Kateboss

@jfratian Like I said, depending on where you were a nurse, will depend on your paycut, maybe even comparable in some parts of the nation.

@TravelRN17 There’s only 2 other army RNs on my floor, one being my OIC (my boss). The rest are civilians, or Army LPNs, which is also something unusual that you might have to get used to. LPNs were never allowed to work in hospitals in my civilian jobs so that was a surprise. So if you are the charge nurse, you have to push their iv meds and sign off all their assessments, among other things. There’s a lot of turn over with the civilians as well, as many are contractors or army wives who have to PCS at some point (change duty stations). But overall I don’t think any of the civilians treat me differently because I’m military. They will give you a stipend for housing based on where you’re stationed, how many dependents you have, and your rank. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sorry I commissioned or salty about the low pay. I was prepared for a big pay cut and a severe limitation of my international travel addiction lol. (It is a hard 30 days of leave, no room for creativity of getting 3 weeks off while only using 4 days of vacay time that we nurses are so good at). It is definitely a unique opportunity and very respectable, and if you don’t like it after 3 years you can return to your old job since legally they have to hold it for you.

Wow I wasn’t trying to turn this thread into a pissing contest lol but here I am. I took the take home average of the mid month and beginning of the month LES and it was about 1/3 of what I used to take home in 2 weeks. 37% to be exact. No retention bonuses for me cuz I’m not prior service.

The pay may be comparable if you’re coming from a low paying state, but being from California, and taking BAH and BAS, into account, it is still 1/3 of what I made before.

You commission into the army and then the army tells you where you are going. I have never heard of someone telling the army where they are going no matter how in demand their AOH is. Don't believe everything your recruiter tells you. They may ask for your top 3 choices, but they will still decide where they are sending you.

I commissioned as a 1LT after 6 years of civilian nursing on med-surg. I don't really feel like I'm in the army most of the time. The biggest difference for me is the money, I make about one third of the money that I made before. I also used to work a lot of overtime and the army will not pay you overtime for extra hours you put in, and you can only work 16 hours per week at a per diem job. I also used to travel a lot, and you have to go through like 10 people to leave the country.

I commissioned in June, and then in late September, they called me and told me I was going to DCC in November and gave me 5 choices of where I could be stationed: Alaska, Missouri, North Carolina, Fort Benning, and Fort Campbell. I was very tired and I heard 1 hour from Nashville, which sold me on Fort Campbell.

Yes! I received my orders on Monday! I start DCC on November 18th and then after DCC and BOLC I will be at Fort Campbell.

I will be a 66H

Hello, I finally found out today that I will be leaving for DCC on Nov 16 and BOLC January 6th. They gave me the choices of Georgia, Alaska, North Carolina, Missouri, and Kentucky, so I chose Kentucky because of the vicinity to Nashville.

Yes, I also feel that I'm being punk'd

I guess they were trying to reach me by phone but I didn't have service. My recruiter gave me a number to call and I have left several messages. Nothing in my email. Has anyone else heard anything?

Yes, by commissioned I meant sign the contract. We'll probably be going in November then.

Active

I was selected in May and commissioned June 12. My recruiter told me that they were trying to contact me last week while I was in Cuba but I missed the deadline to start DCC on September 7th. I have left several messages and have not heard anything. My recruiter said he'll call tomorrow.