Army ROTC and nursing.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Mar 29, 2017

Hate to break it to you, but most of that increased military spending (which is only a proposed budget by the way) is geared towards the line...planes and tanks and maintainers; that 10% isn't being evenly given to medical people. I just heard the AF's Surgeon general speak, and most of the money the AF medical service would get in such an increase would go to support staff (clerical staff and equipment people for example). Obviously, we could have a major crisis at any time, but the current info doesn't support your assumption.

The Air Force gives active duty to all it's nursing ROTC cadets who do at least 2 years or ROTC whether they are scholarship or non-scholarship; the AF takes a small number of new grads who didn't even do ROTC. No idea about the Navy; I'd guess they all get active since they also take a small number of new grads who didn't do ROTC. The Army ROTC, I've heard, does give some people reserves; active duty is competitive.

smsickler · Mar 30, 2017

Thanks for the reply! What exactly is the budget you are talking about? I plan on doing the ROTC program but I just want to make sure I'll get a nursing job considering that is what I am going for.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Mar 30, 2017

Thanks for the reply! What exactly is the budget you are talking about? I plan on doing the ROTC program but I just want to make sure I'll get a nursing job considering that is what I am going for.

There is no guarantee that you will get a nursing job with Army ROTC. As jfratian mentioned, the Army is very competitive when it comes to active duty, and active duty is not guaranteed by doing ROTC. You might end up with a commission in the Reserves, in which case it's likely that you would be in a nursing slot/position with a Reserve unit, but it would be up to you to find a full-time nursing job. The Army isn't going to train you to be a nurse in the Reserves.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Mar 30, 2017

The president just sent a federal budget proposal to congress a couple weeks ago. It had increased VA and Defense spending.

Yes, you'll be utilized as a nurse. You won't be infantry or something like that. You may just get a part-time (i.e. reserves) commission as a nurse if your grades aren't strong.

smsickler · Mar 30, 2017

Oh okay, I think I have a pretty strong GPA (3.3) with athletics/clubs. What is the difference between reserve and active duty like deployments and job wise? Is it like one nurse per reserve unit? I wouldn't want to be a combat medic or something.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Mar 31, 2017

Your experience would vary greatly based on your role. There are many different nursing jobs/roles. You could do something resembling damage control/point of injury (often in a dangerous location) care in some of them. Active duty nurses typically start in a med-surg, kind of mundane, sort of role and branch out based on preference. There are far too many to explain them all. Also, I'm not very familiar with the Army since I'm AF. I can't tell you much about reserves either.

Active duty deployments typically go in a cycle of some kind. This varies by branch too. The Air Force does 6 months on and 18 months off for most nurses (24 month cycle); when you're 'on' you're potentially deployable.

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Apr 1, 2017

A 3.3 GPA is decent but not very strong when it comes to the military. One of the determining factors for an active duty Army slot from the ROTC is how you do in your summer camp. From what I have heard that is one of the major factors in their decision on who to bring onto active or how goes to the reserves.