Thinking of Joining Army Reserves- would like to here from RN's

[lyndsie]

Hey!

I was am looking into joining the army reserves and would like to know more about the training and monthly weekend requirements for the reserves. I would also like to know more about being in the reserves in general. From what I understand I would go in as an officer since I have my RN license, what does that actually mean?

I am not entirely sure that this is for me, so I really want to know what the day to day is like and the chances of being deployed (and to where).

I'm not going to lie, the tuition assist. is my main motivation. It seems like my best option for paying for graduate school. Although, from the army website it looks like they have really good career advancement/career paths.

I'm planning on talking to a recruiter soon, but I wanted to know more before I talked to them.

Thanks!

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

I just went and looked up DA 5685-R which is the form accepting the "new"Strap program which is now in use and you are right you can fullfil your obligation on AD. When I looked into STRAP it was under the old STRAP and AD was not a option. That just states how things change depending on the need of the Army.

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

If the AD was an option under the old program I would have used it.

[shannon_milano]

Hi, my question is this.

I was told by a recruiter that while I am attending school under STRAP for my BSN that I have the option of drilling or not. But even if I do drill that my obligation starts only when I complete my BSN degree.

Meaning that drilling while a student only counts for retirement points and not towards my 3 year obligation of active reserve.

Is this true?

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

From what I understand it is a rolling obligation. Which means if you are drilling what is done after the semester will count towards your obligated time, so after your last semester you will own for the last semester and anyother time left from previous semesters. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure that is how it works because when I looked into it I was only going to have a 2 year obligation in the reserves since it is a 2:1 pay back in the reserves. If you do not drill then yes you will be obligated for 1 year for every 6 months and if it takes you 3 semesters to complete your program then you would own 3 years. But when I investigated it was under the old STRAP program and could have changed. Ask your recruiter for a copy of the STRAP regulation so you can read it your self, do not rely on just what they tell you. Do a web search and you might get lucky and find the regulation yourself.