Nursing in the Air Force interest

Gr4ceffa, CNA · May 24, 2017

Nineteen19,

I hope a moderator moves this into the Government / Military nursing forum to get you more responses. I believe the age requirement for the Air Force at least is 39 years old. I'm almost certain you will have to do your schooling on base, considering every other job in the military does so.

Also, yes your family is able to move with you; but you will be required to buy a house on base as they wouldn't be able to live in the barracks(obviously).

The time that you're away from home depends on the current assignment given, but you do get granted Liberty every weekend(at least the Marines do, not so sure about when Liberty is for the Air Force).

I've also heard mixed thoughts about getting your education before going. Sometimes there may be a back up for the schooling which may take longer than it would in civilian life. But whatever you do, good luck!

tRN4L · May 24, 2017

Hi!

I am currently a relatively new nurse and hoping to become an air force nurse myself. To become an a nurse in the air force, you need to have a BSN. Once earning a BSN and becoming licensed, you would enter in as an officer. Earning a commission is competitive, even more so for new grads. If you go in as enlisted, they do have a nurse enlisted commissioning program which would allow you to go through nursing school on them.. but I am sure this is super competitive too. It is probably smartest, if you really want to be a nurse, to finish your BSN and then apply. Also, the age requirement for medical officers is higher than that of enlisted and you definitely make the cut- I think it is like 42 or something for medical officers, I am not sure for enlisted.

Another thing you may want to look into in the navy nurse commissioning program. From what I have seen, the navy offers nursing scholarships for your BSN program and a commission on the other end.

I have never been enlisted so I can't speak much for that. I do have close friends who are enlisted though and once in the military, enlisted or officer, the needs of the military come first. So where you are placed and how long you are away really will depend on your enlisted job, missions your assigned to, etc. You get 30 days of leave a year but can deploy, etc. I would imagine it is pretty hard to balance being active duty enlisted and in nursing school.

Just do your research before deciding on anything! Good luck with everything and the stress of nursing school is totally worth it in the end :)

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 24, 2017

thread moved for best response

Editorial Team / Moderator · May 28, 2017

If I decide to enlist now, will I get to continue my schooling at the cc of my choice or will I have to do so on base (possibly in another state)?
I have a family, would they be able to move with me, if it is mandatory that I go out of state?
How often will I have to be away from my child?
Is it best to wait until I achieve an ADN/BSN before enlisting/commission into the AF?

If your goal is to be an RN in the Air Force, I would NOT enlist. That is just going to sidetrack you from your goal. You will be very focused on whichever job the Air Force has you doing, without a guarantee that you would even have time for school. At your age, you still have time! Like 10 years. :) As another poster mentioned, you need a BSN to commission.

The Air Force is not going to send you to school for your BSN unless you joined as an enlisted member, spent some years doing whichever job, and then qualified for the Nurse Enlisted Commissioning Program (NECP), in which your job is to go to school. But as you can imagine, this is probably VERY competitive and not guaranteed. The Army has something similar, and I have known top-notch soldiers who have applied more than once and not been selected.

When you are in your CC program and then bridge from RN to BSN, make sure you keep your GPA high â€” it really matters to the military. You might read about minimums (like a 3.5 GPA), but most competitive applicants have higher GPAs than that.

Good luck!!! :)

nineteen19 · May 31, 2017

Thank you, Gr4ceffa for your reply. You provided some helpful information about what the housing situation may be like.

nineteen19 · May 31, 2017

Hi!
I am currently a relatively new nurse and hoping to become an air force nurse myself. To become an a nurse in the air force, you need to have a BSN. Once earning a BSN and becoming licensed, you would enter in as an officer. Earning a commission is competitive, even more so for new grads. If you go in as enlisted, they do have a nurse enlisted commissioning program which would allow you to go through nursing school on them.. but I am sure this is super competitive too. It is probably smartest, if you really want to be a nurse, to finish your BSN and then apply. Also, the age requirement for medical officers is higher than that of enlisted and you definitely make the cut- I think it is like 42 or something for medical officers, I am not sure for enlisted.
... the needs of the military come first. So where you are placed and how long you are away really will depend on your enlisted job, missions your assigned to, etc. You get 30 days of leave a year but can deploy, etc. I would imagine it is pretty hard to balance being active duty enlisted and in nursing school.

I did some research on this route as well, tRN4L. I am leaning towards this route because I prefer the idea of entering as an Officer as well as having more time to focus and concentrate on my degree is my first priority (as military needs are first should I enlist). Thank you for the information :)

nineteen19 · May 31, 2017

If your goal is to be an RN in the Air Force, I would NOT enlist. That is just going to sidetrack you from your goal. You will be very focused on whichever job the Air Force has you doing, without a guarantee that you would even have time for school. At your age, you still have time! Like 10 years. :) As another poster mentioned, you need a BSN to commission.
The Air Force is not going to send you to school for your BSN unless you joined as an enlisted member, spent some years doing whichever job, and then qualified for the Nurse Enlisted Commissioning Program (NECP), in which your job is to go to school. But as you can imagine, this is probably VERY competitive and not guaranteed. The Army has something similar, and I have known top-notch soldiers who have applied more than once and not been selected.
When you are in your CC program and then bridge from RN to BSN, make sure you keep your GPA high â€” it really matters to the military. You might read about minimums (like a 3.5 GPA), but most competitive applicants have higher GPAs than that.
Good luck!!! :)

You couldn't have made it any clearer, Pixie.RN--thank you! My number one priority/goal currently, is to achieve an BSN. You're right, if I had decided to enlist, my priorities would have required some altering and that is just not something I am willing to delay.

It seems by enlisting it will only set back my goal. I will continue on my program path and re-explore my military options after I achieve a BSN.