Help!! Joining AF? Need advice asap

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I have recently been selected to enter the AF as an OR nurse. I originally gave them 5 location choices (1. Hill 2. Kirtland 3. Peterson 4. Malstrom and 5. Travis). They came back with Mt. Home ID? I said no to this and three weeks later they responded once again with Mt. Home. My recruiter made some calls and they came back with the choice of Mt. Home or Travis. I really do not want to go to either base and I am frustrated that they offered me nothing on my list and then relented to only offer me choice #5.

1. If I stand on my 1st or 2nd choice will they kindly send me away?

2. Does anyone know anything about Mt. Home? Kid friendly base?

3. I really want to go overseas, are the possibilities slim to none of doing this in the future?

4. Do OR nurses get deployed frequently?

Any help will be appreciated. They told me I have to resond to them this Monday with my decision. Thanks!

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
I have recently been selected to enter the AF as an OR nurse. I originally gave them 5 location choices (1. Hill 2. Kirtland 3. Peterson 4. Malstrom and 5. Travis). They came back with Mt. Home ID? I said no to this and three weeks later they responded once again with Mt. Home. My recruiter made some calls and they came back with the choice of Mt. Home or Travis. I really do not want to go to either base and I am frustrated that they offered me nothing on my list and then relented to only offer me choice #5.

1. If I stand on my 1st or 2nd choice will they kindly send me away?

2. Does anyone know anything about Mt. Home? Kid friendly base?

3. I really want to go overseas, are the possibilities slim to none of doing this in the future?

4. Do OR nurses get deployed frequently?

Any help will be appreciated. They told me I have to resond to them this Monday with my decision. Thanks!

Some interesting choices you made.. The big problem with your list is it was too long. They want you to make a long list that way they can put you where they want and it will still be on your list. I don't know anything personally about any of these bases. The little I do know is that Mt. Home is COLD during the winter, and Travis has had some issues in ICU over the last couple of years (which shouldn't effect you).

Also, on your 1st two choices do they even utilize OR nurses there?

Your choice is simple either take what they offer, or tell them that you are modifying your list. Then select one-two places you most want to go and stick with those choices. You have a lot of bargaining power right now, but it will probably delay your entry a little bit.

You can definetively go overseas in the future.

As far as deployments...yes OR nurses deploy I can't give you exact figures, but expect to be deployed for 4 months every 2-4yrs (you will be deployable/in the bucket every 18 months).

If you want you can PM me and tell me what you are looking for in a base. I might be able to come up with a couple of more choices that you and your recruiter hadn't thought about.

Good Luck, I hope everything work out for you.

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Specializes in nicu.

If you really want to be an OR nurse...go to Travis. I am prior AF medic and have been to Hill. When I left in 2000 they were only a clinic and were getting ready to shut down their same day surgery. No more med/surg unit. Not even an ER. One big thing you need to remember, the AF will try to give you one of your choices but they will put you where their biggest need is. Do more research on the bases you want. Since the military is downsizing hospital so much, some of them might not even have ORs. You may PM me also if there is any more I can help with. Good luck.

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Specializes in mostly in the basement.

Just givin' a shout out to the home team----why not Travis?

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Specializes in L&D, mother/baby, antepartum.

Labott8-

Are you by any chance in the Houston area? Just curious because my recruiter and I were talking today and she told me about an OR nurse that asked for Hill, got Mt Home, and would likely decline. I thought of your post here....

So what have you decided to do? I'm in the last stages of my application and will be interviewing on Monday. I have to turn in my top 3 choices, which I'm still working on at this point. Just curious to hear what I may have to look forward to if I'm chosen.

I have recently been selected to enter the AF as an OR nurse. I originally gave them 5 location choices (1. Hill 2. Kirtland 3. Peterson 4. Malstrom and 5. Travis). They came back with Mt. Home ID? I said no to this and three weeks later they responded once again with Mt. Home. My recruiter made some calls and they came back with the choice of Mt. Home or Travis. I really do not want to go to either base and I am frustrated that they offered me nothing on my list and then relented to only offer me choice #5.

1. If I stand on my 1st or 2nd choice will they kindly send me away?

2. Does anyone know anything about Mt. Home? Kid friendly base?

3. I really want to go overseas, are the possibilities slim to none of doing this in the future?

4. Do OR nurses get deployed frequently?

Any help will be appreciated. They told me I have to resond to them this Monday with my decision. Thanks!

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Hey there,

I am in Houston, TX and I did decline the OR position they offered me in Mt. Home. I am not sure if this is the end of the road for me or not. Are you in Tx? It appears your recruiter was probably referring to me. I am curious as to how this came up? What locations are you choosing and what position are you going for in the military? Lisa A.

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Specializes in L&D, mother/baby, antepartum.

Yep, I'm in Houston--I work at Memorial Hermann in the med center. What a strange coincidence.

It came up when we were talking about my interview on Monday. She said I needed to turn in my top 3 choices and I was asking what my chances of getting them were. She said sometimes things work out well and then other times they don't. When I asked about what my recourse would be be, she gave the example that you had asked for Hill, got Mt. Home, and then asked them to reconsider another assignment. She said you were likely to decline because that wasn't really somewhere you wanted to go.

I'm an OB/GYN nurse. I'm actually requesting Wilford Hall (San Antonio) as my first choice. My second choices are Langley, VA (which is a REALLY small hospital but I have family there) and possibly Colorado (another unlikely possibility). Seems strange that I would choose San Antonio being that I'm already in TX but we have family there and I have two little kids. I'm not too sure what I'll do if I don't get what I want. I really, really want this, but we already have a hard enough time of things here in Houston without family to help.

What do you think your next step will be?

Hey there,

I am in Houston, TX and I did decline the OR position they offered me in Mt. Home. I am not sure if this is the end of the road for me or not. Are you in Tx? It appears your recruiter was probably referring to me. I am curious as to how this came up? What locations are you choosing and what position are you going for in the military? Lisa A.

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You are correct, what a strange coincidence. I work at the Methodist Hospital in the Med center. We are probably working with the same recruiter as well. I am pretty certain there is only one female recruiter in the area that works with nurses. Anyway, I was really disappointed by it all. I was originally told that "everyone" always got either their first or second choice. I gave them 5 choices and their first offer was none of the five choices...it was Mt. Home.

Ok, so I verbally told them that I did not want this and they came back with Mt. Home and Travis. Travis was the # 5 choice on my original list that I had submitted, but I had revised this list and removed Travis. However, the revised list was not submitted and the original list was. This was partly my fault because when I was copied on the e-mail that was sent to AFPC, I did not notice that they had sent my original list.

So, I was told that I had to decline in writing (e-mail) which I did. My recruiter said that this was probably the end of the line but that an OR nurse in FL had formally declined and they came back and offered her Travis because I had declined this position and she accepted this. She apparently wanted to go to San Antonio, but was ok with Travis. My recruiter did tell me she had one nurse (med surg) that wanted San Antonio and got it.

I think your situation will be different because you are OB/GYN. Their needs for this will likely be different than for OR. I was told they have an extreme shortage for OR at Mt.Home, hence their offer. Hopefully, you will not run into this problem.

I will simply stay here and start grad school in the spring. I really wanted to join the AF, but I suppose it was not meant to be. So, I must continue down another path. I am from San Antonio (grew up there) and I do not like Houston. I did not choose SA because I wanted to travel a bit. I have small kids too, but I have been dealing w/the lack of family for so long that I have just learned to cope.

I had also included Peterson AF in my choice and this was not offered. Once again, hopefully it will be different for you.

Let me know how it goes for you. I am glad we had this chance to exchange experiences. Lisa A.

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If it is not too late I have heard lots of good things about Mt Home - although i have not been there and do not want it myself. Personally i would want Travis BUT Travis cost of living is REALLY HIGH.

As far as colorado springs, if i am not mistaken most of the action goes to the Army hospital there not Air Force.

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Thanks for the info. I agree with you regarding Travis. My primary reason for declining this was because the cost of living would be sooo high. Mt Home was undesirably mostly because it would be difficult for my husband to find employment there (the industry he works in does not really exist there). I wanted the first location to be good for both him and me since I know that all other locations after this are not really negotiated or known. Thanks again for your help.

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Specializes in L&D, mother/baby, antepartum.

Labbott8-

I had my interview today at WHMC and things went well. We need to talk by PM because I have some information for you. When I get my kids in bed tonight I'll send you a message.

Thanks for the info. I agree with you regarding Travis. My primary reason for declining this was because the cost of living would be sooo high. Mt Home was undesirably mostly because it would be difficult for my husband to find employment there (the industry he works in does not really exist there). I wanted the first location to be good for both him and me since I know that all other locations after this are not really negotiated or known. Thanks again for your help.
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Specializes in L&D, mother/baby, antepartum.

Labott8--I sent you that message. I hope you'll seek out another recruiter to help you!

Labbott8-

I had my interview today at WHMC and things went well. We need to talk by PM because I have some information for you. When I get my kids in bed tonight I'll send you a message.

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