Single parent military nursing?

[UncreativeUsername]

Hi I'm currently 18 about to start my last semester of prenursing and will begin nursing school fall 2013. I have also recently adopted my sister's 4 year old daughter. I have always wanted to do nursing in either the Navy or Army. Is this possible as a single mom? I still have a few years to go but want to know my options and of course do whats best for my child. I'm not looking to make a life long career anymore but would like to do a few years in the nurse corps. I know I may deploy and my parents are willing to take care of her when I deploy. I've heard I would have to turn over guardianship to another person while seving active duty. Is this correct or just while I deploy? Can my child live with me while I'm still in the US? I don't mind and I know my parents don't mind taking care of her for up to a year that I am deployed but it wouldn't be fair for me to have my parents raise another kid when they are about to be done with their 7th just so I can pursue an unnecessary dream. Thanks and anything else you can think of just tell me!

[jkesler]

A family care plan is a document that you fill out certifying that you have a workable plan for who will take care of your dependent children if you are deployed or assigned to a duty station that does not allow dependents to accompany you. You have to have this if you are a single parent on active duty.

The challenge is that the army usually will not let you join up on active duty unless you actually give guardianship or custody to someone else while you are in basic training. After your initial training when you go to your first duty assignment you can usually get guardianship transferred back to you.

Here is the really important point. Be sure that whoever is going to assume responsibility for your child is really up for the job. If they back out on you the army has little or no tolerance for soldiers and nurses who suddenly can't deploy or do thier job because they don't have anyone to take care of the little tykes. You can ask for a hardship discharge but the army doesn't have to be nice about it. In some cases people have been given a "less than honorable" discharge and it can mess up all kinds of things such as federal benefits, federal employment and etc.

[nuberianne_RN]

There is something else that needs to be considered before joining any branch of service as a single parent. You never know where you will be stationed in the military. That is why it is difficult to join as a single parent. When I was stationed on a ship in the Navy we went out to sea.... A LOT!!! This did not include deployment. Sometimes parents or friends may say they will take care of your kids for a few months or a year for a deployment. However, who is going to watch them if you have to go out to sea every other week (Navy) or out in the field for days or weeks (Army). Your parents may have every intention to help, but this doesn't work if you are stationed in another country or state. By the way when the ship leaves everyone goes out to sea, enlisted and officers. There is no such thing as leaving officers behind. Believe me when I say there is zero tolerance for being unable to deploy or go on a mission or go to a field exercise or whatever because you have child care issues.

On the other hand, as a nurse you may be stationed in a hospital and have "regular" hours that nurses work in civilian hospitals. Hopefully you can find reliable child care for your area if this is the case. Keep in mind there is no way to guarantee what type of duty station you will get. Ok, maybe you will know your first duty station in advance. However, more than likely you will be stationed in different places in the future. You will need a variety of different types of duty stations to have good chances for advancement. I'm not trying to discourage you. I just want to give you a bit of reality and insight into why the military does not like to enlist or comission single parents. Best of luck to you