Please help- airforce ?'s

[mjbsn2006]

I will graduate in May 2006 (BSN), and have been thinking about the airforce. If I join it would be ~JAn 2007, after working in a civilian hospital for a year. I have 2 small children( single parent), which I plan on taking with me to live on the base. Right now my first choice base is Lackland in San Antonio, Texas. Do you think they would deploy me oversees with my family situation ( kids, etc)? I talked to my instructor who is Colonel in LA, and she said that its a slim to none chance that they send women oversees that are single parents. Is this true? What has happened on your bases in this situation? I wouldnt go in as an enlistee, I'd be an officer; do they send the volunteeers first? I don't have any desire to go into combat, I'd be happy working at the base hospiatal or clinic. Just tell me wh at u guys think. Has anyone been at Lackland? Also, where( state) do they do the health care (RN) basic training, I cant find anything about its location on the website. I know they dont do it with the enlistees training. ANy advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

Let's see if I can help a little bit on a couple of your questions. I am currently an active duty nurse stationed at Keesler AFB. Commissioned Officer Training for nurses/docs/chaplains/lawyers is at Maxwell AFB in Alabama.

You can plan on being deployed right now if you enter the military doesn't matter which branch, but the Air Force does have the shortest tours(currently 4 months). Single parent status is not a disqualifier for being deployed, and most of my active duty nursing colleagues that are single parents have been deployed.

I know that you stated what the Colonel had said, but I bet she is probably in the reserves.

Also, your 1st duty station is almost guarenteed for nurses. Just put on your preference worksheet that you will only go to X AFB and don't sign your contract if you don't get it. You will be shown exactly where you are going in writing before you sign your last set of paperwork and are sworn in for the last time before active duty.

Good Luck!

[Corvette Guy]

Yes, please consider other than Texas! San Antonio is fine, but in the middle of no where, actually...

Ma'am, how do you figure San Antonio is in the middle of nowhere? San Antonio has alot to offer & 65 miles to the north is Austin. Anyway, the AF Commissioned Officer Training (COT) is located at Maxwell AFB, AL.

AF Comissioned Officer Training

Commissioned Officer Training lasts four weeks and is designed to help ease the transition of candidates in the Healthcare, Legal and Religious professions from the private sector into military life. You'll begin with a training regimen designed to educate you in the ways of the military. This is an important time during which you'll develop into an officer and a leader. You'll participate in physical conditioning three days a week, training, financial seminars and classroom studies.

Typical schedule:

5:15-6:00 am: Three days per week, you'll begin the day with physical conditioning.

6:30-7:15 am: Breakfast

7:15-11 am: Get acquainted with military life with classes covering military law, dress and grooming, etc.

12 noon-1:30 pm: Lunch

Afternoon: Learn about the Air Force in classes such as Air and Space Functions, Pay, Allowance and Leave, and Motivation.

5:30-6:30: Dinner

Evenings: Prepare for the coming day by studying, cleaning your uniform or organizing your dorm room.

BTW, I'm not a member of the AF Nurse Corps. Yet, an AF Nurse Recruiter in Austin has tried on numerous contacts to persuade me to "make the switch". I received direct commission as 1LT, AN USAR in 2003. My USAR Unit is the 5501st USAH at FSH, TX, which supports BAMC.

[mjbsn2006]

Thanks guys, you have really made this more clear to me. I have more info. now to base my decision on.

[Corvette Guy]

Thanks guys, you have really made this more clear to me. I have more info. now to base my decision on.

Did you visit the links [highlighted in blue] I posted?

[mjbsn2006]

yea I checked out the officer training one with schedule before, it just never said where it was held. I'm fixing to go to that AFB site in ALa. now so see what it says. thanks alot!!!!

[Corvette Guy]

yea I checked out the officer training one with schedule before, it just never said where it was held. I'm fixing to go to that AFB site in ALa. now so see what it says. thanks alot!!!!

:) Glad I could help. BTW, in the Army single parent soldiers must have a family care plan. In essence, the fcp states who will legally have temporary custody of the single-parent soldier's minor children upon receiving orders for unaccompanied tour OCONUS. So, if you don't have someone that can take care of your children on a moments notice for an extended period of time, then I'd forget the military if I was you.

I became a single-parent while in the USMC back in the late '80s and had no one that could take care of my two sons when it came my turn to go OCONUS. Thus, finished my second term to EAS and processed out with an honorable discharge. However, 15 years later and both my sons several years out of the proverbial nest I came back into the military.

[AFnurse3]

Hi, I'm a nurse in the AF and have been in for a bit over a year. Maybe I can answer a few questions for you. After joining you first go to COT--commissioned officer training--at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery AL. You there learn how to be an officer....dress and appearance, customs and courtesies, AF history, Leadership, ect. It is the least difficult commissioning source for the AF, but you must still work for it. You will march in flights....constantly. You must be within the weigh standards and be able to pass your fit test.

After those five weeks, you will be off to NTP--nurse transition program--where you will spend three months in a clinical situation. They know that the government has said that you meet the requirements to be a nurse, but this will teach you how to be an AF nurse. It is a good learning opportunity, but at the same time it can be frustrating....you want to yell out "I'M A NURSE!!!" on occassion when you get tired of feeling like you are a student...but you will survive this three months and go on to your permanent duty station. Let me back up and say that you might have NTP at your permanent duty station if you are lucky. I had NTP at Andrews AFB and am stationed at Langley AFB. A couple of people in my group were stationed at Andrews and stayed there. One girl was stationed at Lackland AFB. It's just in what''s available. Not every AF hospitals have NTP.

You won't necessarily get your first choice of bases. Mine was Lackland....Langley was at the bottom of my wish list. But you will find out which base you've been assigned to before you go to COT. You have the right to turn down the first base assigned to you. At that point, if you are unhappy with the base you are assigned to and they won't give you one that you will be willing to take, you can still decline your commission. That's a little known fact.

As far as being deployed as a single mom....being a single mom has no bearing on whether or not you are deployed. Gen Jumper proclaimed that all military members are deployable. I know nurses that have volunteered to be deployed and have been told that they can't. Sorry about that. It sucks for both sides....those who want to go and those who don't.

If you have any other questions, feel free ask. I hope I helped you.

[mjbsn2006]

thanks you all are so helpful. I'm glad to get the real story instead of what recruiters tell you. When you get assigned to a base, do you usually stay there as long as you want or do you have to switch to another in a few months? Would I have to do the transition class even if I would not be a "new" nurse when I sign on or is it just mandatory to teach you the AF way?

thanks

[AFnurse3]

NTP is for all new nurses. I'm not exactly sure how much experience you must have so that you are exempt from the class. I know that if you have less than a year for sure.

You will stay at your permanent station for a few years. Three years if you want your next assignment to be in the US. Two years if you want to go overseas next. There is little chance of being moved before that mark comes. If you want to stay longer, there is a chance of that if you are at a large facility such as Wilford Hall and can move to a different unit for the next few years.

[Corvette Guy]

NTP is for all new nurses. I'm not exactly sure how much experience you must have so that you are exempt from the class. I know that if you have less than a year for sure.

You will stay at your permanent station for a few years. Three years if you want your next assignment to be in the US. Two years if you want to go overseas next. There is little chance of being moved before that mark comes. If you want to stay longer, there is a chance of that if you are at a large facility such as Wilford Hall and can move to a different unit for the next few years.

It is my understanding [d/t BRAC] the plan is Willford Hall will in the near future not be a military hospital and the OB/GYN section will be transferred to BAMC.

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

NTP is for RNs w/ less than 6 months full time experience.

NTP is for all new nurses. I'm not exactly sure how much experience you must have so that you are exempt from the class. I know that if you have less than a year for sure.

You will stay at your permanent station for a few years. Three years if you want your next assignment to be in the US. Two years if you want to go overseas next. There is little chance of being moved before that mark comes. If you want to stay longer, there is a chance of that if you are at a large facility such as Wilford Hall and can move to a different unit for the next few years.

[mjbsn2006]

SO there wont be any major airforce hospitals in the SAn antonio area, just the clinic at Randolph AFB?? Wow that really sucks!!!

It is my understanding [d/t BRAC] the plan is Willford Hall will in the near future not be a military hospital and the OB/GYN section will be transferred to BAMC.