Crazy for wanting to go enlisted route?!?!?!

Editorial Team / Moderator · Oct 31, 2011

What are you thinking you'll enlist as? I'm not sure how the transition from enlisted to officer would occur in this scenario, so I can't offer any advice on how realistic that may or may not be.

yuma_nurse · Oct 31, 2011

I did look into some of the jobs you can do in the reserves that are still in the medial field and I there are quite a few. I really liked the surgical tech one. Sounds a lot like a scrub tech. I circulate c-sections at my current job so i have an idea of what the scrub techs do. I was wondering if that kind of advancement would be possible. Does anyone know????

Editorial Team / Moderator · Oct 31, 2011

It'll be a numbers game -- you'd have to see if there is a need for a particular job when you enlist. Have you talked to an AMEDD recruiter? Because things change often, they are going to be the best resource for you for current information. Good luck.

caliotter3 · Oct 31, 2011

There is no guarantee, they could tell you there is no longer a need when the time comes. If you do this, do it with the idea that the enlisted service will be an end in itself. Personally I see it as a good way to get good experience. Much better than mucking around as a civilian without a job. Good luck.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Oct 31, 2011

Caliotter, the OP is neither a new grad nor unemployed...

caliotter3 · Nov 1, 2011

Did not say that she was. But then where was all of this in the OP? My post stands on what I said in it. If the OP does not like what I posted, then she will most likely make a comment accordingly, thank you. Her current employment status does not change the fact that military enlisted work experience is good experience. At least in my book. And with several post military employers that I have encountered in the past several years.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Nov 1, 2011

Just supplying additional info gleaned from previous posts. Thanks.

UCAFblue · Nov 2, 2011

Hi yuma_nurse,

First of all, no I don't think you are crazy for wanting to go enlisted. I wanted to do the same (with the Air Force Reserve though) because I wanted the experience of being enlisted before being an officer (and I really wanted to go to basic training - which some people find strange). I'm currently in a BSN program and unfortunately for me the timing is all wrong. I would never be able to get basic training/tech school out of the way without considerably delaying my graduation. I enjoy the content of my classes, clinicals, etc., but school is not something that I want to draw out any longer than I have to - I'm ready to be done with it and get out there in the real world. Also, my school isn't real supportive of it and if I left I would come back and only be able to register for classes on a space available basis, so who knows how long it would take me to finish my degree.

For me, just because of the time constraints, the best option is to wait for the military and finish school now - even though it is killing me to have to wait to be in the military. In about 5 months (1 year from graduation) I can start my application as a new grad nurse for the Air Force, and if I don't get accepted then I will either enlist after graduation (and then hope I can get a commission as an active duty nurse someday) or get a year of nursing experience and apply as a fully qualified nurse.

So I guess you have to ask yourself what is most important to you - finishing school faster or being in the military. Is your RN to MSN program hard to get into and/or will they let you back in if you leave for all your initial training? Also consider that you might be in your enlisted job for quite some time - are you okay with that or do you really want to be a nurse in the Army? If you really just want to be a nurse than I would wait. But if you just really want to be in the military, your school will let you come back, and you don't care if it takes you longer to finish school then I say go for it - in my opinion the military gives you great experience, doesn't matter if you are enlisted or officer. Also, I know the Air Force has a scholarship program for MSN students, not sure if the Army has one too, but if they do then you could apply for that and if you got accepted you wouldn't have to worry about delaying school and you would also know that after graduating you would have a spot as a nurse in the Army.

Hopefully some of this helps! Good luck!

kalevra, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2011

Dear god do not go in enlisted!!!!

I spent 4 years as a 91W (combat medic) with the 4th Infantry Division 1st Brigade Combat Team 1-66 AR. In my 4 years I learned how badly we enlisted got treated, I was there as an E-1 to E-4. If you are already an RN just finish your BSN or MSN so you can be commissioned. This way you can have some say on what goes on as an officer as compared to enlisted and you can work as an RN and get valuable experience for when you want to completely transition to civilian life.

Enlisted life sucked, we were held over past release to hop around and do what ever busy work the higher ups could come up with. We were left in the filed as OPFOR for 2 weeks as the rest of the company returned. We got voluntold to finish the work of other batallions during railhead. It doesn't sound so bad when I say it but trust me when your company keep getting shafted day in and day out it really sucks. The shaft came in daily, life sucked to a degree I cannot even begin to explain the gravity of. Do not fall for the commercials and enlisted recruiters. Recruiters will say all sorts of crap to get you to enlist, I know cause I fell for them. Save yourself and go officer, with bars on your words have far more sway.

I am in school as an RN student. I started on the RN path as soon as they handed me my DD FORM 214. I am not the only one in my class to have come to this realization after the military. There are like 5 of us that realized that the crap handed to you as an enlisted man was not worth the paycheck.

Forget the enlisted experience. My friends I served with all agree that the officer route is the best way to go. You want military experience go in as LIEUTENANT YUMA NURSE.

In the end it is your decision what you do. I just wanted to drop in my own opinion.

ArmyRN789 · Nov 4, 2011

+1

I was also enlisted. Officer is better :).

Care&Joy · Nov 5, 2011

I was an ADN nurse for many years & waited to finish my BSN before I joined the Army. From what many prior & current enlisted have told me, it is worth the wait for you to just finish your degree & THEN come into the military really doing what you want to do as a nurse, along with further educational opportunities sealed in your contract if there is a program you want to pursue, because there is ABSOLUTELY no guarantee you will do anything you have aimed for as an enlisted --because those jobs fluctuate in the wind by their availability & need at that time. Not to mention I have been told by others who have taken that route that they wished they never had because when they were finished with their degree, they were last on the wait list to be transitioned over & were miserably "stuck" on hold. With the exception of one friend who was a "secret" nurse already when he got a wild hair to enlist, did nothing medical related while enlisted, & then when he felt like going back to nursing he just walked into an AMEDD recruiters office & said he wanted to be comissioned in & the process went strangely fast, ha. Believe me, that was a very rare case & he's still wondering how he did it I think, lol.

You don't have to rush into a decision. :) Ask for & talk to a medical recruiter & tell them where you are at in your education (because you are already & have been a nurse, you will already be more desirable, whether having had completed your BSN or not) & they will most definitely give you some ideas on working towards what you want. Good luck!