jeani

Well, brehon, sorry I'm so long in answering you. You say that you are married and have two small children. I want to urge you first to discuss this fully with your spouse. A supportive spouse is a MUST when you are in the military. There will be times when you will be away from your family, that's just a fact of being in the military. I was enlisted as I did not have a BSN. I had strong family support which enabled me to make the most of my enlistment. Not just a spouse, but my parents and siblings as well were very supportive. My brother in law is in the Air Force. He is a career man now making LTC two years ago. My sister is as much involved in the Air Force as he is. She was much involved in Officer's Wives, Base Groups, and most recently as the Commander's wife for his wing. In addition to this, she stays involved with my nephews' school, religious education, sports, manages finances,runs the household when he is remote, and choreographs the moves which are another part of military life...So I want to make sure your spouse is as much a part of your decision as you are. As far as taking your family with you to San Antonio: I recall some people did move their families to Ft Sam when I was in AIT. They did not have as much time with them as they had anticipated due to the intensive amount of training that goes on. barrybender was right about that one ...you do have to learn to do things the Army way. You may want to have them stay put or with relatives until you go to your first long-term duty station. I do not know how long the Army(or the Air Force) trains its Commissioned Nurses so may want to take that into consideration. For my own experience, I was at Ft Sam for about 4 months. As it was summer, the Reserves and NG recruits were put into classes first because the Army had "4 years to train me". Then we just went to our first duty station(Mine was WOMACK at Ft Bragg NC) where I just learned hands on. I was with a field company there, then to 43rd MASH in Korea(ER nursing)then to Ft Ord to another field hospital. The nurses that were attached to our field companies all worked at fixed hospital facilities unless we went to the field or were deployed. I think I'm babbling now!!!! At any rate, you will find an amazing pool of people from all over. If you are an open person, you will embrace the experience and come away with some of the most outstanding memories. Remember though that people are people no matter where you are. There are always going to be some unpleasant people you'd rather not meet again. Both as a civilian and as a soldier. The comraderie as the above posting mentions is SO MUCH tighter in the military than in civilian nursing. It is like having a big family. I really miss that. Hope this helps. HINT: "If you are riding a bicycle and an enlisted person salutes you, you DO NOT have to return the salute!" later...jeani

Forgot to ask if you have checked into the other branches of service. Like the AirForce or the Navy? I recall the Air Force had better chow halls and billeting. In the desert, they had indoor flushing type latrines, and indoor showers!!!! ------------------

Go for it buddy!! Was an AD nurse in the active Army for over 8 years. Yes, I was enlisted, but gained so much experience about nursing and the world in general, do not regret it in the least. You will be surprised at how quickly 3-4 years pass. I traveled to places not available to me otherwise. It's not all fun and games...there's a lot of hard work. I would think however that you would find it a great experience. Does Uncle Sam still help pay for your tuition/loans also? Some of the places I traveled with in the military were SC,TX,NC,Honduras,Korea,CA,and was with the 8th Evacuation Hospital during Desert Storm. I check this board often. Any questions just fire away! No, I am not a recruiter, work now in ICU in a smaller hospital. Considering travel nursing next fall as my youngest graduates from HS. ------------------