Air Force FY2016

charkiddRN · Jun 23, 2015

Hi! This will be my second time applying as a NICU RN for the Air Force. I'm applying to the September boards. It would be great to hear from anyone applying to these boards as well! I posted a different thread a while back about this same thing, but it got no responses. Figured i would try again!
:)

Hi Morgan! I'm applying for the September boards as well. Is this your first time applying? I'm going for med-surg.

Birthday_Girl · Jun 23, 2015

Pardon my ignorance, but I thought the Air Force was reducing its Nurse Corps?

Camo-angel · Jun 23, 2015

I believe they are reducing its active members, but they still are taking a small number of nurses each year to replace others as needed. Every year nurses get out of the Air Force, move on, get promoted to new positions. The Air Force, at least for now, still needs newer nurses each year. That being said, it's not a ton. More like a handful

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Jun 24, 2015

The military doesn't work like the civilian sector. When we cut, we actually shape the force. We have to have a certain number of people at each rank. If we stopped letting new people in, we would lose the pyramid shape.

CarolinaFNP · Jun 24, 2015

Anyone heard how often nurses get deployed? How long and how often? Where to? I'm an NP and just wondering, know this has been changed a lot recently.

morgan_porgan · Jun 24, 2015

@CharkiddRN...

This will be my second time applying. I applied for NICU speciality last time and will be doing the same thing this year! I just wish September was here already. Although with as fast as June went by, it seems the rest of the summer is going to fly by! How is your application process coming along? I have a new recruiter this time around and it's a totally different experience, in a good way! This recruiter is very detail oriented and seems to have my best interest at heart which didn't come across from my last recruiter. The feedback I got last year was that I didn't have enough level 3 experience, so I got a new job at a higher level facility. So here's hoping that it helps me out this time through!

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Jun 25, 2015

It's totally situation dependent and changes with the times. In the early days of Iraq and Afghanistan, nurses pretty much deployed every time they hit their deployment band (often 6 months or more out of every 18-24 months in the Air Force). You deploy wherever the field hospitals are (Iraq, Afghanistan, etc). These days, almost nobody deploys.

So, if we decide to re-occupy Iraq (for example), then certainly just about every military nurse would be deployed at some point.

charkiddRN · Jun 29, 2015

@morgan_porgan

I am completely finished with my application and have turned in everything. Now I'm just ensuring that I keep in contact with my recruiter and work out as much as I can. You're right September does seem like it is so far away! I can't wait until that month gets here. I'm excited about going in. I just hope that I'm selected. Do you know how many positions they have available for nurses for FY2016?

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Jun 29, 2015

It's likely that info isn't available yet. The Air Force has to look at who decided to separate or retire and how many ROTC and NECP people graduate from school. They use direct commissioning to fill the remaining gaps left by those considerations towards the beginning of a new fiscal year (closer to October 1st: the first day of the federal fiscal year).

charkiddRN · Jun 29, 2015

Oh okay. That makes sense.

morgan_porgan · Jun 30, 2015

Since I'm applying for the NICU speciality, my recrutier showed me the list and there was 3 slots open. It varies depending on what specality you're applying for or if you're FQ or not.

It can change though. Last year when I applied there was 4 slots starting out and then in August they cut it down to 2.