Nursing.....Air Force or Navy??

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Hello, I've been lurking around here for some months know and have found lots of great information..but I still have questions.

I am currently enrolled in a 4 yr. BSN program and will graduate in 2 years. I am married and have 4 children between the ages of 13 & 6. I have been thinking about joining either the Air Force or the Navy and have found many sites with info for the Navy, but not a whole lot on the AF, so I guess right now, I'm leaning towards the Navy. My only question is my family situation. Is it a bad thing to already have a large family before getting in?? My husband and father are both former AF, so we are familiar with the military. Another thing is that my husband is on long-term disability due to a work injury..Is that a problem?? I have heard lots of great stories about how nurses are treated in the military by doctors, as oppose to how we are treated in the civilian world by some not so nice Drs.( I know not all are jerks).

From what I have read, once I'm done with school I would go to an commissioned officer training camp, and then to one of the big 3 naval hospitals. How long does one usually stay there?? What are my odds of going on a ship? And if I do go on a ship, for how long?? Another question is about housing, since we are a big family, do they have housing that can accommadate us?? What if the size of the house we need is not in my ranking area? I have found a website for naval housing and there are some enlisted houses that have more bedrooms than some officier housing, so woujld we go into the enlisted housing?? How often do you move?? When my dad was in the AF we moved just about every 2 years, where as my husband was stationed at Barksdale for all of his 6 years!

I would like to do the program that the Navy does for college students, where they pay you a stippend while in school and get a sign-on bonus, and from what I read I need to do this after I complete my first semester in nursing courses, which ould be the end of this semster, so I need to deceide what I'm going to do pretty soon!

Thanks for any input you can give

Sorry so long....just trying to make the right decision.

Feel free to email me if yoou want!

What do they look for in applicants for ncp? You said that when you applied there were 3500, and they only chose 35. Is there a certian criteria that they look for? What is the selection process based on? If you're not chosen, can you reapply?

Thanks

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The AF calls them unaccompanied tours. There are few tours like that for nurses in the AF. Korea & Turkey are the top ones and all the nurses I have worked with have done these on volunteer only basis. Most people do the unaccompanied tours in order to have their choice of stations afterwards.

I remember going to Turkey when I was little, we were in Incirlik AB. It was fun, but I remember being sick alot!! Somethng to do with cement factories there. I was born in Okinawa, Japan, on an army base, guess the AF didn't have a great hospital facility. Anyway, I guess that's why the military is on my mind, I miss the traveling, and new experiences. Since my husband had to get out early, our experience was cut short.

Thanks for all of your help!

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, US Navy.

Allemse-

I think mainly that want to know you have a good background, physically well, and that you perform well in school. Aside from that, you r guess is as good as mine. I would think the application numbers are down significantly from when I applied. I was not a genius in school, but I was getting a dual degree, one in Nursing and one in Business. I had a 3.39 GPA when I graduated from undergrad, again no genius. I had no major medical problems and my background was clean aside from a bunch of speeding tickets. If you have anything in your past that proves are a good leader, make it known, they love good leaders. When you do your application you have to go back about 10 years for addresses and personal references, so get a list together. Basically the FBI or CIA or NSA, one of those does an indepth background check, including your credit history. Make sure that is all in line or that discrepancies can be adequately explained. The application is all paperwork except for the physical part, any major medical issues for you? Let me know.

LCDR(s) Dan

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Only mediacl problems are high blood pressure, which would hopefully come down when I lose some weight! As far as for the credit....ours is not the best right now....long story.

My husband worked for Conoco-Philips oil refinery, he was an operator there, made pretty good money working there. But since his spinal fusion, he can't go back to work, right now he's in the process of getting disability. At his work, if you are out sick for more than 6 months, after that 6 month mark they drop your pay down to 50%!! so things have gotten behind till his disability goes through. He had disability insurance, and if he couldn't work it would pay off our cars, we had them financed through the credit union at his work. So, soon those will be taken care of and we can get everything else straightened out.

So, would that be a problem? When we get our income tax return, we are paying off alot of stuff. What if, let's say in 1 year, I apply and everything had been paid off or is being paid on time? Would that make a difference?

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Specializes in OB, neonatal.

So, would that be a problem? When we get our income tax return, we are paying off alot of stuff. What if, let's say in 1 year, I apply and everything had been paid off or is being paid on time? Would that make a difference?

Hi Allemse,

I just wanted to put in my 2 cents on this. I am currently in nursing school and have emassed a HUGE amount of debt (my husband was also finishing his degree as I entered school so two of us were full-time students with no income and 2 kids). I was very worried about my debt when I applied to the Navy, but apparently it wasn't a big deal. They accepted me, debt and all. Hopefully that puts your mind at ease.

Jennifer

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Jennifer,

Thanks for the 2 cents!! I do feel a little better...but still just wonder. Guess I will until I apply and see!!

Another question, when you do apply, do you need to be inshape then?? I know i need to get into shape and I know i need to do it now..but what if I'm not where I need to be when i apply?

Another thing is....I was wondering how common is it for the wife to be the head of house, so to speak? I know they have all of these clubs and groups for military wives, but not for husbands?? My husband brought this up because in the AF the wifes role of social butterfly helped in her husbands promotions....he was wondering if that applied in the Navy too, or if it stil applies at all, since things have changed over the years.

Thanks, Sharon

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Specializes in ER,ICU and Progressive Care Unit,Peds.

Allemse,

It's very common for the wife to be the "head of the house" as you say. There is a club that the navy's spouse have (i'm not sure of the name right now) that used to send my husband all kinds of stuff in the mail. But he has no desire to be in any of those clubs. I find it so annoying when I tell people that I'm married and they assume that my husband is in the service too! Which of course he isn't; and has never had any desire to be.

To answer your question about getting in shape...I did the NCP program. Part of the application process is MEPS; you will be weighed there. If you are over wt. for the navy standards than that could be a disqual. factor for you. This being said....the wt standards are pretty soft....I'm 5'8" and my maxt wt is 170 lbs. That's pretty heafty! Also, the process of beign accpeted to NCP program takes quite a while! The sign on bonus now is $10,000 with $1000/month stipend. You will get $5000 of the bonus up front then $5000 six months later.

Hope this answers some of those lingering questions.

ENS PM

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Allemse,

It's very common for the wife to be the "head of the house" as you say. There is a club that the navy's spouse have (i'm not sure of the name right now) that used to send my husband all kinds of stuff in the mail. But he has no desire to be in any of those clubs. I find it so annoying when I tell people that I'm married and they assume that my husband is in the service too! Which of course he isn't; and has never had any desire to be.

To answer your question about getting in shape...I did the NCP program. Part of the application process is MEPS; you will be weighed there. If you are over wt. for the navy standards than that could be a disqual. factor for you. This being said....the wt standards are pretty soft....I'm 5'8" and my maxt wt is 170 lbs. That's pretty heafty! Also, the process of beign accpeted to NCP program takes quite a while! The sign on bonus now is $10,000 with $1000/month stipend. You will get $5000 of the bonus up front then $5000 six months later.

Hope this answers some of those lingering questions.

ENS PM

Yes, you did answer some of my other questions! Thank you!! What do you mean "up front"? Is that when you are accepted into the ncp that you get the "up front" half?

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, US Navy.

Allemse-

As far as the debt/ credit stuff is concerned, if you are clearing it up and what not, it shouldn't be a problem. I only bring it up because they made a huge deal when I applied, something to the effect of "if you can't care for your own finances, how are going to care for the Navy's?" kind of BS. At the time I didn't think anything of it, but when I went to Italy that's when things got interesting, i had been in for 7 years already. Once we got there we sent change of address forms to EVERYONE. Well, mail takes 2-3 weeks to get back and forth. During the time we were exchanging corresponence with our creditors they got ticked because we were moving out of the country like they weren't going to get paid anymore, starting sending nastygrams and what not. Next thing I know I have to go to the CO because the Navy had done a check on my finances and seen what was going on. They thought we were trying to get out of our bills, long story short, it was a HUGE misunderstanding and we had to put it all down in black and white to explain it. It was a big pain, but even after you get in, they are watching, so you have to stay clean. Goes for the rest of you too, believe it, Big Brother is watching.

As for the getting inshape part, start now. Like was said above you need to be within Navy standards when you go to apply. Start watching what you're eating lose some weight and get the blood pressure down. You don't want to give them any reason to reject you. Do push-ups, sit-ups and start running. Look up the standards for the PRT via Google to see where you need to be.

LCDR(s) Dan

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Specializes in Nurse Consultation.

I was a Navy Medical Programs(RN/MD) recruiter. My recommedation is that you speak with a Nurse Recruiter. Everyone's situation is different. The best way to the respond that is most applicable to you would be to share your career plans with a medical programs recruiter.

Check www.navy.com/healthcare/nursing

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Specializes in Ortho, Med surg and L&D.
...the Navy had done a check on my finances and seen what was going on. They thought we were trying to get out of our bills, long story short, it was a HUGE misunderstanding and we had to put it all down in black and white to explain it. It was a big pain, but even after you get in, they are watching, so you have to stay clean. Goes for the rest of you too, believe it, Big Brother is watching.

...LCDR(s) Dan

Hello LCDR,

Okay, I was naive...sure I know that almost every hospital I have worked at has run a credit check alongside with their criminal background check but, I really didn't think it went much beyond that.

So, obviously I realize now that the Army has run a credit check on me, (YIKES my student loans!)

I have a piggyback debt question if you please.

My only loans and lines of credit right now are for my education loans, (including alternative lenders and the government lenders) as well as a cellphone and DSL service.

So, is it the amount of loans you have or any late payments and what not that is a flag? I think that my student loans come up to about 130K all said when done, (UG and Grad and for cost of total attendance).

Kind of makes me wonder if this was a reason the review board passed me up at the second time!

Thanks in advance,

Gen

p.s. I grew up under the suspicion that big brother tracks, (my father is an ex cop and my brother works in research marketing...big brother knows our movements...kind of makes me wonder if any of my own normal activities could be viewed as deviant or not!!)

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Gen,

You brought up a good point! I will also have college loan debt around $130,000 by the time I'm done!!!! Paying for daycare really added up!!! Will this be looked at when they do a credit check??

Thanks,

Sharon

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