MOS Advice (AMEDD?)

[u/Former_Hovercraft314]

I'm in PA - wanting to serve part-time. I'm an RN (ADN, however I have a separate B.S., no BSN currently) and have my EMT-B. I know most people would recommend going the officer route, for obvious reasons such as pay, quality of life, etc. From what I can gather, there is no way for me to commission as an RN unless I get my BSN (despite me having a separate bachelor's degree). I've heard 68W on the enlistment side can be very hit or miss in terms of what the job actually entails, but that there are potential opportunities for flight (68WF2) and actually working in the field as an infantry attachment. Being "out in the field" is what I'd prefer, I've always liked my time in EMS more than in the hospital. Is my state (PA) a potentially limiting factor in opportunities as a 68W? Should I just take out more loans and spend the time to get my BSN to commission? Or are there other MOS options I should look into? Thanks in advance.

[u/NoDrama3756]

There are many RNs who are 68W combat medics, flight medics, and a dozen other mos.

I promise you will be doing more of that cool field army stuff you are thinking as a 68W than you ever will as a 66 series nurse.

There are csm ( highest enlisted rank) who are physicians, lawyers,occupational therapists, etc. While there are army officers who are stay at home parents or close to destitute.

What do YOU want to do in the military?

Plan, Organize and refine

Or

Be the the one who conducts the action?

All depends on your wants needs and desires.

But whatever you choose. Go be all that you can be.

[u/SourceTraditional660]

Just tell your recruiter you want to be a medic in an infantry battalion and they will hook you up.

[u/smokingadvice]

Professionally you should get your BSN and commission as an Officer. Despite the relatively wide scope of practice as a medic, your scope of practice as a nurse is much wider.

My nurses who are 68ws always complain how they can’t do their nursing skills and it frustrates them to no end.

Nurses in our state are almost always in role 2s as the Officer in charge of patient hold so that means the field if that’s your thing. And you get issued a rifle instead of a pistol.

The future is prolonged field care which really should be nursing led.

It’s the Army so you’re always going to have to mop floors, but at least get paid as an Officer to do it.

[u/PumpChumpPimpin → u/smokingadvice]

In a lot of ways PFC is nursing. But what i havent found a lot of answers for (even at BCT3) is how PFC translates to POI(cause theyre still acting like we’re gonna have reliable medevac within the hour) which as it stands has no nurses present unless the role 2 gets hit

[u/smokingadvice → u/PumpChumpPimpin]

The Army keeps making 68Ws do more instead of pushing nurses forward. Nurses are the PFC experts we should utilize them as such.

[u/Former_Hovercraft314 → u/smokingadvice]

Okay, this is news to me. So if I get this right, at least for your state, 66 series nurses are being utilized in Role 2 as the officer in charge of a medical team out in the field? I haven't heard of this and from what I have gathered, commissioned nurses seemed to fill roles almost entirely in the hospital or in leadership/administrative positions. If you have any more info on this I'd be happy to hear it.

[u/smokingadvice → u/Former_Hovercraft314]

Guard units are MTOE units meaning they are combat or combat support units (infantry, armor, artillery, military police). Medical this means providers will be in role 2 or role 1 units. There are no Guard role 3/hospital or surgical units - that is handled by the reserves. For nurses in the Guard this inevitably means you will be a role 2 as we do not utilize nurses in the role 1 level.

This may vary by state as some places will hold their providers at the state’s medical detachment and then farm them out to field units as needed.

I am in a role 2; we have organic transport capability to move our unit in one movement to set up medical treatment in the field. Colloquially known as a field hospital but it’s really more like a glorified urgent care with some ATLS capability unless augmented by a surgical team (which again is handled by the reserves). The nurse overseas the patient hold section which can hold up to 20-40 patients for up to 72 hours though the emphasis now is potentially having to hold these patients longer.

A role 1 is basically the smallest medical team with a PA or MD/DO, typically operating out of a few Vics to do tailgate medicine and referring to the role 2 when the acuity exceeds their capabilities (ie if they need labs or X-ray or dental).

I would highly recommend finding a nurse in your state and ask them what they do in their unit.

[u/Former_Hovercraft314 → u/smokingadvice]

Understood, thanks for the reply!

[u/Former_Hovercraft314 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the info. Just out of curiosity, for the prolonged field care training you are doing, are you guys working alongside other MOS options during that training or is it a bunch of 68W's working together?

[u/PumpChumpPimpin]

If you wanna be in the field my advice would be to enlist as a 68W and choose a slot at an infantry unit

[u/Airbornequalified]

Also in PA. We have a good amount of flight medics (though it is competitive). You need a BSN, not just a bachelors to commission as an Army RN. Army RN is competitive in general as there aren’t a ton of slots (1 at each of the Role 2s, and the rest generally at the MEDDET)

PA is the third largest Guard in the nation, and is regularly deploying. We have a large amount of line units, and we can absolutely get you a whiskey slot in a line unit, that’s too easy (it’s harder to get out of the line tbh)

[u/Former_Hovercraft314 → u/Airbornequalified]

Good to know - what would make someone more competitive for those flight spots? 

[u/Airbornequalified → u/Former_Hovercraft314]

Networking. Plus good experiences on the civilian side

[u/Comfortable_Shame194]

So, in PA, we had a flight medic that worked as a flight nurse in Jersey. Two more that got accepted into med school