Go into the Reserves now or wait....??

Editorial Team / Moderator · Sep 1, 2011

I'm in the Army now, but I don't have enough knowledge to answer your question! I suggest contacting an AMEDD recruiter: http://www.goarmy.com/locate-a-recruiter.html

Have you looked into information about the US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing (USAGPAN)? http://www.northeastern.edu/bouve/nursing/add/armyprograman.html -- one thing you might consider is getting your BSN, getting the required critical care experience, and then trying to get into USAGPAN.

If I were you, I would focus on the BSN and go from there. But that's just me. Good luck!

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2011

hi everyone,
i am currently waiting for my acceptance letter for my asn program starting in spring 2012. since my career goal is to become a crna my questions is...
should i join the reserves now?
do they train for a medical assistant or health care receptionist? i really don't care what the job is, i would just like to stay on the medical side of things and start my training now. you can pick your mos (job) and you will be put into it if there is openings in that field
or should i wait until i have my bsn? it depends on what you want to do and if you need help with school.
i already have a bachelor's in a non medical field and was wondering if i would go in as an officer? depends on what the degree is, not all bachelor degrees will get you a commission. if you get a commission it will take 6-12 months vs. the couple of months for enlisted.
is there any tuition assistance for people in the reserves? yes, but i do not know what it is now.
if i sign up for the 8 yr reserves and decide in 3 yrs to go active with my bsn how does that work? would i still have 5 years left of reserves after my active duty? no, all initial contracts are for 8 years no matter how they are served; active duty, drilling reserves, or non drilling reserves.
any help would be appreciated!

agree with lunah and you need to go to the website she listed.

Dre2416, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2011

Found out TA doesn't cover same or lower degrees. Since I already have a Bachelor's it won't cover my BSN.. :cry: :cry:

79Tango · Sep 1, 2011

With your Bachelor's you can enlist as an E4, then use the GI bill for whatever education you want.. The thing about it is even the enlisted slots are filling fast these days. Good luck

UCAFblue · Sep 1, 2011

I was in a similar situation earlier this year...I was waiting to hear if I was accepted to a BSN program, it was my first time applying and so I didn't think I would get accepted. I was enlisting in the Air Force Reserve while waiting - not so much for the help with school, but because I've always wanted to be in the military and figured I might as well do it before I started my BSN program.

I ended up getting an acceptance letter from my BSN program less then a week before I was supposed to sign my enlistment contract for the reserve. I wanted to do both at the same time, but my nursing school was...well...extremely unsupportive of my desire to go in the military while attending their school. They told me if I did that then I would have to turn down my spot in the BSN program and reapply...so who knows if I would have ever been able to get accepted again. I also had some people tell me that enlisting now may lower my chances of being able to be a nurse in the active duty Air Force in the future because I would be prior service and they accept fewer of those than civilians (not sure if that is really true). I saw my BSN as more important at the moment because nursing is what I really want to do in the military, so I backed out of joining the reserve and went with school.

Even though it breaks my heart to not be in the military right now, it is probably better that I'm not because nursing school is so much more demanding than I thought it would be. You might want to consider that if you enlist now deployments could interfere with timely completion of your degree...but if you do go with the reserve, I know that the Air Force Reserve/Air National Guard have an enlisted job called Health Services Management which I think is kind of a clerical healthcare type job. Not sure about any of those types of jobs in the other branches though...

Sorry for writing so much! I'm not sure if any of this is helpful, but good luck!

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2011

What your school did was illegal, they can not tell you not to be in the reserves. If you would have been activited while you were attending school they would have to allow you to return to the program once you returned.

Yes, nursing school is demanding but not so demanding that you can not be in the reserves at the same time. If your school has a ROTC program it is more demanding then being in the reserves.

From personal experience I was in the reserves, working full time, involved with the kids, community and attended nursing school full time. I know that not everyone can do it but it can be done.

UCAFblue · Sep 2, 2011

They weren't telling me I couldn't join the reserve, it's just I would have had to go to basic training at the exact same time that our first semester of nursing school started (June). So I tried to get them to move my start time to June 2012 so I could get basic training and tech school out of the way, but they had no interest in allowing me to do that. So it was either accept admission to school and forget about the reserve or go with the reserve and turn down my spot at school - I couldn't start both at the same time.

My recruiter was extremely surprised that they denied my request to delay my start time, but he never said anything about it being illegal...could I have just continued with my enlistment in the reserve and not even tell the school anything about it until I got my orders for basic and tech school? I kind of wish I had done that, but I was trying to be nice and let them know about the situation.

79Tango · Sep 2, 2011

Yes, thats exactly what you coulda done.. Sounds like you've learned the hard way.. Dont talk about the Reserves until you already have the job.. then when you get your orders, you slap 'em across the face and tell them to keep your seat warm.

It is illegal to descriminate howeever it is also very hard to prove. Since you hadnt sworn in your school was able to tell you straight up, "We wont work around that" had you already enlisted and told them "I am going to training in June" they wouldve found another reason to not accept you. You always want to keep that on the DL.

UCAFblue · Sep 2, 2011

So just out of curiosity, say I went and enlisted during our 3 month break next summer and made it so that I wouldn't miss much, or maybe not any of the fall semester and didn't tell them about this until I had the orders. Would you say that's a bad or good idea?....because I'm thinking about doing it.

79Tango · Sep 2, 2011

Thats hard to say without getting knowing all of your specifics. If it is something youve always wanted to do than yeah its a great idea.. Why wait? If you dont do it now you might not ever do it.

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Sep 2, 2011

So just out of curiosity, say I went and enlisted during our 3 month break next summer and made it so that I wouldn't miss much, or maybe not any of the fall semester and didn't tell them about this until I had the orders. Would you say that's a bad or good idea?....because I'm thinking about doing it.

Even thou it would be illegal if they held your military duty against you as others have stated it is hard to prove specially in clinicals. I would wait and see how the program is and then go from there because the insructors do not always have the same feelings as the administration.