Interested in National Guard but have questions

1911guy · Jul 9, 2006

I'm not currently in the military and I've never been a military nurse but I hope I can help a little.

1. What are my chances for being deployed to Iraq?

Most of the Army's healthcare assets (docs, nurses, psychologists, social workers, everything) is Reserve component (Army Reserve and National Guard). They have some in the Active Duty Army but the majority of their personnel in these areas are Reserves/NG. What that means is it is not possible for the Army to run a war without a significant number of medical personnel to be called up from the Reserves and NG. If you join the Guard as a nurse my guess is you will be called up at least once during your contract.

In fact, the Reserve components require a longer commitment than Active Duty. With the initial active duty for training and the likelihood of a call up, you may also want to consider Active service if serving interests you. As an Active Duty nurse you know you'll be active for your time in, but you may not spend much more active time than the Reserves or Guard in today's environment and at least you will know what the time period will be. You probably won't be sent overseas for any more time than the Reserves/NG.

I don't want to discourage you. Quite the opposite, I think military experience is very important and very valuable. However, don't fool yourself into thinking you won't be called up.

It is a great honor to serve your country and your community. The benefits are incredible (in addition to pride of service the Army Nurse Corps have some incredible benefits- sign on bonuses, loan repayment, etc really add up). Just be aware that it is serious business (I'm sure you are).

Corvette Guy · Jul 9, 2006

Please, please, please contact an Army National Guard Health Care Recruiter before your head gets filled with inaccurate & misleading post by those without first-hand Army Nurse Corps knowledge of what you seek.

Good luck!

Corvette Guy · Jul 9, 2006

Army Nurse Corps Overview

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Jul 10, 2006

~sigh~

This confrontational stuff is getting old.

The poster said he was not CURRENTLY in the military, not that he'd never BEEN in the military. And regardless of one's expertise, no one person has ALL the correct answers when it comes to the Armed Forces.

Please allow members to ask their questions, and others to offer their opinions.

Thank you.

Corvette Guy · Jul 10, 2006

~sigh~
This confrontational stuff is getting old.
The poster said he was not CURRENTLY in the military, not that he'd never BEEN in the military. And regardless of one's expertise, no one person has ALL the correct answers when it comes to the Armed Forces.
Please allow members to ask their questions, and others to offer their opinions.
Thank you.

My understanding the member is not currently in the military nor has ever been a military nurse.

At any rate, my intentions were never meant to be confrontational. Please, accept my most recent edit as my token apology to allnurses.com. I've tried to be extremely helpful to members, especially on the Military Nursing forum, in the past, present, and will continue to do so in the future ... if the powers to be will see the good in my intentions & allow me to continue frequent visits to this site.

Thank you for listening.

SmilingBluEyes · Jul 10, 2006

To anyone considering any capacity of military service, I would say this much as succinctly as I can:

If you have no desire to be "called up" for duty in Iraq or in any other controversial involvement/conflict, you best not apply in any branch of military and in any capacity (be it guard, reserves or active duty).

Caveat emptor, as always. If you DO enlist or secure a commission, be prepared to do so with honor and know you will be subject to the orders of all officers appointed over you, from the President of the United States, to your CO (commanding officer).

ALSO: Understand, recruiters have a goal: to get good people enlisted/commissioned in the Armed Forces. Your wellbeing and ethics are YOUR concerns, not theirs!

Good luck in any decisions anyone is making regarding military service. I have done 10 years myself in the USAF active duty and 3 years reserve. No regrets here. I am proud to say I have served!

1911guy · Jul 11, 2006

Please, please, please contact an Army National Guard Health Care Recruiter before your head gets filled with inaccurate & misleading post by those without first-hand Army Nurse Corps knowledge of what you seek.

If something I've said is incorrect please let me know but I'm pretty sure I got it right (oh, and I do agree that talking to a Healthcare Recruiter is a good idea).

It is true I've never served as an Army Nurse. I'm not a Nurse (though I have considered it as an alternative to getting my doctorate in psychology), I am a future clinical psychologist. I did serve in the Army Reserves about a decade and a half ago and I try to keep up on current military issues.

I said that most Army healthcare assets are in the Reserve Components. I'm pretty sure that is still true. I know after the post-Cold War draw down many fields- healthcare, Military Police, Civil Affairs, Psych Ops, etc. became mostly Reserve. I do know that after some of the issues over the past 5 years with the wars in Afganistan and Iraq the Army has tried to remedy that somewhat but my understanding is that it is still largely the case (next time I see him I'll double check with a buddy who is an Army doctor to be sure). With most personnel in these areas being in the Reserves and Guard it is pretty much impossible to keep up a war (let alone two) without calling up significant Reserve assets.

I said it is possible one may spend more active duty time as a Reservist/Guardsman than if they went Active Duty to begin with. While that isn't the case for everyone, it isn't a couple isolated incidents either. Consider that a Reserve/Guard unit can be called up for 18 months at a time (and many have been). Consider that many units and individuals have already done 2 tours (some Reservists have done more). Consider that on the enlisted end one can sign up for a 2 year Active Duty commitment while enlisted the standard Reserve/Guard commitment is 6 years. It is quite easy to see how a person can end up with more active time as a Reservist than some on Active Duty. Now, granted, for nurses with a 3 year active duty commitment it may be a little harder for a Reservist to be called up a couple times and end up with equal or greater active time than an Active Duty nurse, but it isn't impossible.

If you were referring to the benefits I mention, check this link:

http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/nurse/corps_benefits.jsp

I think serving in the military is a wonderful thing. I think serving one's country and community in the Guard is commendable. Heck, I'm not really trying to discourage anyone from joining- if my fiance allows (she was an Air Force brat growing up and has made it clear she doesn't want to have to live again with the worry that a loved one may be deployed) I plan to re-enter the Reserves as a psychologist once I'm done with graduate school. However, I think people need to know what they may be getting into (I joined to serve, one of my biggest pet peeves were people who seemed to join solely for the college money/skills training/VA benefits/fill in the blank- you are there to serve your country and you may easily be called to war, Reserves, Guard or Active).

Corvette Guy · Jul 11, 2006

...It is true I've never served as an Army Nurse. I'm not a Nurse (though I have considered it as an alternative to getting my doctorate in psychology), I am a future clinical psychologist. I did serve in the Army Reserves about a decade and a half ago and I try to keep up on current military issues.

In my initial reply I was concerned regards to you never served in the Army Nurse Corps, nor the Active Component [AC]. I don't pretend to be a know it all, or even an SME [subject matter expert].Yet, I try to help people the best I can based on my experience as a member in the Army Nurse Corps, both the RC [Reserve Component] & AC. However, I did not realize my use of of the smilie icons would appear confrontational, which was never my intention. Plus, I definitely appreciate your military service in the RC. What was your MOS/AOC?

I said that most Army healthcare assets are in the Reserve Components. I'm pretty sure that is still true.

Yes sir, you are correct.

Here are the figures I was given during an AMEDD ANC lecture presented by LTC Ann Bauer, AN, RC AMEDD Personnel, Proponent Officer, at my AMEDD OBC [JAN 05]; In DEC '04, in the Army Nurse Corps 7205 were RC & 3184 members were AC.

...I said it is possible one may spend more active duty time as a Reservist/Guardsman than if they went Active Duty to begin with. While that isn't the case for everyone, it isn't a couple isolated incidents either. Consider that a Reserve/Guard unit can be called up for 18 months at a time (and many have been). Consider that many units and individuals have already done 2 tours (some Reservists have done more). Consider that on the enlisted end one can sign up for a 2 year Active Duty commitment while enlisted the standard Reserve/Guard commitment is 6 years. It is quite easy to see how a person can end up with more active time as a Reservist than some on Active Duty. Now, granted, for nurses with a 3 year active duty commitment it may be a little harder for a Reservist to be called up a couple times and end up with equal or greater active time than an Active Duty nurse, but it isn't impossible.

This is where I disagree.

Although, it may be a matter of semantics. However, this statement does not make sense to me; "one may spend more active duty time as a Reservist/Guardsman than if they went Active Duty to begin with." If a person is a member of the AC, thus on active duty, they are on active duty the entire time of the contract. Yet, later you seem to be referring to an RC member being mobilized to active duty, which makes more sense. However, many, if not the majority, of the ANC RC members get mobilized to active duty CONUS at an Army Medical Center, or Army Community Hospital as backfill. All, or I should say most, AC ANC members are assigned to an Army Medical Center & PROFIS'd to a CSH. In otherwords, work full-time on active duty at an Army Medical Center CONUS with a real potential [a matter of when & not if] of getting deployed OCONUS in theater with a CSH. Therefore, when an ANC AC member gets deployed with a CSH the CONUS Army Medical Center will often have the void position filled by an ANC RC member mobilized to fill such empty slot. However, it is true an ANC RC assigned to a CSH will most likely get mobilzed as part of an entire CSH getting mobilzed OCONUS. Clarification needs to be made on whether you are referring to an ANC RC assigned to a USAH, or CSH. All the ANC RC members assigned to a USAH Reserve Unit that I know [first hand] have been mobilized 12 months, boots on the ground to an Army Medical Center CONUS. BTW, boots on the ground refers to time other than needed for in/out processing.

To the best of my knowledge, all initial military obligations in the AMEDD are eight years, not matter if reserve, or enlisted. I know for a fact, once commissioned in the ANC you must hold the commission for at least eight years before a resignation can be requested. On the enlisted side [LPN/LVN = 91WM6] I seriously doubt less than three year committment is possible. I've known many RC AMEDD members that I've never been mobilized. However, they [ANC RC member] should be ready for mobilization on a moments notice.

IMHO, the odds are much greater that an ANC AC member will get deployed OCONUS for a longer period of time & more frequently than compared to an ANC RC member getting mobilzed OCONUS. I do realize exceptions [isolated incidents] are always possible. However, on the average an ANC AC member will end up with more OCONUS time in theater.

...If you were referring to the benefits I mention, check this link:
http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/nurse/corps_benefits.jsp

No sir, I read no discrepancies and well aware of the link.

...I think serving in the military is a wonderful thing. I think serving one's country and community in the Guard is commendable. Heck, I'm not really trying to discourage anyone from joining- if my fiance allows (she was an Air Force brat growing up and has made it clear she doesn't want to have to live again with the worry that a loved one may be deployed) I plan to re-enter the Reserves as a psychologist once I'm done with graduate school. However, I think people need to know what they may be getting into (I joined to serve, one of my biggest pet peeves were people who seemed to join solely for the college money/skills training/VA benefits/fill in the blank- you are there to serve your country and you may easily be called to war, Reserves, Guard or Active).

YES, I agree here 100%. However, after serving in the ANC RC I decided to return to the AC [prior service USMC AD 1980-1988] as a member of the ANC.

I have no problem with your intent to convey the message that if one considers the ANC RC they better be prepared to get mobilzed to active duty at some point or another, regardless if CONUS, or OCONUS. Again, thank you for your prior military service and hope to see you back with us soon.