jentrump29

I was an Air Force brat growing up, so I figured coming into the AF would be an easy transition for me. Being the active duty person was totally different! It took me a good year to really adjust and feel comfortable with everything. I'm not saying that as a negative. I guess what I'm saying is that it doesn't matter if you have a military background or not. There's still going to be a learning curve! If something's making you feel that desire to serve, then go for it! It's not a decision to take lightly, though. You'll learn as you go. I learn something new everyday, and I am by no means an expert! Research alot! This site is definitely a good start. I'm sure there are some navy nurses on here that can give you more info on the training they went through. Good luck!

It's nice to have rank sewn on, but it's not a big deal to have pin-on. If you have the option to do so prior to COT, then go for it, especially on the hat. I had pin-on for my hat and it dug into my forehead, which is totally uncomfortable! The other plus to having it sewn on is you know it's in the right place, and you don't have to remove it for laundry.

People break civilian contracts all the time. If you're given money for it, you'll probably just have to pay it back. I took a civilian job (after leaving a travel assignment and not being able to find another one) 7 months before I went to COT. I didn't tell them I was in the process of applying to the AF. I had no idea how long the process was going to take, and I needed to support my family. There was a deal to take $3000 for relocation if I signed a 1 year contract. When I went to human resources the day I filled out all of my paperwork, I just told them I wasn't signing the contract because I wanted to leave my options open. They looked at me like I was crazy for not taking $3000, but they had already hired me. The thing is, the AF is not accepting as many nurses this year as last year, so it's hard to say how long it will take for you to get through the process. You might as well start in the civilian world and get the experience. If you want to be an AF nurse, then go for it. I wouldn't wait to apply, because you don't really know how long the process will take. Good luck!!

You better not be dropped HNELLA! We're ready for you to get here!! Seriously though, if you're borderline, you'll probably lose some of that weight while you're at COT. And just like mid said, they spent alot of money just getting you this far. Just watch your diet over the holidays!!

I was at COT during the Super Bowl last year. They actually set it up so we could watch it in the auditorium on the powerpoint screen. It wasn't a great picture, but it was better than nothing! And we were even allowed to order food that wasn't DFAC food! Good luck to you all!!

Commander's call is just a meeting called by a squadron, group, or wing commander. It's usually called when something's about to happen, like some big inspection or to give staff the results of a big inspection. Usually it's mandatory unless you're TDY or on leave. Most of the time you have at least a few days notice, but sometimes you don't. I'm not totally sure how it works if you decide to take a long trip away from home on your scheduled day off and they all of a sudden schedule a commanders call. I guess in that instance, you just go up the chain for guidance. That's one of those other bad parts...not everything is in black and white. There's an exception for just about anything! :) Basically, as far as being "on-call" you just have to be aware that if something happens, you could be called in whether you have plans or have gotten enough sleep, or whatever. If the unit is short a nurse because someone is on quarters, they can call you in, and you really can't say no. Then there's that part about anything bad happening in the world and readiness needs to deploy a group of people, you may not get much notice. We had a group of people that went to Chile, and they only got 24 hours, and some of them weren't even in their "bucket" to deploy. It's just something that most military members always have in the back of their minds. It's better to know it could happen, and hope that it doesn't!

Wow guys! I haven't been on for a few months, but I feel the need to add my 2 cents... Now, I can't talk for the Army or Navy, because I'm in the Air Force, but lets get back to why this thread was started in the first place! There's alot to think about before making the decision to serve this wonderful nation of ours, and I'm not saying that to be sarcastic. The down side...you're on call 24/7, whether you like it or not. You get 30 days leave, but you have to get approval to take more than a week or 2 at a time. I've had to use up leave days just to guarantee having more than 3 days in a row off in order to spend time with family from out of town or even just to guarantee a certain day off for graduations, birthdays, or whatnot. Yeah, the Air Force is more "family friendly" but that means they offer alot of stuff for your family, but you won't be able to take part in it, because you have to work. I've only been in for 9 months and I've already missed my son's birthday and my sisters' and brother's college graduations. I have a somewhat typical nursing schedule, but then add commanders call, unit meetings, extra duties, certification classes, getting called in because a civilian nurse called in sick, etc., etc.... There's alot of politics, especially when it comes to the upper level leadership. Alot of times, we have to do things that don't make sense because "Colonel so and so" said so. You just have to bite your tongue and do it! They probably have a good reason for asking you to do it, but it may never make sense to you! You may have to leave your life and your family for 6 months or more to go overseas and put yourself in harms way. Before that, instead of spending the time before you leave with your family, you have to go TDY for weeks at a time for deployment training. And you have 20 CBTs to complete and paperwork to fill out and you have to go 10 different places to get it signed. One person says one thing, another says something totally different! And make copies of everything, because if you don't, something will get lost and you'll spend hours of your free time making up for it. I could probably go on, but I'll move on... The good side...of course, the medical, dental, life insurance, education benefits, housing, paycheck,...are nice, but like others have said, they're not everything! Training courses in the military are like nothing I've ever done in the civilian side. I've spent a total of 3 weeks over the last 9 months camping and getting paid for it! I get paid to exercise! I've gotten to work with teams of people I've never met before to get an impossible job accomplished. Sorry, don't want to get too detailed for security reasons. The camaraderie that you feel when you work with other service members is indescribable! Most people that have been in for years and years have such great attitudes! They do what they need to do because it's the mission and it needs to get done (I'm not saying the newer people aren't like that too...it's just the trend I've seen)! Yeah, you're always going to have that one person that complains about everything (not talking about anyone in particular), but you just have to ignore that! The biggest plus for nurses...we get to take care of those men/women that do ANYTHING to protect our freedom! They get shot at, have limbs blown off,...die for our freedom (fellow nurses included)!! We get to take part in their lives, hopefully to bring them back to good health and get them back to their families. I'm not saying any of this to offend anyone, but I feel the need to clarify for those who are waiting to apply, commission, and awaiting COT or whatever. Being in the military is definitely not for everyone. There are plenty of people that hate it, plenty that love it, and plenty that are in between. It's a lifestyle that I'm still getting used to! For those that choose to make the commitment or who are already serving, thank you for your service! For those that don't, that's ok too! There are plenty of pros and cons to the civilian world too (I lived that lifestyle for 4 years)! I have a hubby and 2 kids...the thing I worry about most is how they'll do when I deploy. I will get tasked eventually. When I do, we'll part ways for 6+ months and I'll miss them like crazy, but I know I'll be with my other "family" and we'll be taking care of the most awesome people in the world!

Bother your recruiter! You never want to assume you have anything!! I didn't take loan repayment, but I did take the bonus. I had to sign that contract at least twice, but it was the same contract. Make sure your recruiter filed the right one!!

Good luck luvbug!!

Ha ha Wtb!! She's been giving me a hard time for the last 6 months!! HNELLA, we can't wait to have you!! It's not too bad here. It has it's ups and downs like any other place, but overall, I still enjoy my job. When do you get here?? Flipper, I wouldn't say you need to sacrifice a nice place to live to be close to the hospital. If you don't want to live on base, there are alot of places within 30 minutes or so. We have staff living in D'Iberville, Ocean Springs, and Gulfport. It's nice living on base, because it only takes about 5 minutes to get to work, but when you're on call or recalled, you have an hour to report.

I'm at Keesler right now. I'm in ICU, so our schedule changes about 6 times after the original schedule is put out due to deployment taskings, tdy's, sick calls, etc. We just had 2 civilian nurses have to take 2 weeks off because we had too many civilian hours, so of course the military nurses had to be moved around to cover. Then you have meetings, sometimes with notice, other times no notice. Then there's nurse calls, commanders calls, change of command or promotion ceremonies. The schedulers really try to keep the schedule from changing, but it's almost impossible. The only way to guarantee certain days off is to take leave. The med/surg floors don't get tasked for deployments as frequently. I think their schedule stays more consistent than ours, but they're still required to attend meetings, nurse calls, commanders calls,... I actually talked to someone last night from the medical floor that had gotten called in for a night shift because someone called in sick. She only had enough notice to take a few hour nap before going in. I guess the best thing to do is plan for the worst. If you work, plan to be the primary parent to pick up the kids and be home during holidays. He'll be able to help out, but his schedule will definitely be unpredictable. And when they call him to come in, he's going in. The good thing is when they're able, the commanders try to make up for those extra days worked. Unfortunately, family members of active duty make sacrifices too! I couldn't have done this without a very supportive husband!

Deftonez...have you ever thought about trying a different type of nursing? Maybe med/surg isn't for you. I think alot of people have been in the position of getting spat on, cussed at, pooped on, etc,...and it sucks! But every so often, we get patients who want to get better and try really hard, and you actually feel like you're making a difference! You sound like someone that would do well in oncology! I agree with everyone here, military nursing is alot like civilian nursing as far as the patients. You not only get the military folks that are usually pretty healthy, but you get their dependents, who aren't! So you still have the "lottery" of cases. I'm not sure about the other services, but in the Air Force you have to go in as med/surg or OB, unless you have an identifier (which you get with experience from the civilian world). After being in for a while, there are other options for nurses. We have nurse educators, case managers, and there's always the leadership route. There's also nurses in the clinics. I guess bottom line is...whether you decide on commissioning or continuing in the civilian world, look into your options. You may have to suffer for a little while before you find a job that's perfect for you, but it is out there! I'm in ICU now and don't think I'll ever want to go back to med/surg, but ICU isn't for everyone either! Hang in there and good luck with you decision!!

Those shoes should be fine. As long as they're not crazy neon colors or super noticeable, you're good!

I second midinphx about being surprised at what you can do! You're going to have some really cool experiences at COT that you would never imagine you'd have! And you're going to push yourself harder than you've ever pushed yourself before (you'll even want to). Don't let the "loud instructional tone" that the TIs and Flight Commanders use get to you too much...they really do want you to succeed!

We got rained out on the ropes course day...I was so disappointed!! I probably would have done the same thing, carolinapooh!!