Question for Airforce Nursing

There are few applicants but also very few slots from what I understand; only a few bases even have a NICU. Not to burst your bubble, but chief nurse interviews typically go very well for everybody. I was an alternate the first time I applied for med-surg, and I thought I connected with my interviewer a lot better that time (versus the second time when I was accepted).

You get one of 3 decisions: selected, alternate # (insert number here), or non-select. I've never been a non-select. Alternates can immediately reapply for the next board if they don't fill someone else's slot; non-selects have to wait 6 or 12 months to reapply (can't remember). As an alternate, you don't get any rationale on why they didn't like you as much as someone else. Obviously too late now, but they like board certification. They also like preceptor and charge experience. As an experienced nurse, I know I was expected to do both of those roles within 6 months of arriving at my first base.