Graduated cot on friday!!!

[carolinapooh]

YAY! I made it - I graduated from COT yesterday and am now on my way to my first duty station, Lackland AFB/Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, TX!

I was going to post a nice "column", if you would, on my experience, and I still might - but feel free to post any questions you have here and I'll answer what I can.

It's not so bad (but remember, I'm prior enlisted), but I won't say it's easy. Compared to BOT (the regular officer's training that lasts 13 weeks) and compared to what the Army does to get the same direct commission, it's a cakewalk - but it's not "knife and fork" school, so don't let your recruiter fool you. Some of the civilians experienced a bit of culture shock - but trust me when I say it was nothing like BMT.

So if you have any questions, post away.

[Esh570]

Hey congrats!

I am here at ole WHMC, welcome to the family!

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

First of all...Congrats!!!! You made it!!!! We've missed your very informative posts! :)

I'm curious about the physical part. Were you getting up 5 days a week and running miles and miles? What was a typical hour of fitness?

OMG - fitness? I'm embarrassed to say it's a bit of a joke down there. I could have used a whole lot more (of course, I could have used a bit more TIME down there as well; time is at a premium to say the least). We had PT maybe twice a week, consisting of the stupidest and most ineffective stretches you've ever performed, almost no strength training, and maybe thirty minutes of running. I did pass both my PT tests, though, and the 5K that we ran at the end was much easier than it would have been on the first day, but I still don't think they do enough PT. As I said, though, time is at a premium, and you spend so much of your time dead on your feet and more sleep deprived than I've ever been in my life that I can't imagine doing much more. You're allowed to go to the gym on the OTS Complex on your own time, but really, you're so tired and so busy with your academic work it's pretty hard to do. I know people who went to the gym three and four days a week, but I don't know how they did it.

Even with a seeming lack of PT, I lost five pounds, ate like a horse, and dumped an inch and a half on my waist measurement.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

I talked about pay problems.

What they don't tell you before you go is that for some reason, Maxwell Air Force Base is NOT permitted by DoD and DAF to build what is called a pay profile. You are paid by some sort of electronic transfer that is done by hand by an airman in Finance. Your pay will not be right when you're down there and it will NOT be corrected until you get to your base.

You have to be insistent to ensure that you get what you need - they were trying to tell people to "get by" and "you have something at least" - until it was explained to them that, hello, we're adults and we have car payments and mortgages and some have families and kids....you have to stay on top of things or they'll just try to ply you off with "they'll fix that at your base".

I should be paid as an O1E, and I'm only being paid as an O1 with ZERO years experience. I have been credited for just over six. It's about a $1300 a month difference in pay!! I managed to get enough out of them to survive, but it did take some doing. Just be professional - but be INSISTENT.

I also found out while I was there that my DEERS record was screwed up - Seymour Johnson's ID office did not save ANY changes to my record when they issued me a CAC card. So I was in as an enlisted member under my maiden name without dependents - but there was a spouse record attached to my profile!!! It also said I'd not had a card issued - but I had one in my hand. Personnel kept saying, "they'll fix that at your base". Problem was that since my husband wasn't in DEERS officially, he'd be rejected by Tricare should he need medical care. The error was also preventing me from logging into ANY government network under my correct credentials. I kept insisting to the personnel folks that it needed to be fixed. It eventually got fixed after three or four days, but I had to go to their office daily.

What's annoying is that this happens TO EVERY COT CLASS.

My point is if you know something's wrong, you're going to have to be the one to find the key words to get the correct people to pay attention. Sad, but true.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Uniforms.

Get all the stuff you can get before you get there. Beg your recruiter to take you to a base if you have to...trust me, it will be the best decision you make.

Get ALL alterations done that you can get done BEFORE you get there. Get all your stuff (rank, function badges) sewn on as well if you can. Get name tapes - get everything you can get done DONE before you go. Once you sign a letter of intent and are commissioned YOU CAN GET ONTO A DOD INSTALLATION with your commissioning paperwork and a driver's license per DOD directive. You can then get an ID card.

You can look up the reg for clothing online - the AFI is 36-2903. I took my blues trousers and mess dress skirt to an outside tailor and had them altered with no problems.

[nursemel09]

Thank you so much for all your information and advice! It's great to kind of know what to expect when we get there.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Congratulations, it seems like yesterday that I was reading that you were going to COT; however, I'm sure it didn't feel that way to you. The question that I have for you and any new nurses, is which base did you get on your dream sheet? 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Thanks.

I put Lackland as either my first or second choice.

I'm sure it means nothing, but it did seem as though the prior service folks were getting more of what was on their dream sheet than the non-priors. Even my husband commented on that following graduation after talking to a few of the other nurses and hearing about different assignments.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Congratulations!!! Like the post above - I too feel like it was only yesterday that you had posted you had commissioned and were going to COT. This is a stupid question but - can you take OTC meds with you like cough / cold medicine? Even something like immodium? lol? What are classes like? Were you exhausted? Did you have to do a lot of public speaking? What is your first day like? Are they helpful with helping you purchase uniforms etc? I know my questions are silly - but just curious! Thank you and again congrats! Enjoy TX!

Yes - you can take OTC meds, and do so. About the Immodium - the water bothered me for a couple of days (and I know it was the water and not the food; the food was fine, though boring and monotonous) and I was glad I had some. Take your vitamins and take whatever cold meds work for you because the chances are you won't be able to get what you need at the little OTS Shoppette, and you won't be allowed to go to the main BX for a couple of weeks except in specific circumstances.

If you went to an accelerated RN program, the long days of academics probably won't bother you like they bothered some. I was fine in a classroom for eight hours a day (I did that at Duke); what was hard was staying awake after four hours of sleep. I did 5 hr energy shots (one a day probably three days a week) which helped, because you can't drink in class (no coffee!!!) and standing up, which is what they WILL let you do, doesn't work for me.

There's a lot of Management According to the Air Force (capitals intentional), which can be boring but necessary (and some if it is actually helpful even if you dont' get the connection right away). There's fun stuff too, though. And if you love history, there is one long day in particular covering AF history and the history of air power - I really learned a lot that day and the captain who did our lectures was phenomenal and really knew his subject.

Note about the academics: it's a lot - TONS - you'll panic when you see your books on the fourth day (I think it was the fourth day!). But - and this is the only thing I'll say - what's testable is made perfectly clear. Think back to nursing school and how you learned all that material and knew enough to pass the NCLEX; that's a lot like COT.

The first day: they WILL yell at you, you WILL NOT know what's going on, and NONE of it will make any sense. I'm a prior and I was confused...rest assured everyone else feels exactly the same way you do. Ladies - WEAR THAT HAIR UP AND IN REGS, and have those bangs off your eyebrows. If anyone wants to know about a sock bun - which saved both my hair and my sanity - let me know and I'll give a message board "lesson" complete with pics.

What I told people was this: don't let them get to you, because they will try - it's their job. Do what they say, use your courtesies appropriately, but just think of it all as static in the background. It serves a purpose, but it's not personal. It's just static.

I was lucky and didn't have to do the cattle run to the military clothing sales, but from what I saw among my classmates, it wasn't a pleasant experience. I remembered mine in BMT and chose not to repeat it. The alterations staff was, in many ways, woeful, and occasionally pushed people into buying improperly fitted uniform items. Bottom line: do NOT let them rush you, and you know how clothes are supposed to fit, so buy what you know is correct. Don't let them hand you a size ten blouse and send you on your way if (1) you know you're an eight, or (2) you don't know what size you wear. This happened to my roommate - she ended up with a shirt for her mess dress that was two sizes too big. These women are notorious for telling people, "oh, yes, you're a twelve" and shoving said shirt/item into that person's hands, when the person is actually smaller than that. TRY STUFF ON. If it looks like poo, DON'T BUY IT IF IT DOESN'T FIT. That said, there was apparently a big problem with getting ABUs that fit right; remember - once you get to your base, your ABUs CAN be tailored to a point, so if you're stuck with something a bit too big, that can be fixed later on.

(Personally, I remember these women telling me in BMT, "no, Airman, you don't know how clothes are supposed to fit". What?Sorry, but I know my body, and I'm not X size, I'm Y size, and that's where I'll start. Don't let them intimidate you into doing otherwise.) Keep in mind, though, that military sizes aren't necessarily civilian sizes - I wear an eight in the ABU blouses but a size ten blouse in the civilian world, yet my blues blouses are tens (in the princess cut) and twelve longs (in the tuck in style)....and the female ABU pants don't fit me at all, but the men's fit perfect!! I wear a size 10 pants in the real world, but my AF blues trousers are twelve WOMEN'S cut. It's not you, it's the clothes - but please note that there's a much better selection NOW than there was when I was enlisted. They're trying - and they're still in left field, they're just not quite as far out as they were back in the nineties.

BTW, ladies, for the record, you're allowed to wear the men's blues jacket (not the service dress coat - this is a lightweight jacket you wear with your blues) and I highly recommend it. The men's is gathered at the bottom and is a bit heavier and overall to me just looks nicer. If you're long in the torso like I am, the women's one isn't going to fit correctly. REALLY recommend you try on the men's version. Also, the men's ABU pants sometimes fit better (not the blues pants; sorry, girls, we're stuck in the 1980s time warp where they're concerned...), so try them as well.

Keep any questions you have coming - I hope my answers are helpful.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Things you should take:

Baby wipes. They're cheap and extremely handy in a pinch.

GOOD bobby pins if you have long hair - I mean the ones from Sally Beauty Supply, not the Goody ones from Walmart. And yes, trust me, there is a difference. I stopped at a Sally the day I reported in and bought a load of them, and they are a hundred times better than the ones from Goody. Smartest eight bucks I ever spent. Keep about six or eight of them in your pocket at all times; stick them in your APECs pocket.

Get a backpack - it should be dark and as plain as possible. Quite a few of my flightmates/classmates found appropriate ones at Walmart for about fifteen bucks.

OTC pain and cold meds. You can take them; it's not a problem.

Ladies - whatever personal products/tampons/pads you use, take them. You may or may not get what you're used to at the Shoppette, so why worry yourself? Be a sister, though, and hook a sister up - in each public bathroom on the campus is a little basket for "donations" to keep you from being stranded; drop one or two in there at least once while you're at COT. (I also dropped some hairpins in these baskets for folks.)

Crystal Light, Gatorade, or Kool-Aid packets. There are ice machines in the dorms and there's a limit to how much plain water you can stand...treat yourself at night! Take a plastic cup with you in your luggage; something with ice, enjoyed at YOUR OWN PACE, is such a luxury.

If you're a coffee nut like me, get some instant coffee packets. The Starbucks stuff is pretty good! You'd be amazed at the number of mornings the COFFEE was either out or nonexistent. You can get hot water in the chow hall; you might want to take your own creamer packets as well (the powdered stuff) since there were mornings that there were none. I used mine while I was there and never had a problem but of course use your own judgement. One cup of coffee in the morning will not kill you for the entire day.

Five hour energy shots, if you're going to use them. Those things tend to breed a sort of black market in that place by week three. I wouldn't overdose; I used one-half to one a day maybe three times a week, and I would take it after ten a.m. Again, use your own judgement.

A book. There actually is free time by week four. I sometimes wished I had a distraction for even a half hour. You also end up with time that you have to spend in the classroom with nothing to do by your last week.

A camera. TAKE A CAMERA. Someone will have to be the photographic officer for your flight anyway, and you're going to want pictures of stuff you'll do with your flight outside of class.

Take your cell phone.

If you're going to want your car right away at your next duty station, drive. The best part about a car is you can use it to store stuff. You have a parking lot for it behind the dorms; it's perfectly safe and all our cars were fine. There's also something liberating about that first drive off base....trust me, folks, it's the little things....

Take your iPod if you have one.

Oh - if you can, get a second pair of boots on the cheap from an army/navy surplus store. Mine got TORN up to the point I really want a new pair b/c I think these look like garbage. Until November 2011, the desert suede boots are authorized, and I know these are available through surplus stores at reasonable prices. I would recommend buying these and taking them with you for field stuff, because if you screw up a pair of $125 boots like most of us did you'll be physically sick at the thought. Had I thought about this, it's what I would have done. Better an extra fifty bucks than an extra one hundred plus bucks.

I'll add more as I think of it or as questions come up.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Congratulations on graduation Carolinapooh! May we all have successful careers!

Just one question: what did those do who couldn't afford the uniforms? I remember reading that you can get a military credit card or take advanced payment?

You can apply for the military STAR card, but your application isn't guaranteed an acceptance. Also, you don't go to finance for TWO WEEKS after you get there, so getting advance pay is difficult.

The bottom line is you have to go somewhat prepared. Advocate for yourself once you get there.

I heard of no one having any difficulty in getting uniforms, so I'm guessing that any financial problems were handled one way or another. You can always try to find outside financing once you're accepted.

[USAFhopeful]

"If anyone wants to know about a sock bun - which saved both my hair and my sanity - let me know and I'll give a message board "lesson" complete with pics"

Hi Thanks for allll of the information!!! Finding it very helpful - could you tell us about your bun (above). Thanks so much! Best of luck at your new base!

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Yeah, I'd love to hear about the sock bun too. What is your hair type?

[hopeful_army_NP]

I too am interested in the sock bun with pics, please enlighten me:-)