USAF 2012 NTP Board

Hi all!

I have been perusing allnurses for some time and am just getting the nerve to reply! I love all the support nurses and student nurses give each other through bad times and good times.

I am applying for the July 25 selection board. I have a 3.97 GPA, am in student council, and have worked for a home health agency for 2 1/2 years. I still haven't had my interview yet (getting nervous!), but I passed my physical with no problems.

My recruiter told me that we were going to submit 3 letters of recommendation, but I have 4 really good ones and the people who wrote them put a lot of time and effort into them. I saw on the information packet we can submit 3-5. Do you think it would be a good idea to ask my recruiter if we can submit all 4 or do you believe they probably do not really look at them?

Also my recruiter told me he heard there were going to be 140-160 spots available for this round. I sure hope those aren't just cruel rumors!

Congrats on working up the nerve to join our group! Kinda like workin up the courage to sit at the cool kids table in the lunchroom huh? . Well I sure hope your recruiter is right and there are 150 spots...then well definitely all get in! Mine continues to tell me that the official numbers aren't released to the recruiters, and the only numbers she can provide are how many applicants each recruiter is putting in. My recruiter is still planning on submitting between 5-8. As for the LORs...I really don't know. I've been working toward the NTP for over 2 years now, and originally my recruiter that LORs are not included in the NTP application. She said that the form 1373s take the place of the LORs and that we can submit a max of 5 and a minimum of 3. So I submitted 5 1373s with my package, then I read on another forum on here somewhere that other recruiters are including LORs in their applicants packages so I talked to my recruiter about it and she said that we could include LORS if I want to, but at they aren't required and she doesn't know if the selection board members will actually read them, or just set them aside and use the 1373s to evaluate us. So I included 2 LORs with my package along with the 5 1373s...who knows...I have absolutely no idea if it will benefit me or not, but I figure it can't hurt! If you have 4 LORs that are all done, you might as well include them...can't hurt in my opinion. Welcome to the forum and please keep us all updated on here with how things are moving along for you :)

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Thank you for starting this board LN75!

As I see, most of you have already begun the process earlier this year; whereasI have just begun 1.5 weeks ago.

My husband is currently AD AF and we had discussed the possibility of mejoining for quite some time. Just 1.5 weeks ago I decided to give a recruiter acall. I found out I had 3 weeks to get the LORs turned in, MEPS completed andsubmit an application! Thank God most of that is under the belt and all I haveleft is the chief nurse interview and finishing up my Questionnaire and Resume.Unfortunately I won’t be able to get my interview until after I submit myapplication, and apparently most nurses going for the NTP in my area also havenot had the opportunity to get this interview done.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I have much going for my application for this July board.The reason being is that I moved shortly after nursing school to a differentstate to be with my husband while he completed a short training program. Atthat point in time, no hospital would hire me since I could not commit a yearthere, so I volunteered.

Currently, we just moved to Travis AFB in January and the opportunities hereare limited, so I began volunteering at DGMC. No experience since my graduationin 2010 (YIKES!)

I graduated with an overall 3.4 GPA, BSN.

Active license in 2 states

ACLS, BLS completed... (Awaiting July PALS)

Next week I begin volunteering in the OR using my RN license (supervisedpatient admissions, IV access, etc.)

I've volunteered as a camp nurse and volunteered at local hospitals.

I really want to be a USAF RN, but I'm not sure if I have much of a fightingchance.

Welcome to the forum longboarder!

Good luck to you and keep us all posted :)

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Hey everybody a quick word to the wise...

We sent off my completed package last week, and the quality assurance people down there returned 8 suspenses to my recruiter! Most of them are minor corrections...things like missing dates or whatever, but I wanted to let you all know to make sure you use BLACK INK ONLY on everything! I used blue ink on a few of the forms...can't remember which ones, but that was one of the suspenses that was returned, so now I have to re-sign or initial everything at was done in blue ink. Lame, and I should have expected this from the AF after being active duty for so long you'd think I'd have known better, but my recruiter said it was news to her too. Anyway... Throw away your blue pens quick before you accidentally use one to sign something :)

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Thats so annoying!! Where are you applying to be stationed LN75?

TX, CA, AK, and Germnay were at the top of my list...if I get any of those ill be happy as a pig in mud :)

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Hi All,

I am not applying for the July board. I have only started the process about 3 weeks ago. I have only been able to get ahold of my recruiter once. He sent me a short survey to fill out due to multiple requests. I believe someone else on here must also be speaking with him (covering the same states). Does anyone know how often the board meets to make the selections? I am a new grad and just finished a NCLEX prep class and waiting for state approval to take boards. I am considering taking a job during this process because I have read it can be a very long process and I have a family to provide for. I am the only graduate from my school that is applying although one other gal is applying for the Navy as an RN. I am new to this site and have been researching AF Officer requirements and trying to find as much info as possible. I am a little nervous that I have not even seen an application yet. My recruiter said we will set up a time for me to come into the office this week but nothing set in stone as of yet.

Welcome to the forum caitsmommy :)

As far as I know...there is only one NTP board per fiscal year now-a-days. A few years ago, there used to be more...like one board per quarter or so, but for the last couple years that hasn't been the case. I was active duty AF for 11 years, got a BS in Aeornautics and applied for a commission in the AF as a maintenance officer, only to be told that they weren't going to be holding any more selection boards for 2 years! Yeah, it was pretty disheartening. I mention this only to illustrate that the selection boards are very unpredictable. There are so many factors that effect the boards...everything from how many nurses (or officers in whatever career field) were accepted last year, to how many will be coming directly into the AF from ROTC programs or the AF Academy, to who the current President of the US is and what he/she is doing with regards to the military. Wish it weren't so, but i learned long ago not to count on the selection boards as my "Plan A", so i think that you getting a job in the meantime is about the smartest thing you can do for yourself...especially considering your family to support. If you can get hired on somewhere and then get accepted into the AF, dont worry about hurting feelings at the hospital when you leave to accept your commission...i've watched nurses come and go like leaves in the wind over the last several years while working in a hospital during nursing school...its just part of life. No supervisor can fault you for being driven and pursuing a career goal that might take you outside of their particular place of employment.

As for the NTP application process, it is pretty extensive, and involves several steps. Most of the people on this forum and others who my recruiter is working with have been working on their applications for the last several months or longer, but i've seen that there are a few who've just recently gotten started. i suppose its possible to get everything complete in time if you're very organized and your recruiter has time.

good luck on the NCLEX and let us know if you decide to apply to the NTP board with the rest of us next month! :)