chinito_03

hi,
been gone for quite some time now..
well, been busy at work..
i know most of the members here in rc tanks are former service man/woman.
i just want to ask some advice, because i am thinking of joining the service and do something else rather than working in the hospital (nurse).
i was planning to join the airforce but one recruiter told me that they have too many officers and few airmans and they are not recruiting officers for ths year. my 2nd choice is the army.
i dont wanna ask my brothers anymore about the service because i know they are just gonna tern me down and they're gonna talk me out of it from joining the service.. they would just tell me 2 service mn in the family is enough..

thanks
daryl

BiggTony

http://www.military.com/

Bauer66

Daryl.
I joined the Marine Corps out of High School, No regrets. They treat you very well. Tough..........YES Rewarding....HELL YES!!!
Any decision you make will will be the right one my man.

Trev.

pattoncommander

Daryl, Why give up the critical training you have as a nurse? The Army has very good benefits and openings for all medical personnel and since you have been working in that field, depending on the amount of time in the field, you could easilly enlist as an officer. Ft Sam Houston has excellent military training in all aspects of medicine and medical treatment. I see EMTs and LPNs come in all the time and after basic and a short AIT on military aspects of medical care, good assignments all over the globe.

Looks like you have been talking to the wrong people. Go to your nearest Army post and talk with recruiters there, or go on line and inquire about Army medical service duty criteria. Good luck.

chinito_03

thanks guys... actually i was able to talk to an army officer (captain) and one sgt (recruiter) they called me after i filled up their questionaire form.  very nice people and they asked me if they can visit me here @ my house.. but i told them ill go their office. at 1st they ask me what i wanna do.. i told them that i have a BSN degree they told me not to enlist but go for officer training course and they are gonna talk to me about diff career field besides medical field if i decided not to continue being a nurse... 

Old MSgt

My wife and are both retired USAF MSgts and USAF is the way to go! I'd check around at other Air Force recruiters and find out if what you initally heard is correct about 'too many officers' in the AF. I think somebody was 'blowing smoke'.

Mike

torpedochief

I'm a retired Senior Chief and a retired SSG. I retired from the Navy and after 9/11 tried to get back in and the only branch that would take me was the Army.

It is a noble thing you do, and I wish you all the best. You can't go wrong.

Don

Rebellion13

Good luck with whatever YOU decide. My Nieces husband is currently serving in the Army, and as pattoncommander stated use what you know, my nieces husband is a field medic and loves it.

Good Luck
Wade

killick64

It's your choice of course, Chinito but it strikes me that the Army is going to need trained Medical Personnel as it never has before. ( I heard recently that the ratio of Wounded to KIA's is now something like 8:1, versus 3:1 during WWII ! ) And for what it's worth, when I went my 10+ Rounds witth Grim Reaper, two of the BEST Nurses I had were both ex-Forces Guys.....

jwilliams3

I had a great 20 year career in the the USAF, retired as MSgt. and my family and I have no regrets. If I had it to do over again I wouldn't change a thing. If you desire to go in the USAF hold out as long as you can for an opening. Jerry

DeadTom

I spent only 8 years with the Army, Platoon Sargeant Combat Communications (72E, 72G and 51M). We had Light Tropospheric comm. equipment, we would setup our rx and tx dishes on top of mountain tops and skip secured signals up to 1200 miles. Of course they didn't tell us that we had a shorter life expectancy than the 11B (Ground Pounders) in the event of an actual battle ensuing.
But as PattonCommander had eluded to, the Army has alot of different avenues for someone with your training and yes go to OCS (Officer Candidate School) you will much happier.
In any event good luck and God bless,
DT

1sgt

DT,
I was an 17B, 26 R, 31M, 31 Y an 31 W. Retired at Ft Gordon Ga. I wonder if we have ever crossed signals??

Jim

1sgt

Daryl,
Just remember the old saying, " you can tell when a military recruiter is lying because his lips are moving". The AF recruiter doesn't sound right. I sent you a PM so if you want any help just let me know. Good luck.

Jim

philipat

You have about 3.5 options if you want stay in the medical field: Army, Navy and Air Force. The other 1/2 option is to go green-side Navy; in other words, you're Navy assigned to Marine units. If you have a nursing degree, you can go into any of the three services as an officer and a nurse. If you're some sort of a medical technician, you'll go enlisted. The amount of schooling and experience that you have could allow you to enlist at a more senior pay grade than E-1 or E-2. If you want to stay in the medical field, find a near-by medical school and grab their school newspapers. There are usually ads for the services that will get you in touch with recruiters that are familiar with the medical recruiting side of things. It is not the same as normal recruiting, especially if you are or will be a nurse or MD.

If you just want to join the service and don't care what you do, then you need to consider your personality and those of the services you're joining. The Air Force is the most civilian of all 4 and the most lax in its military appearance, customs and courtesies. The Marine Corps has the highest initial recruiting standards and the toughest and most stringent standards in its appearance, customs and courtesies. The Army and Navy are somewhere between them. Choosing between those, for me, would be the question of sitting in boats or trucks.

chinito_03

thanks guys..

philipat

Sounds good. All 4 branches have pilots. Army and Marine Corps are mostly rotary wing. Air Force is mostly fixed wing and Navy is bit more balanced. But, all also have some of each.

Depending on what you're looking for, the Coast Guard might also be an option. You don't hear about them as much, but they're fully engaged in anti-drug operations as well as the more commonly known rescue operations.

terminator3d

Sorry I'm a little late. I am a retired SSG, US Army. I have a Brother-in-law who is a retired Army Field Medic who is now working in a doctor's office. You are just going the other direction. I commend you on your decision to join the US Forces. I can only re-iterate what everyone else has said. I just can't believe that any of the services would turn down a medically trained individual. Something just doesn't sound right. You will find that when you do actually make it, that there are a lot of personnel that would like you to think they know their job, but in reality, don't. You may have talked to a recruiter that really didn't know what he was talking about. Not that he was dumb, but just un-informed. Be extra careful. These recruiters have ways of saying things that sound really good but don't mean squat. I know this from first hand experience when I joined in 1973. I know a few recruiters today that, let's say, I would let it go in this ear and out the other. Make sure you read your contract well.

I wish you good luck in your endeavour.

Paul

DeadTom

Jim,
What years were you around Ft. Gordon? I went through there early 80's to about '86?
Gotta bo back and look at the time, I am sure we had to have crossed somewhere it wasn't all that big of a post.
Being from the west the rain was just amazing to me at the time.
I was just looking at recent Google maps of Ft. Gordon and saw alot of the old barracks are gone....only thing left was the foundations?!?
Tom

1sgt

Tom,
Sorry for the delay in answering your question. My computer got zapped last week in a thunderstorm and it has taken me this long just to get email to work ( I think I'll just need to get a new computer ) Anyway. I was at Ft Gordon from Feb 80 - Nov 80 for 26 R school and then from Jan 92 - May 92 for Advanced NCO School and finally Jul 98 - Dec 2000 as a unit 1sg then retired.

Jim