Published Oct 27, 2011
allgod
7 Posts
Hello, I'm very open to the idea of joining a military branch after i complete my BSN. Serving my country would be a great honor.
I just have a couple of questions. When applying to be commissioned as a nursing officer, how competitive is it? What is the rate of applicants applying and applicants being accepted? When should i apply to be commissioned? And how long does the process take?
These are the only questions that I can think of at the top of my head. If there is anything else that you guys would like to add, please go on ahead. I would love to have all the information I can get.
Thank you!
Corey
Oh yeah, and I was also wondering what are the requirements for new grad nurses for these military branches? Thank you!!
and I would like information on all the branches but I would prefer more information for Navy and Airforce. Thank you!
jeckrn, BSN, RN
1,868 Posts
The best thing you can do to get upto date information and what each service requires is to speak with a Health Care Recruiter (HCR). Make sure it is a HCR and not an enlisted recruiter. To find a HCR go to each service web site and there should be a link for the HCR. The Army's site is goarmy.com. Also, do not expect a quick response back from them, as others have posted here it can take a couple of months for a response.
Once you get started it can take anywhere from 6 months to 1 year depending on how fast the paperwork gets done, when the accession board meets etc. As of right now the Army requires 2 years of experience as a RN but because of the time it takes for the process it does not hurt to contact them way before the 2 years.
Oldlove
64 Posts
Jeckrn is absolutely correct. Start as soon as you possibly can. I've been at it for two years as of this month and I finally got my COMDOCS today. This is a very grueling process, if you want it bad enough you'll tough it out.
thank you so much! do you happen to also know if air force and navy also require two years or some type of experience? @jeckrn