zombie

O1E [your 8 years of service gives the E] You will be commissioning with zero years working in your field with your level of degree, hence the 01E. Make CPT in 4 yrs it goes by fast

I dont see being in the reserves as being a leg up in my opinion, join the reserves only if you want to be in the reserves. Don't do it for USAGPAN, just be solid on your ICU experience and get the min requirements, have a solid GPA in your science courses.

99% of your job as a Medic will not be what you think it will be, its not that sexy. I am not sure about reserves, but active duty to become an Officer you must have your 4 year degree. Nurse Corps Officers are at minimum have a BSN. Do not come in enlisted with your 4 year degree as a nurse and become a medic you will be disappointed to think that you will do any nursing. You may in fact be driving a forklift in a warehouse in garrison at at CSH, or taking vitals a medic in a clinic etc. If you want to be a nurse in the army get your BSN and Direct Commission. Or, if you just want to join the army now without your BSN, you can enlist work as a medic or whatever and apply to the army enlisted commissioning program, which will send you to school and get your BSN and then commission you as a 2LT Nurse corps officer. That is a long path.

Perhaps it's gossip. But I don't think it is. I think things will change in slowly, like in steps/stages. Won't he over night. But it will change.

A three star already has been slotted for command. Air Force general.

I have worked civilian ICU and military ICU and have floated to the floor at times. "Generally" speaking I have noticed that staff throughout the hospital in-patient wards are not balanced optimally vs. civilian sector. I would take 2-3 patients or 2 easier patients and the code bed in civ world vs 1-2 patients in military. Some may say you cannot compare the two equally, and yes there are major demands on military personnel not just bedside care which is true. But, there is lots of room for better manpower management. Things will change, I honk it's happening now faster because of the pressure to lower costs. I was shocked at how low the patient nurse ratio even when acuity was factored in when I joined the military. Lots of boring days, but I am not complaining at all. But if I was a CEO of that hospital I would be fired quickly because the biggest cost in healthcare is your people. And if you don't manage that correctly them you fail. But, we haven't had to worry about our costs due to wars and blank check we have been given. Things are moving more joint now with bases and even with command for increased efficiency. All militAry medicine is going to be under one command. Anyways. I am rambling.

Hi SGT, I see you have 6 years left on your enlistment. You may want to look into the AECP (Army Enlisted Commissioning Program). There is some info on the Army HRC website under the Officer/Nursing branch website. I think you need to CAC in. Its a good program to get into, but it takes preparation, planning, and timing. Basically if you have basic 2 years of your 4 year BSN requirements out of the way, the Army will send you to a civilian school for the last 2 years of Nursing school. Your job would be to go to school and take a PT test every 6 months. You retain your rank/pay/time in service/grade/BAH everything pretty much. Once your done with your degree and pass your NCLEX you commission as a 01E. Congrats your a nurse at this point. But it takes a bit of work to get the ICU experience in order to apply for USAGPAN. So your going to work as a Med surg nurse for about a year. Then apply for the ICU course (which is crazy to get into now 2 year wait list? but things change). After you get into the ICU course you work as an ICU nurse for a few years. Take your GRE and perhaps pick up Biochemistry/statistics online. Put in your packet and then if you get picked up go the next year after your application. Its a very long road. But, if you do it this way you will stay in the army without a break. You may as well go this route to become a nurse because of your 6 years you got to pay back. Not like you can get out now and go to school. I wish you all the luck. If this is what you want then you have to want it.... like air to breathe. Write your goals down, look at it often and execute. Its doable. I was a civilian ICU nurse for a few years. Came in with the 8A (icu identifier) worked in icu for a few years in the military. applied to USAGPAN. Got picked up =). It felt like the moon and stars all had to be lined up for it to work out for me. But its doable. If you have any more questions man let me know.

If your waiting to scroll. From my understanding your in brother. Your waiting on congress to basically commission you, usually probably attached to some other bill or something. It's a formality. Congrats, we'll deserved.

The Army is changing as you know they are winding down in Afganistan and pulled out of Iraq. This means they are downsizing and there is a transition from constant deployments to a more garrisoned type environment. Economy is not so good and there are plenty of applicants that want to join. This includes nurses. Your friend says the Army is "Punishing" Soldiers for "minor" infractions etc. I am not sure what these infractions are, can you be more specific? I mean when the Army are downsizing, if a soldier gets a DUI or somehow blatantly shows that he or she is not upholding the Army Standards they are making it easy for the Army to say hey lets start with these guys. I mean its logical, if your the boss and you know your have 10 soldiers for 8 slots, are you seriously not going to get rid of the guy that is basically messing up and try to weed them out? As for the AMEDD/Nursing, you will see a more competitive environment for promotion. A good example for this is your seeing a lower percentage of 1LTs being selected for promotion to CPT. 80% something percent to about 50% promotion rate. And I read your post about you wanting to see "Combat", leaving the FOB, and so forth. I mean seriously as a new grad your most likely working on a MED Surg Ward (hospital). Even in a CSH your a in a Role III on a FOB generally, in a FST your in a more forward environment but you will have combat arms guys around you providing security. Your not organic to a Line Unit/Combat Arms unless perhaps your a Brigade Nurse..... but seriously they most likely do not need you on the front lines doing tourniquets and stuff. I mean they don't need a BSN RN doing a Combat Medic Role. A medic can do just as much and more than you (due to their training) on the front line than you can. So if your into that, by all means enlist as a 68W. As a 68W, be prepared to alot more other stuff besides what you see on the movies. In garrison with a CSH your most likely in a warehouse doing other than medical stuff, in a Hospital your used a MED TECH, and as you gain rank your leading soldiers doing NCO stuff whatever is needed of you. I cannot tell you much about how a 11B lives day to day, and I am pretty sure that your 11B friend cannot tell me how 66H lives either. I can tell you though as a Critical Care Nurse in the Army as an Officer for me I can tell you that there is no way I would ever go the Enlisted route (not taking anything away from what they do). It is way better for my family financially (see the military pay charts), Bonus (20k per year for 4 years commitment), and educational opportunities to get your Doctorate is unbeatable, and you don't have to use your GI Bill to do it. Have I heard about "lifers" getting out? what is a Lifer? Is that the guy who is 15+ years in and "gets out"? No never heard of him, if i had he is probably getting kicked out vs just getting out. Because truly if he is 15 years in and gets out he is pretty dumb to throw out that retirement. Have I heard of E4 Lifers getting out at like 12 years? Yes, but you probably need to ask your self why someone is an E4 with like 12 years in first.... Is he the Lifer your talking about? What is a Lifer... I heard of guys that are in 20+ years in and Retiring, after had enough yeah. But that is in any job. There is change going on and if you been in 20 years your probably at a point where your like.... I don't really need to be here and if there is changes going on and I don't really like it I can just bounce...

Zombie apocalypse is coming! Don't you watch The Walking Dead? The writing is on the wall! Actually I came up with the handle working nights..... And you know how that is.

I don't see you being deployed off the bat, like the others were saying. CSH is a funny beast. It may feel like your a reservist at times In a garrison environment. Congrats on AECP it's a good program. I know quite a few folks been through it. Learn your trade, keep a good attitude, and you will do fine. You know the basic army stuff already, just build on that from a different perspective.I was direct commission so I had to learn army talk, courtesies, and had to get used to requesting stuff like passes and PCSing.Good stuff though. Take advantage of opportunities like getting your advanced degree via the army.Take care

Air Force does not use you as a LPN. Your basically a tech. I don't know about Navy. The Army would class you as a LPN, be prepared though to do other jobs though. But, your foundation will be a LPN. If you go Army there are programs that will help you flip to become an Officer (a BSN Nurse). If you so desire. You would need to do about two years of basic college courses out of way first while your in Army doing your job. It's Called Army Enlisted Commissioning Program. I am partial to the Army. In the AF you will not use your skills. The army has ways to advance if you actually follow through with a plan. I know a lot of LPNs that have great potential. They talk lot, but never do paperwork and follow through. But, whatever. Talk to a recruiter, they are not that bad. They actually can be quite helpful. I don't honk they are having a big problem with applicants with the economy the way it is. Good luck

People always ask for advice, but rarely do they follow it; and most of the time they know the answer to their own question. Stop smoking, exercise, lose weight, and stop smoking crack. Stuff like this is common sense and I don't even have to be a nurse to tell you this. But, your going to do what you want to do and want a script that makes you feel better.

I received word as well from NE and I am in! You should have heard from LTHET a while back, like a month ago. The list is out. See you next year!

LizardMommy, Hi, how long have you been nursing as a BSN RN? your time as a anything other than a BSN nurse does not count toward constructive credit (which will help with your initial rank). With that being said, if it is only a small amount of time and you come in as a Second Lieutenant, I wouldn't sweat it at all. Time seems to fly and you will rank up to captain in less than 5 years. The pay initially is probably less than what you get pay (most likely), but believe me after about 5 years it equals out and will > than your civ pay especially with bonuses available (if they are still around by then, they should). I worked civ ICU and the only regret is that I joined sooner in my life and I could retire earlier! As for the ICU type they vary upon the size of the hospital your at. In San Antonio they have several ICUs including a very good burn ICU. In some places you will encounter a Combined ICU where you have basically everything including stuff like Step down because your hospital may or may not have a tele floor. So it all depends. You will be assigned to a location and in that location you can communicate your desires where you want to work. As for working the floor it mostly would depend on your Additional skill identifier. An 8A is the identifier for an ICU nurse so if you have this you almost certainly won't be assigned to the regular floor. I suggest you get a skill check off sheet your CNS on your ICU can fill out and then turn it in with your packet so you can come in grandfathered with the identifier like I did. As for your first duty station, yes I do believe they try work with you on that. With that being said, you can't say you want to go to puerto rico or something like that. The army has to be there with a slot that they need you. Some places are like in Hawaii, San antonio, washington state, D.C, Ft. Bragg, Germany, Korea and others. I wouldn't sweat this much either, I mean at some point you will hit up a few of those places and go where you want to go. Once your in the Army, You want to be a Psych Nurse and get your masters? But you want to work in the ICU? I am confused here cuz. The route I would suggest for this would be to come in as a 66H regular med surg nurse and volunteer to work in the psych ward and then try to get a slot for the psych course and get the identifier and work in the psych ward for a bit. Then apply for the Long Term Health Education & Training and have the Army send you to school to get your DNP in Psych nursing (a good deal cuz its free with time served which is like 5 years but they pay for everything for like 3 years or whatever). The only reason why I say come in as a med surg nurse and work in psych ward is that I think they like for you to have some psych experience. Dunno though. PA school, you just need your GRE scores min and get your packet together and put in for it after you join there are some time on station etc requirements. But, its quite doable. Your letter of intent should be whatever you want. I don't think mine was too great I did it on night shift like at 5am and when I look back on it it kind of sucked I think lol. I personally would suggest it to be focused on one path instead of saying you want to do like 3 or 4 different things. But, I don't think it would matter too much. Just be flexible, have fun during your journey; paperwork sucks i suggest you keep a book with important paperwork and you could scan them and keep them online in your email or something if need be, after a while you will learn what to keep and what to throw away; no matter what your attitude is most important try to stay positive; You will wait quite a bit doing most things in the army just be aware your getting paid; don't complain so much, instead try to help out to fix it or shut up; I can go on but you will see where I am going with this. Good luck!