officer accessions as long as they are accredited programs. NOTE: An applicant who is enrolled in an online degree program is ineligible to apply if enrolled in a health care degree program that is author- ized under the HPSP.

c. All online degrees must be reviewed by the appropriate PM and Health Services Director- ate, Operations Division, for approval prior to submission of the applicant’s application. All online degree transcripts must be sent to Health Services Directorate, Operations Division, for review as soon as possible prior to initiation of the application for a thorough review and deter- mination of eligibility or noneligibility.

d. Online degrees will not be accepted for qualifying degrees.

e. The following agencies are recognized by

the U.S. Secretary of Education, for AN appli- cants:

(1) CCNE (Welcome to AACN). (2) NLNAC (NLNAC - National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission). (3) The Commissioner of Education can iden-

tify state agencies that have been recognized as reliable authorities for determining the quality of nursing education in their respective states. These states are known as “magic states” and include the following:

svacula · Nov 11, 2010

i know this thread is several months old, but i am talking with a recruiter right now about joining the reserves. i haven't worked in the clinical setting in 5 years and am going to take a nursing re-entry program. my interest is or and i talked with him about the perioperative course. i used to be an active duty 66h but want to change to 66e. you mentioned in your thread below that there were seats in the perioperative course for reservists that went unfilled:

if you plan on going on active duty next year contact a healthcare recruiter asap to get the paperwork started. if you have the course written into your contract, mine had the class that i was going too, try to arrive at your new duty station about 1-2 months before the class starts unless your duty station host the class. this will allow you to correct any pay or personnal issues. do not let them talk you into reporting directly to the course since they are not set up to bring you on active duty. there are seats in the courses for reservest which usally go unfilled by reservest. they end up being filled by ad nurses. this might be one avenue to look into.

can you tell me more about that? also, the recruiter has encouraged me to apply for the reserves before i've completed the re-entry program. i'm not sure how competitive i would be considering it's been several years since i've practiced. i'd appreciate any advice.

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Nov 11, 2010

Since you are a experienced nurse have the 66E course put in your contract and try to have a date set before you accept your commision. Not sure if they can reserve your date before you commision in the reserve but when I switched over from reserves to active the class dates was in my active duty orders.

svacula · Nov 11, 2010

Good advice - thanks! I wasn't aware that I could have input into my contract. I will certainly do that. On a side note, I've read several of your threads and you do a good job guiding people. Thanks for being willing to do that.

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Nov 11, 2010

Your welcome. Since mine was added to my active duty contract I am not 100% sure if it can be added to the reserve contract. But it never hurts to try.