FY2020 Army Nurse Corps

[ReconMedic]

Hello!

My name is Dustin and I thought it would be a good idea to create a topic for those who are applying for the FY2020 Army Nurse board! A little about me; I am prior service Army enlisted with four years on active duty as a 19D (Cavalry Scout) and four years in the reserve as a 68W (Combat Medic). Recently, in December of last year I graduated with my BSN from a highly reputable school in Texas. In January of this year I started my new job in a Cardiothoracic and Transplant ICU, but in the process of applying to the 66H (Med-Surge Nurse) position with the Army. Per my recruiter, this is essentially the standard for nurses who have less than two years of RN experience and who will attend the Army’s Nurse Residency Program.

I’m hoping that my year of ICU experience and my CCRN certification at the time right before leaving for training will be an advantage to changing over to the Critical Care Nurse AOC (66S) as soon as I can. ? If it wasn’t for my yearning to return to the Army and wear the uniform again, I would just wait until I have over two years of civilian experience and apply to the 66S position. My desire to continue to serve is stronger than my AOC, 200%!

Please, use this to connect with others and share your experience! I look forward in embarking on this journey and hearing from others.

[msnapper]

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 10:53 AM, mcaselogic said:

Good for you Dustin! I hope you get the position you want!

I started my process with the Navy but seems like that’s going nowhere. Air Force already disqualified me due to my height. Army is my third choice in branches but I want to serve already and can’t bothered to wait 2 more years for Navy to finally choose me. I’ll be getting in contact with an Army recruiter soon enough.

Good luck on boards and keep us updated! I was selected in the Nov board and am awaiting my orders. DM me if you have any questions.

[msnapper]

I am not sure on other branches, but the following are the general steps for an Army Direct Commissioning packet in AMEDD. After your packet goes to the board, they will make a decision. It can go one of three ways: Selected, Order of Merit List, or Not selected. They will usually notify you within 2 weeks of the board date. If you are selected, the next step will be to wait on the memo for commissioning/Scroll. The timeframe varies on this and can be up to 6 months. This memo will include multiple names of other recruits applying for a commission. Once your recruiter receives this, they will be able to "swear you in" and you will sign your oath of office and contract. This then gets sent up through the chain until it reaches HSD (Health Services Division). They send a RFO (Request for Orders) to your assignment officer at HRC (Human Resources Command). At that point, you will receive a phone call from your AO and discuss DCC/BOLC class dates as well as first duty assignment. About 2 weeks later, you will receive your official orders. The time in which you receive your orders varies as well. Currently, I am going on 3 months on waiting for my orders.

Tips from one who has learned the hard way:

Please make sure your recruiter always has the most updated copy of your licenses. This delayed my commissioning by 3 months because my recruiter did not notify me they needed updated copies and I did not know.

If you need a waiver from MEPS, gather all medical documents ahead of time. If you are disqualified for whatever reason (i.e. vision or past surgeries), stay on top of your recruiter to ride on MEPs to get your consultation appointment. I am nearsighted and had to get an ophthalmology consult with MEPs. They initially approved my vision waiver and everything was hunky-dory. Then, I find out 2 months later my vision waiver approval was rescinded and they needed me to have a consult. They scheduled me 4 weeks later and my waiver was approved 4 weeks after. This delayed my commissioning by 3-4 months.

[mcaselogic]

29 minutes ago, msnapper said:

I thought the Navy cut out recruiting for FNPs? This may be hearsay but a poster on my discussion mentioned the Navy is no longer recruiting for NPs.

That’s exactly what I read too! Navy recruiter didn’t go much into the detail about that and I haven’t heard from him in over 3 months.

Currently waiting to hear about my CV approval, do you know anything about that? Is that part of selection?

[msnapper]

Just now, mcaselogic said:

That’s exactly what I read too! Navy recruiter didn’t go much into the detail about that and I haven’t heard from him in over 3 months.

Currently waiting to hear about my CV approval, do you know anything about that? Is that part of selection?

Yes, they have to review your CV to see if you meet the requirements. They will make sure the school in which your completed your schools are accredited. This is the first step of the whole process. Once it's been approved, they will move on to completing the rest of your packet and getting it ready for the boards.

[Nursey Jola]

1 hour ago, msnapper said:

Good luck on boards and keep us updated! I was selected in the Nov board and am awaiting my orders. DM me if you have any questions.

So you've been waiting for 7 months for your orders? Gosh, that's a long process!

[msnapper]

24 minutes ago, Nursey Jola said:

So you've been waiting for 7 months for your orders? Gosh, that's a long process!

Since I was selected, yes. It is a test of patience for sure. I actually started working on my application in May 2018. It'll all be worth it. I'm hoping I get an awesome first assignment!

[HoosierRNmom]

I started my packet in February... I'm awaiting appointment orders that should be in next week and i'll be swearing in. But still not looking to go to training until winter.

[Mbabs84]

66S Reserve side applicant here. My recruiter has told me there is a large mission for year 2020 on the critical care front i.e. icu and ed. Anyone know when the 2020 boards are and any further info on dcc and bolc-b lengths content etc. thanks mike

[msnapper]

20 hours ago, Mbabs84 said:

66S Reserve side applicant here. My recruiter has told me there is a large mission for year 2020 on the critical care front i.e. icu and ed. Anyone know when the 2020 boards are and any further info on dcc and bolc-b lengths content etc. thanks mike

I'm not sure about the board dates. For FY19, they tried to start in July when they traditionally start in Oct. AMEDD recruiter should know that information though. If you are considering trying to commission in the first board, my advice would be to start your packet now. It will take a few months to complete and QC the paperwork in addition to getting your physical at MEPS.

[Nursey Jola]

2 hours ago, msnapper said:

I'm not sure about the board dates. For FY19, they tried to start in July when they traditionally start in Oct. AMEDD recruiter should know that information though. If you are considering trying to commission in the first board, my advice would be to start your packet now. It will take a few months to complete and QC the paperwork in addition to getting your physical at MEPS.

I agree. I applied in late May for 66B on the reserve side and made it to the July/early August board. My recruiter and I are super on top of things with putting the packet together (lots of documents to gather on top of a very lengthy application) and MEPS passed by quickly for me too since I do not have any underlying medical conditions that needed a waiver. From what I know, if you have advance practice certification for critical care, that puts you more favorable than others. Also, current and past experience in the field you are applying to is also very important. Remember you are applying for an officer position so it's going to be competitive. They do not just select any body who applies. There are many people applying every year and only a few get selected to fill the openings. Therefore, how you package yourself is very important. Talking to an AMEDD recruiter is a good start since they will be able to give you a good idea of whether you'll be a good candidate to apply with asking a few questions/ a short questionnaire.

I was notified in early August that I got selected for 66B, still pending scroll so I can do my oath of office. I did some research and DCC is supposed to be 4 weeks at Ft. Sill, OK for all AMEDD Officers. As a reservist, we do not need to go to BOLC-A in person, we do some online/self study thing to fulfill the BOLC-A requirements and then attend BOLC-B for 2 weeks in Ft. Sam Houston, TX.

[Mbabs84]

1 hour ago, Nursey Jola said:

I agree. I applied in late May for 66B on the reserve side and made it to the July/early August board. My recruiter and I are super on top of things with putting the packet together (lots of documents to gather on top of a very lengthy application) and MEPS passed by quickly for me too since I do not have any underlying medical conditions that needed a waiver. From what I know, if you have advance practice certification for critical care, that puts you more favorable than others. Also, current and past experience in the field you are applying to is also very important. Remember you are applying for an officer position so it's going to be competitive. They do not just select any body who applies. There are many people applying every year and only a few get selected to fill the openings. Therefore, how you package yourself is very important. Talking to an AMEDD recruiter is a good start since they will be able to give you a good idea of whether you'll be a good candidate to apply with asking a few questions/ a short questionnaire.

I was notified in early August that I got selected for 66B, still pending scroll so I can do my oath of office. I did some research and DCC is supposed to be 4 weeks at Ft. Sill, OK for all AMEDD Officers. As a reservist, we do not need to go to BOLC-A in person, we do some online/self study thing to fulfill the BOLC-A requirements and then attend BOLC-B for 2 weeks in Ft. Sam Houston, TX.

thanks for the responses. I am a CCRN 6 year exp. ICU/ED and have been working with recruiter for a few months now. hes really good. waiting on waiver now. I saw DCC is 18 days or maybe 26, website I found was confusing.

[Noypi47, BSN, RN]

Anyone turned in their package for the October 2019 boards? I'm applying for the Mental Health position, wondering if there's anyone in the same boat ?