IraBeaOasis

Best of luck, Care&Joy, let us know how it all pans out for you... Eric

CSHRN, The 345th CSH is a part of the 332nd Medical Brigade, which itself is headquartered in Nashville, TN. Interestingly enough, my unit is located within the confines of Jacksonville Naval Air Station, wonder how many other Army Reserve units are colocated like that? There are other CSHs assigned to the 332, but I'm not sure where they are or what other type units - supply / logistics, etc, are also included under the brigade framework. Hope to find out more after I start actively participating. Regards, Eric

Oh, yea, an the Army's got some snappy blues to wear too... Cheers! Eric

Care&Joy, Well, I just joined the Army Reserve as a 66H8A critical care RN. I was a medic 91Bravo in the Army in the early 80's and a medic 90250 in the AirForce in the late 80's - early 90's. When I decided to go back in I looked into an Airforce reserve commission but chose the Army Reserve instead. One of the reasons was the unit I joined was the type I was most looking to be a part of, and it was closer to my home for weekend drills. The main reason I " go green " though is the much higher espirit-de-corps and team -work ethos of my prior Army experiance as compared to the AirForce. I always felt the Army took care of it's own better. the USAF does have some bucks to spend on better housing / recreation facilities, if that is a factor for you to consider... Regards, Eric

Hey, CSHRN, Thanks for the post, my first Battle Drill Assembly will be in Jan. '07. In the old days we just called it " drilling ", or weekend drill. I'm in the 345th CSH in Jax., Fl. What outfit are you with?

Hey, KAINETX, My experiance on gettin' a commission in October into the ANC as a reservist was as a 1st Lt. O-2, with 18 months time in grade towards Capt., O-3. That's with 13 years experience as Rn with a critical care certification. What my recruiter told me was that the medical board that selects applicants for commisions into the health care field uses no set standard for specifying rank awarded to direct commissions other than O-1, brownbar, for entry level ( graduate ) RNs. On any given day the board uses prior experience, prior service, specialty / education level, and Army needs to arrive at a decision for rank. Hope that helps a little, good luck in the Navy. Regards, Eric

Thank you, JaixiaKiley and SmilingBluEyes. Todays the day! Regards, Eric

Best of luck, Gennaver! Be waitin' to hear the news. Regards, Eric

Hey, smattles, What are you waiting around for him to contact you, for? Keeping in - touch with a potential officer candidate is your recruiter's business, and it is your job to remind him, gently of coorifice, when he does not. Don't be frustrated, take an active role and contact him yourself. Let him know you are still interested and ask if their is anything else you can do to facilitate the application process. On the flip side, the process can take many weeks / months to complete even at its' best, so a little patience is a good virtue... Best of luck, Eric

Hey, Sergeant, I'm commissioning Saturday, the 14th, as a 66H8A, into the 345 Combat Support Hospital, USAR, at Jacksonville, Fl. Just wanted to let you and everyone else know that I had a very positive experience in working with my health care recruiters and have alot of respect for the hard work and professionalism they exhibited during the whole process. I mainly worked with Capt. Saint Kaniaupio and SSG Doug Harding, and they were great, but the whole recruiting station at Gainesville, Fl was top notch. LOL, I thought it was funny you consider going to commissioned status a step down for a SFC! You are probably correct in many respects, pay rate included. Best of luck with your career change and thank you for your input. Regards, Eric

Gennaver, I'm so very sorry to hear your news... that is a bummer. Hope you won't give up on getting a commission after your program completion. Yes, the Army does accept new BSN grads, as a 2Lt. If you also have your RN, at the MSN level, it would only make to much sense for the Army to accept you too, at that time. What's your plan B regarding finances till then? Regards, Eric

Corvette Guy, glad to see you are back. Yep, wifes' got the digital camera and sis has the video. They said I could get commissioned anywhere I'd like, so the ceremony will be at O'leno State Park, along the Santa Fe river, - one of my most favorite places in the whole world - with family picnic to follow! Regards, Eric

Gennaver, Hey, way to go! Congradulations on submitting your packet, that in and of itself is no small achievement! Hope the best for you and please let us know here when you get the word. Regarding your MSN entry, well , perhaps you will get extra rank out of it? Also, regarding your having to take the ASVAB, I'm jus' a lil' older than you and didn't have to take it or prove myself eligible to enlist rather than commission, what was your recruiters reasoning on that? Just curious. All the best, Eric

Well, just got the word last Thursday, 9/28. My commissioning date is 10/14/06, would of been sooner but I'm having family from out of town who would like to attend and this was a good date for all. This has happened so fast, especially after months of putting the application packet together, thought I'd have to wait a whlie longer. Glad to get it going and will hopefully have orders in hand before the new year. Cheers all, Eric

Gennaver, My recruiter told me it would be a month or so too, but, as it turned out, the very next week after was when I found out I had been accepted. Here's hoping your wait will be just as short and I wish you and feb06 the best of luck in your endeavors to join up. Regards, Eric