Officer Accession Pilot Program

[nanotube]

I'm 39 years old and will be starting a LPN program on June 28. I already have a Bachelor's degree but I had a 3.0 which isn't good enough for an accelerated program. I live in rural Ohio and the closest school for BSN is 60 miles away and there are 2 year wait just to get into the local ADN program. I was thinking about doing my ADN and then BSN at Excelsior College Online program if possible. Will the Army accept that? Is the Officer Accession Pilot Program very competitive to enter. Do you take an officer test similiar to the AFOQT test? What about an age waiver for the Air Force (which I prefer)? Do you still qualify for bonuses and tuition reimbursement with this program? Does the Army force you to retire at 62 and do you get any retirement if you don't finish your 20 years? And finally if I can't get a BSN am I too old to become enlisted as a LPN or RN (ADN)? Sorry for all the questions.

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

For those who want to be a commissioned officer serving as a nurse the best route is BSN - best as in quickest and most direct. If being an active duty nurse is your goal you could do your 2 yr wait + 2 year ADN + 2 BSN and then start.. or you could find a BSN elsewhere and do 4 yr total.. not sure of your life circumstances if its purely financial taking loans, living cheaply and having a 'good idea' you'd be qualified to enter army would enable loan repayment and you'd have 2 years of higher earning power as well....

If you are able to swing a BSN elsewhere I'd take it into consideration... I'd then contact the recruiter to see if excelsior grads have been accepted and his/her thoughts on that route, and then to run the scenario and age scenario by if you went bsn route... that being said most will have lots of applicants and they need to find qualified apps at this time so it might be hard to get a lot of attention when you are just dealing with scenarios that is why its best to present with clear specific questions that they can answer rather then providing long term mentorship - which occurs often better in this forum~

best of luck!

btw... even if i didn't find a BSN i'd consider relocating to a place that has no waiting list and does ADN admissions based on competitive rolling admissions vs some sort of waiting list... my 2cents.

v/r

12-5. AN AR school accreditation

a. Applicants for any AMEDD corps must be graduates of educational programs accredited by an accrediting agency or association under the U.S. Secretary of Education and approved by TSG.

b. The Army will consider online degrees for both RA and AR officer accessions as long as they are accredited programs. NOTE: An applicant who is enrolled in an online degree program is ineligible to apply if enrolled in a health care degree program that is author- ized under the HPSP.

c. All online degrees must be reviewed by the appropriate PM and Health Services Director- ate, Operations Division, for approval prior to submission of the applicant’s application. All online degree transcripts must be sent to Health Services Directorate, Operations Division, for review as soon as possible prior to initiation of the application for a thorough review and deter- mination of eligibility or noneligibility.

d. Online degrees will not be accepted for qualifying degrees.

e. The following agencies are recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education, for AN applicants:

(1) CCNE (Welcome to AACN).

(2) NLNAC (NLNAC - National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission).

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

I can answer a couple of these as an AD USAF RN.

There's no test to take like the AFOQT, which I have taken in the past when I was applying for a line officer slot. The maximum age for commissioning as an Air Force RN is either 42 or 47 - I know it tends to shift based on needs of the Air Force and right now they're pretty fat. And if you do less than 20 years in any branch, you get no retirement and no benefits - pretty much like any other job.

You're past the maximum age for initial enlistment in the Air Force, which is 27.