Help-Army Officer transfer to Nurse Corps

[wendalin920]

Hi everyone! Thanks for reading and providing any information to my questions. I have a lot of questions!

About me: I'm a Military Intelligence CPT(P) on active-duty Army. I've been in for almost 13 years. I will be transitioning to the Army Reserves this March and attending an accelerated nursing program this Summer. After getting my RN license, my goal is to come back to active duty into the Nurse Corps. I have a nurse assistant cert, but no LPN, RN, ASN experience. 

Has anyone transitioned into the Nurse Corps from another branch? What's the AMEDD board process? How did the demotion go for you (an Air Force recruiter told me I'd probably become a 1LT), how long is the process? Where do I get info for the board, when it meets, what's required, etc? So far, all I've found is info for enlisted transitions to nurse officers or civilians going to military nursing. So, I'm unsure if I'd have to do a nurse officer leader course since I did one (although it was for intel). I know the recruiters are the go-to's but unfortunately recruiters lie sometimes so I'm trying to find information in regulations, people's experiences before continuing further with recruiters. 

I talked to an AF recruiter a few months ago and will again once I'm accepted into a nursing program. I never heard back from the Navy recruiters. Ideally, I'd like to stay in the same branch (Army) but am open to others. I understand the AF and Army have a Nurse Transition Program, but only the AF says they except no-experience new grads. Does anyone know if the Army or Navy does this? 

[wmoore2024]

wendalin920, I am prior service as well and haven't heard back from any recruiting pages I submitted information for. Do you have any input or direct contact to Army, Air Force, or Navy nurse recruiters??

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

The best way to get in touch with a military healthcare recruiter is honestly to go to the branch website and follow prompts for "Healthcare professional."  You'll still need to be persistent and stay on top of them.  They usually get way more candidates that they have available slots.

[wendalin920, CNA]

wmoore2024 said:

wendalin920, I am prior service as well and haven't heard back from any recruiting pages I submitted information for. Do you have any input or direct contact to Army, Air Force, or Navy nurse recruiters??

I've been in touch with recruiters from all three of those services but like the previous comment mentioned, I had to keep trying. I Googled medical or nurse or health recruiters. And mixed that phrase up with several cities I thought I'd move to when I finished school. As far as submitting info to the recruiting pages, I believe I only heard back from the Air Force when I did that. I'm pretty sure one of the Navy Recruiters I spoke to was because one of my Google searches resulted from a LinkedIn account. I also called a few random recruiting stations and asked who the health professional recruiter was and if I could have their phone number in case it was a different recruiting office. It was a lot of trial and error! I spoke to a Navy Recruiter in CA and FL and FL people for the other services. If these two locations interest you I can give you their contact info. If you're wanting to speak with offices in different states then I'd suggest Googling random combos like I did. Hopefully it will turn up something! 

[windsurfer8, BSN, RN]

You are promotable with 13 years active and you are going to the Reserve? (also it is not Reserves.. It is the Army Reserve. Not plural).  I would stay in man and get your retirement.   I am retired Army Nurse Corps active duty.   I did see some pilots transition to Nurse Corps.  They normally lost one rank for about 6 months to a year.  If you make MAJ before you get out it would be better.   Man 7 years then you are retired and I am telling you it is nice.  You could go become a nurse then.  Good luck.