RNMedic553

One more thing on uniforms. The expectation is that you will also purchase a dress uniform and have it available throughout phase 1 and 2. It is called the AGSU and you should plan on spending $600-1200 for the uniform and getting it fitted. There are companies online where you can purchase the whole thing or you can go to clothing and sales at JBSA. The availability just varies. Used uniforms are fine but just know the OCP pattern fade relatively quickly so I would advise buying at least 1 full new set of OCPs. Just so they look a little nicer for events where it matters a bit more. You will get a packing list for DCC and that will help guide you through what to purchase as far as uniforms go and everything is available at clothing and sales (usually). Also, unless it has changed since I went in 2024, you will be issued things like cold and wet weather jackets, duffel bags, and ruck sacks during the first few days of DCC. My advice is if you want to buy anything ahead of DCC just keep the receipt and tags on everything and you can return anything you got issued back to clothing and sales. No reason to have two of everything.

You 100% have to have a laptop. All quizzes and exams are taken on your personal laptop in class. A tablet is up to you but I highly recommend it. You'll be killing a TON of trees if you want to print everything off but that's an option as well. We had a ton of Apple users. The only issue that I know that anybody ran into was they would occasionally have problems loading images on exams. But the instructors would always just post the image on the projector. Other than that, no issues. I used a Windows laptop and an iPad and it worked great. Still using the iPad for my care plans. I liked Notability for a note taking app. Easy to download slides and write notes one them. Some people used Goodnotes and liked it. It's really up to you.

Almost my entire class lived off-post. I would recommend areas North and/or East of San Antonio. Several of us lived in the Converse area and had good experiences. Just know that I-35 can be a nightmare of a commute. You can see what your Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) will be for San Antonio if you just Google "BAH calculator". It is all based on your rank, whether you have dependents, and the zip code that you have orders for which will be 78234 for JBSA. You get that entire amount monthly and can use as little or as much of it as you want to for housing expenses (rent, utilities, etc). Some people rent cheap and can keep the excess and some people lived in places that used all of their BAH for just rent. In general, most people were able to find housing that was cheaper than what they received in BAH. Here's how my wife and I went about it. We visited San Antonio before Christmas and went house hunting. We just applied with an occupancy date that was right around our report date. We were able to find somewhere and roll right into it. If you are unable to find housing before you get to San Antonio, don't stress. You will also be able to get reimbursed a set rate for a set number of days in a hotel while you secure housing called Temporary Lodging Expenses (TLE) that you can use during your PCS move. For instance, if you need to stay in a hotel for 10 days after you arrive in San Antonio before your housing is available, you pay for that hotel bill up front and the Army reimburses you per day up to a certain amount each day. We used this with our move to phase 2 and stayed in hotels 15 days while our on-post house was getting ready. There is a maximum number of days buy that can vary so just read your orders carefully. As for phase 2, from what I gather the timeline is different each year as they have to make sure how many students each site can take which changes year to year based on the previous number of students they had as well as changes in the hospital (like an OR being remodeled). So I don't have a definitive answer for you. They will keep you all posted on phase 2 and I would be very surprised if you didn't have an answer before Christmas of phase 1. This seems like a long time away (trust me, I felt the same way) but the time flies by and you'll be searching for housing for phase 2 before you know it.

There may be someone from the FY25 cohort on here that just went through this but I can tell you how it was in FY24. Just know that everything I mention is only what I experienced and may be different from what you end up doing. There was a bit of radio silence after the acceptance notification. That is just the nature of the beast because at this point, the program is at the mercy of HRC who will actually cut your orders. I got my orders in November if I am remembering correctly and here is how the timeline worked out. January = Report to San Antonio and do some in processing with the program for about 2 weeks. February = DCC in Fort Sill, OK. March - Late April/early May = BOLC First week of June = Start of class. I worked my last day in my civilian ICU on December 22nd (you know, to enjoy the holidays).I have a family so we moved everyone down at the beginning of January. They did what they could to get us set up in Fort Sam to get us into all the systems, especially pay. That being said, prepare now for a gap in pay from leaving your civilian job and your first paycheck. You start being paid as of your report date on your orders but it can take a few weeks for that pay to hit your account. We were fortunate and most of us got paid after those first two weeks but we encountered MANY other new officers in the Army that waited a month or more for their first check. You get back pay when that happens but it's still inconvenient. I would plan for 30-45 days without pay but just know if you run into an issue, there are multiple programs that provide financial assistance if you need it. DCC is all in Oklahoma. You go there for the whole month and that is unaccompanied meaning it is only you (and your classmates) going. Once DCC is over, you come back to San Antonio for BOLC. For us we left DCC on Friday and started BOLC on Monday so no real gap. BOLC was nice because you get to go home to your own bed each night since it is at JBSA and that is where we're assigned. At the end of BOLC there was a 3 week gap where some people just reset and got ready for the program and others took some vacation. The amount of time you have and whether you will be approved to take leave is up to the training schedule and the leadership but they were pretty understanding with us. Most of that was vague but it has to be since stuff changes year to year as far as training schedules go. If you have any specific questions I can answer them to the best of my ability.

For those that got in, congratulations! I know how much work it takes to get in from the direct commission side and you should be proud of your accomplishment. For those that did not get the news you wanted today, don't be discouraged. This is a very competitive program and there are many successful Army CRNAs who needed a few cycles before getting in. Just keep focused, get more experience, shore up that application where you can, and start working for that next application cycle. You've got this.

There is no hard number they follow every year from what we understand. They vary it year to year based on the number of phase 2 students the program can support. Each site has a different maximum number of students it can take based on the hospital throughput, out rotation availability, and OR usage so it fluctuates. For example, we had phase 2 sites that had slots for up to 6 new students from our cohort and some that could only take 3.

Only thing I would add is about housing. Each soldier gets a Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) in addition to their base pay. BAH is based on your rank, years of service, the location you are being stationed, and whether or not you have dependents (there's no difference if it is 1 dependent or 21). There are 2 options for how people typically use that BAH while in the Army. 1: Living in on-post housing. Your housing options on post are based on both your rank and family size. You can find the housing office by searching for Fort Sam Houston on-post housing and see floor plans that you would qualify for (at least in theory). They won't be able to get you on the list for on-post housing until after you get accepted and have official orders with a report date. Once you get housing, the housing office takes your full BAH and it covers rent and average utilities with the exception of internet and/or cable. 2: Live off post. This is no different than renting or buying a house in the civilian world. You just get your BAH added onto your paycheck which you can then use for housing and utilities wherever you choose to live around your duty station. For instance, say your BAH is $2000/month, if you find a house to rent for $1600, you have $400 left for your utilities. Anything left over is just part of your pay. On the flip side, if you go bouje and find a place to rent for $2500, your BAH stays $2000 and you will need to cover the difference. That's a lot but I hope that helps give you an idea about housing. We have a few living on post but the majority of us rent at various places across the city (it's all about your preferences). There are several areas that are reasonable as far as rent gos that are also convenient to post.

Holiday block leave is just a time when they program does not have anything officially scheduled (like classes) around the holiday. For us this year, it was just over two weeks. They won't force you to take leave but it is encouraged because if you don't take leave during this time, you can be used for duty assignments around the company during the break. Nothing is ever guaranteed with leave because it has to go through the company commander for approval but I think it was approved pretty liberally for holiday block leave. Many of us took the opportunity to travel out of state to visit family during this time and a few classmates are even traveling oversees although that is a MUCH more involved process. It's definitely a nice break and opportunity to travel home and decompress before getting back into things in January.

Our last day is June 6th. But sign whatever lease gives you the cheapest price. The law protects you from fees from breaking a lease. With orders you only have to give them 30 days notice and you're in the clear.

So field time for us was the last 3 weeks of BOLC phase 1. That is Monday-Friday at Bullis. Home on the weekends. Take that with a grain a salt though because they are constantly modifying things LOL. Phase 2 is "track phase", which means you will be with just nurses that are going through BOLC and you get some job specific information. It was a nice change from the rest of BOLC which is really a 70B (Health services administration officer) course that they throw everyone medical into.

So I can tell you how it worked for FY24 and I am unsure if it has changed since then. We had a report date before DCC. Almost all of us moved our families with us and arrived with them on that report date. Most everyone either lived on post or off-post using their BAH. A few utilized the hotel on base but that is just because they had not locked down housing. All of our families were able to PCS with us but of course had to stay in San Antonio during the month we were in DCC. You will continue to receive BAH for JBSA while you are gone (although it still may be a couple of weeks before you are paid so plan accordingly). During our BOLC they did not authorize any students who were "permanent party" or had orders for Fort Sam after BOLC to use the hotels. So we all just went home at the end of each day during BOLC with the exception of your weeks "in the field" at Camp Bullis.

Ask all the questions you need with this process. Just some quick, general advice. 1: If you are planning on doing on base housing, I would contact them immediately and get placed on a wait list. They usually won't do that until you have orders but now you do so go ahead and submit. 2: Make sure you get the ball rolling on your PCS move stuff as well. It takes time to schedule movers. 3: If you're new to the Army, there are several options for moving. You can do all the work yourself with your move and then get reimbursed on the back side. (This is what SoulPatrol did so direct those questions at him). You can also have them do everything where an Army contractor comes to your house, packs you, transports everything, and unloads everything while you sip tea and watch (This is what I did LOL). You can also do a mix of this. Either way, you will want to start the process ASAP. And keep EVERY receipt for fuel, rentals, food, lodging etc.

There is always the possibility of changes but for the FY24 cohort, our sites are: Brooke Army Medical Center, JBSA FSH, San Antonio, TX Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, Fort Cavazos, Killeen, TX William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Fort Bliss, TX Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Eisenhower, Augusta GA Evans Army Community Hospital, Colorado Springs, CO Madigan Army Medical Center, JBSA Lewis-McChord, Tacoma, WA Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Liberty, Fayetteville, NC Once you find out where you will be doing phase 2, that is where you will be for year 2 and 3 of the program. Each site also has out rotations that are designed to get you all the cases that you need. Each loacation is different as far as the location and duration of the out rotations so you may want to take that into consideration when picking your preferences. The number of out rotations played a fairly big role in my decisions because I have a wife and kids and wanted to minimize extra time away from home as much as I could.

As far as staying on base goes, if that interests you I would make sure that you submit your orders to the housing office as soon as you get them. You will likely be placed on a waiting list and it is first come, first served. You can also put in for housing on any of the 3 bases in San Antonio (Sam Houston, Lackland AFB, and Randolph AFB). If you are looking for places off base just reach out to your sponsor when you get one and start looking at places. There are several of us that live in the Converse area and a few in New Braunfels. Northeast is generally a safe area and the only major downside is I-35 traffic is horrible. I live in the Saint Hedwig area. I'm spending 2160/month for a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath new construction so it's pretty reasonable for the price. For phase 2 I'm not going to be able to help much, they have changed how they do it from year to year and it may change again before you select. For FY 24 there are 8 clinical sites. Each site can only take so many students so we are all ranking the site from 1 to 8. We should be finding out the final say in October. The current sites are: Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX Fort Cavasos, Kileen, TX Fort Bliss, El Paso, TX Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, CO Fort Liberty, Fayetteville, NC JBLM, Tacoma, WA Fort Eisenhower, Augusta, GA Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI

I came in as a direct commission with a wife and 3 kids. If it makes you feel a bit more at ease, we were worried about the adjustment but we VERY quickly formed a tight knit group among all the direct accession. Right now, me, Soulpatrol, and 2 others all have kids that are friends and we've got a great rotation with babysitting so that we can all still spend quality time with our spouses. You'll get to know the other Direct Accession students through DCC and BOLC so don't sweat it too much. The LTHET students are also great and we've just extended our family from the 12 direct accessions to the 30 person class LOL. As for when you become "Active Duty" they typically go based on when you sign your Oath of Office which is typically on whatever your official report date is on your orders. We did it on January 22nd this year. You can 100% bring family with you so they can watch you swear in, take pictures, etc. I would recommend it if they can because this is a big commitment.