Cjmullane

I'm gonna continue looking into it but you eased it for me. I think I'll probably go AF, Thanks so much for the information it really calmed my nerves on the things that were bothering me that I didn't know about. Again, thank you very much!

I was looking into military nurses and came down to 2 branches: Army/ Air Force. One big problem I see is the Air Force promotes slower. Does this mean that you won't make rank enough? By that I mean, what rank can you expect to reach in the Air Force before retiring? (i.e Colonel, Lt. Col, etc.) I plan to make a career out of the military, so being forced out at 16 years wouldn't exactly be ideal.

I know for sure I want to be a nurse in the military, I'm just stuck between branches. I graduate high school after this year and am going to join ROTC and hopefully apply for a type of Nursing-scholarship. I want to get my BSN and become a Med/Surg Nurse and then eventually go back to get my Master's and be certified as a Family Nurse Practictioner. I just need a bit of help distinguishing branches. (P.s, I'd like to make a career out of the military and stay in as long as possible until retirements) With the Army: They have great scholarships for college and I like the idea of being on land, but being the biggest branch I wouldn't have nearly as much pride as if I ever in another branch. (Army brat of an O-5). Although I do like the military-lifestyle and the abilities to travel, but all branches have opportunities to travel. Growing up around it though made me 50/50. I don't want to join a branch I wouldn't like as much, at the same time I don't want to miss out on a better opportunity. The fast promotions do appeal to me though. With the Air Force: Always appealed the most to be. It doesn't have the most military-lifestyle which I prefer, but they have great facilities to work in. Also, they don't deploy as much. I'd like to deploy I feel it'd be a great experience but not ALL the time. Especially one day when I have a family I won't want to be gone every other month. I also took JROTC though out High School, so I'm not sure if that had an impact on it naturally having a nice impact. With the smaller size I'd also have a better sense of pride. With the Army its the first branch any ordinary person thinks of when they hear "Military". The one thing stopping me from the Air Force is the promotions. I don't want to be stuck at one rank for too long then forced to leave the Air Force. I want to make a career of the military so if I was removed early I'd be forced to work in the civilian sector. Most of the high officers and flag generals are pilots, so I'm not sure if I would make it above Major. I'm not positive though. ALSO I'm not sure if this is true, but I read the Air Force chooses your specialty for you. I don't want to look forward to Med/Surg but end up in pediatrics. How does the selection for Air Force work? With the Navy: Never really thought of it. They have a good medical corps but being on a ship with small areas nonstop for 6 months wouldn't really appeal to me. Plus I read they are gone on ships a lot, which as I said earlier being gone all the time doesn't exactly appeal to me. But I also read Navy Nurses choose to be on ships or not, if this is true that wouldn't be a bad option for me. Based on the above, what would you recommend? If I am wrong on any parts please correct me, and if you have any information on insight it'd be greatly appreciated.