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.
Awesome! It looks like I'll be going in tomorrow to fill out my paperwork for ROTC then! By accepted, do you mean into the ROTC program or the nursing program?
Also, is the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test also required? How is/was it? I may be a tad worried because standardized testing is not my forte.
Just got done filling out all my paper work! The guy was insanely nice and helpful explaining everything, and you guys were too! I just want to say thank you guys for the help! If you have any tips for the ROTC program I'll gladly take them
I've taken the AFOQT, though not for this; I took it when I was enlisted.
You can take the AFOQT twice in your life (it can be waivered, but usually the waivers are turned down - you need a very compelling reason), scores never expire, and the most recent attempt is the one that counts. To this day, I can go to my record and pull up my AFOQTs from 1997.
It's like a big ACT/SAT, with a few differences.
Since you're not competing for what's called a 'rated' slot (meaning someone who can fly - pilots and combat systems officers are considered 'rated'; the rating states what airframe(s) they're qualified on), the AFOQT is simply more of a way of measuring your capabilities and to give them another method by which to compare you with other applicants - just like ACTs, GREs, and all the others.
This does not mean blow it off! What it means is there will be a bunch of stuff on there that you're not necessarily familiar with (navigational tools, instrument interpretation and reading, aviation information, and some spatial stuff I was especially good at: rotating blocks, hidden figures, and block counting, where they hide a bunch of stuff in different shades and you have to count how many you can see; or they show you a configuration of blocks and you have to count how many there are, to include the hidden ones) that is specific to gauging the abilities of people they want to entrust with command of a jet.
In addition to this, there are three other sections: academic aptitude, verbal, and quantitative, a lot like the ACT/SAT. The test is written to cover the experience of both college grads and folks with advanced algebra, like a sophomore in college; for comparison (and this is at the time; brawneyz can certainly hone my answer for me), I thought it was a bit more difficult than the SAT I took several years earlier for college entrance. The math is a teensy bit more than high school algebra, and I took AP Calculus!
The reason I took the AFOQT all those years ago was I wanted to be a combat systems officer (what they used to call the First Officer, because my vision wouldn't let me fly), but I didn't have enough time in service and I had a non-mathematical/engineering type degree to get selected. (I was also getting a bit old, and they didn't drop age waivers back then for rated O's like they will now.) I was told the huge thing was my degree, and now that's all different; there's less emphasis placed on type than there was 16 or so years ago.
You can buy review books for the AFOQT just like you can any other test; I did, and it was very helpful. Strive to do your best on it, because even though you're a nonrated applicant, they will use those scores to rate you against competing applications.
The fancy word the USAF uses is called 'stratification'. What this means is they'll put all the applicants in order from first to last, based on a variety of scores and qualifications. If you and Joey Joe have the same exact quals, but your AFOQT scores differ, then the scores may be the tiebreaker.
Pilots call this the 'rack and stack'. For pilots, your position in the rack and stack determines what airframe and what program you're sent to, if at all. The higher up folks get their first choice; this is why competition gets brutal as the time for the rack and stack for the rated slots gets close.
Brawneyz, you've done this more recently than me. Please correct errors as you see them.
I took the AFOQT two years ago and I was very nervous taking it. Some sections are a lot like the SAT and the TEAS exams. I purchased two study guides which helped me out a whole bunch. Do not study with an ASVAB study guide, because the sections are totally different. Online also has a lot of study materials to help you prepare to take the exam. The hardest part for me was the verbal section. I am not much of a reader, but I passed it successfully. You get a total of 5 scores (Pilot, Nav, Academic Aptitude, Verbal, and Quantitative) and based on these scores qualifies you for certain AFSC's. Even though you are trying to join as a nurse if you score well enough you can still qualify for a rated position. At this point it will be up to you to accept the rated position (pending you pass the other exams that are required) or stick with nursing. I scored high enough to get a rated slot but because of my age I was unable to qualify (not that I wanted to anyways). My best advise for you is to study the manuals. The exam is timed and the pressure will be intense, but it is doable if you are prepared.
Good point - don't buy an ASVAB book; that's the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery exam. That's what the enlisted corps takes to stratify them for jobs.
I was the opposite; I scored a perfect score on verbal and rely on it to pull my qualitative. I didn't bomb it and scored very, very well, but my verbal is much higher than my math. It always has been.
I know - it's a relief to know THAT'S over; to me it's worse than the GRE, which I've also taken. I think because there was just so much on it and it seemed to go on and on and on.
I received an email from the guy who helped me fill out all my paperwork and he told me he had the Freshman class waived for me. In turn I would just do a longer field training session. (6 weeks instead of 4). So i'm assuming the last two weeks would be a refresher course of freshman year? Also, before you're allowed to go to field training you have to go through MEPS correct? or is that after you get your EA?
I think you go to MEPS during your application process. They have to see if you're even physically qualified to get in, much less go to field training. They wouldn't spend time and money (and give you a slot they could give to someone else) indoctrinating someone into the military who can't pass the physical requirements for commissioning.
This is from the AFROTC's website. I love Google::)
Standard Field Training Unit: This standard Field Training unit is designed for cadets in the four-year Air Force ROTC program. (The two-year program and the last two years of the four-year program are identical except for entry procedures.)
Extended Field Training Unit: This extended Field Training unit is designed for applicants to the two-year Air Force ROTC program. The five-week Field-Training unit requires an additional 60 hours of academics, which are equal to the 60 hours of on-campus academics taken by four-year cadets during their freshman and sophomore years.
Before field training you will need to get your DOMERB complete, this is ROTC version of the MEPS, During the DOBMERB you will register to a site once let you know when and provide you with the information. You will need to set up an appoint with the closet contracting doctor near your facility to go there and do your physical. You will also need to schedule an appoint to get your eyes examined. When they tell you that you are ready to do this process, please do not procrastinate. I've seen a lot of cadets have to postpone their EA slots because their paperwork was not back in time. So instead of going that summer they end up going the following summer, which put them a year behind their original commissioning date. This is my first time hearing about the extended Field training unit, my detachment always compressed cadets and had them cover the freshman and sophomore year together.
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Professional Officer CoursePOC - ROTC course for juniors and seniors.
RayJordan
40 Posts
Awesome! It looks like I'll be going in tomorrow to fill out my paperwork for ROTC then! By accepted, do you mean into the ROTC program or the nursing program?
Also, is the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test also required? How is/was it? I may be a tad worried because standardized testing is not my forte.