I have been lurking around this forums for a few weeks right now trying to gather up information about becoming a military nurse. This is something I've wanted to do for awhile now, but I have been unsure on how to go about it, so I just have a few questions that I would like clarified.
1. Nursing corps: For everything I've been reading, it seems like I need to be in my junior year of the program to even consider beginning the application for this? I apply for the nursing program in the fall, and I am a direct admit into the program. Could someone enlighten me on how this works for a new grad?
2. I met with a Army ROTC person at my school today and was told that the Direct commission does not exist anymore due to budget cuts, and I was thinking about graduating, and then applying but was told that it wouldn't really be a good idea.
3. Following my first question, he also told me that the nursing corps is not accepting any applicants for the next few years which basically throws my whole plan out of whack if this is true because I am not sure how I would go about joining the military and becoming a military nurse.
4. Is there anything else like the nursing corps, or another route that I could take that is similar? I tried looking up information about the Air Force, but there was little to none about their program, so if anyone could shed some light that would be great. My only issue is the fact that my schedule is so jammed packed i'm not sure if I could afford to miss a semester for basic and AIT.
If you guys have any other information to add for me that would be awesome!
A little information about me
19
3.8 GPA
Finishing up my freshman year of college
Would love to join the Navy, but have had an impossible time trying to talk to a medical recruiter.
I never heard of that program before. During my sophomore semester I was so nervous that I would not get an EA slot, I tried different ways to get into the service. I tried the Commission Corps, and I also spoke with the Nursing Corps recruiter from Oklahoma, whom advised me that I would have to get my BSN and then work for about 2 years before I would be able to get into the Air Force. He mentioned that the NTP program slots are limited and in order to bypass that step I would have to work and get experience first. I decided to stick with the ROTC program, and so far everything has worked out for me. Captain Carolina, I also sent you a post in another thread asking you about the accession bonus. Please look for it, I'll be looking our for your response. I believe that it is under the Air Force Nursing Corps thread that was actually started by a recruiter. Thanks in advance
Yeah, that USAFA thing was new to me too! If you needed a ROTC age waiver, you're too old for USAFA too (and I'm WAAAAYYY too old for it!). I was like, 'you went WHERE?' while I was thinking, holy crap...
I wasn't trying to be contrary with your above post - I just don't want people thinking Maxwell is dead, so to speak. I actually saw a listing of the USAF's current NTP locations and I think part of the holdup is they've had to reconfigure NTP itself since WHMC is no longer inpatient. (Wilford Hall in San Antonio.) Almost every single location is civilian.
I answered your other post as best I could - and I will do some intranet digging for you for numbers tonight. If nothing else, you can call the Total Force Center at AFPC and start there. Those folks are actually really helpful.
What do you mean by age waiver? I'm 19 so if there is an age limit hopefully I still make that requirement.
How was field training? Is it difficult to pass?
Also one last question, with the army ROTC I know you sign to join the military after college your junior year, is this different for the air force, especially if I'm playing catching for the freshman year class? Also would that affect my chances into getting into field training?
Thank you so much for all this helpful information!
In order to join ROTC you must graduate and commission before you turn 31, but nurses are allowed an age waiver, which states that they must commission before the age of 34. The COT has an age waiver of I believe 43 to commission.
Field Training was at Maxwell, and it was hot. It was not hard for some, but it was pretty rough for me. I am married and never had the dorm experience (living with people that I did not know). So I had a lot of adjusting to do. The overall experience was not hard, it taught me a lot about myself. Would l do it again, probably not, but am definitely thankful for the experience, LOL.
In the Air Force ROTC you sign the contract, when you accept your scholarship (can be in your freshman year), or after you graduate from Field Training. Compressing your freshman and your sophomore year does not really effect your chances for going to field training. The only way it can effect you is the limited of the time that you have been at the detachment for the commander to know you. But once you apply yourself, they will see your hard work and dedication. In my class we had 4 compressors, and they all got EA slots.
The Army ROTC from what I've seen and heard is quite different from the Air Force's ROTC. In the Air Force, we compete to go to field training, but in the Army every goes to their field training. In the Air Force ROTC, if you graduate from field training you can commission as an Active Duty Officer, but in the Army ROTC it depends on how you do at field training that will determine whether you go Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard.
Ah - so it must be the USAF that I was thinking of when I commented somewhere that I thought the Reserve commission thing had gone out with Clinton. I even thought I'd seen it in the accessions reg for us - but of course that stuff changes on a dime these days and someone in my position wouldn't always know.
One of the ROTC RNs I know talked about 'compressing'. I think she had to do the same thing. The other woman came in straight ROTC from day one.
COT is either 42 or 43. I think it's 42, so you're eligible for 20 years of commissioned service before what I believe is the mandatory federal retirement age, and I think (I think!!! LOL) that's 62. They also take off time for any active duty time you have in because that's time you don't need to fulfill for retirement (I don't know if they do that for ROTC any more or not). So if you're 48 with six years' prior service, you're regarded as a 42 year old. (They told me I was 29 for commissioning purposes, which was fine with me because I was 35, 36 by the time I got to Maxwell!).
So I'm guessing the age waiver does not apply to me then? I just got off the phone with the Mizzou Air Force ROTC guy and set up a meeting with him on Thursday. From what he told me, the scholarship is a one shot thing due to the budget, but I'm not too worried about that. I'm guessing there is no monthly stipend or sign on bonus with the air force? Or does that come with the scholarship?
Once you contract (accept the scholarship or graduation field training, which ever comes first) you will receive a monthly stipend that is split into two payments in which you will receive on the 1st and 15th of every month. If you accept the scholarship then you will no longer be eligible for the accession bonus.
Thank you guys for the advice! If I get offered the scholarship I'll surely take it, if not I'll take the monthly stipend. My last question was just something my mom brought up, should I get something signed that says I am guaranteed an active duty spot? Or will this just stay in place till I graduate. (So if budget cuts happen, or the NTP program is done away with, I'm not screwed after I graduate. etc.)
If you're accepted, your contract is honored - and it says that in exchange for you taking the ROTC position, the USAF guarantees you an AD position and you owe them a minimum number of years on active duty. Your contract is the written guarantee. You get a contract regardless of how you're commissioned: I had one that said if I accepted the signing bonus and the loan payback, I owe them a minimum of six years on active duty. That's my written agreement with the USAF. After that, officers have a tacit agreement (once we tell them we intend to stay) that says as long as we follow the rules, we can stay - unless the Commander in Chief does away with our position.
NTP will not be done away with; things simply don't work that way. You've already been paid for: if the USAF knows that in 2015 it has 423 graduates coming with 423 contracts to be honored, they will be. They've already budgeted for those folks now.
Once you're in, you're in. It's not until you graduate - it's until. Since you will be an officer, you will owe the USAF the minimum time as stated on the contract, and then you serve at the whim of the President. Unless you kill someone, fail to make rank, or the USAF asks you to leave (and as an RN you'd really have to screw up for that to happen), you're in until you leave once you finish that minimum time.
The scholarship comes with the stipend.
Your mother might be thinking about the stink that was raised a few years ago when the military initiated cutbacks and released military academy graduates from active duty, then had the gall to send them the tuition bill. They got into a lot of trouble for that with Congress (and the American public), and they were forced to eat the tuition. That's not going to happen.
That was what we call the line side (everyone who's not medical). That doesn't happen in the medical world. We are a heavily recruited, very expensive commodity, and we are a scarce resource, unlike the 'line'. Medical isn't treated that way.
In the Air Force ROTC program, if you accept the scholarship and then decide that you no longer want to graduate from college. Depending on the situation, the Air Force gives you an option to enlist in the Air Force without repaying the loan, or repay the loan without enlisting.
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brawneyez
26 Posts
Captain Carolina,
I never heard of that program before. During my sophomore semester I was so nervous that I would not get an EA slot, I tried different ways to get into the service. I tried the Commission Corps, and I also spoke with the Nursing Corps recruiter from Oklahoma, whom advised me that I would have to get my BSN and then work for about 2 years before I would be able to get into the Air Force. He mentioned that the NTP program slots are limited and in order to bypass that step I would have to work and get experience first. I decided to stick with the ROTC program, and so far everything has worked out for me. Captain Carolina, I also sent you a post in another thread asking you about the accession bonus. Please look for it, I'll be looking our for your response. I believe that it is under the Air Force Nursing Corps thread that was actually started by a recruiter. Thanks in advance