Navy Vet looking to X-Fer to U.S. Army

**Mitch.Payne** · 10-16-2011 07:48 PM

Hey all, I separated from the Navy in 2008 with an honorable discharge with a re-enlistment code RE-1. Since I have been released, I have been working full time and last year began using my G.I. Bill chapter 33 to attend school.

I have found that in the last 3 years of being a civilian, I miss the military. I found it hard to "fit in" to civilian life, and every single day I talk about re-enlisting. I have read that during these tough economical times it is tough to enlist as prior service.

My dream as of the past year and a half has been to re-enlist 68W for a couple reasons. The first being that before I joined, I was an EMT and a firefighter for 1 and 2 years, respectively. This led me to my passion of helping people. I would like to major in Nursing, pursuing further education in trauma care. The second reason being that I feel that the military is my life. I honestly feel that a piece of me is missing.

My question is this: Before entering a recruiter's office, is it true that the Army is downsizing and looking to hire fresh boots as opposed to vets like myself? Also, would there be anything I can do to make myself more of an asset to the Army other than attending school?

P.S. I am 25 years old, 170lbs and 5'11''. Good physical condition, never failed a fitness test and no history of arrests/punitive actions.

I appreciate the time anyone has taken to read this, and any time spent in sending a response. God Bless.

--Mitch Payne

**Armyforums** · 10-16-2011 07:48 PM

**Grunt Medic TXARNG** · 10-16-2011 08:52 PM

Mitch, as a former Sailor (and thus now a civilian) you cannot transfer to the Active Army, although you apply to enlist as Prior Service. The entire military is indeed downsizing - that's the bad news. But the good news is that they are always in need of professionals in healthcare. If you find you are not competitive to enlist, know that if you get into Nursing school there are LOTS of opportunities to be commissioned as a military nurse and an officer in any of the branches that employ them - USA, USN, USAF, or the PHS. You will also be eligible to go to work in the VA healthcare system, in which case your years in the USN will count toward a Federal retirement through FERS, the Federal Employees' Retirement System.

Good luck!

**KTK1029** · 10-16-2011 09:24 PM

Well, I'm not recruiter so let me preface what I'm about to say with this, everything I'm about to say is just from my research. We have a recruiter on this forum that will give you a more definitive answer. I personally wanted 68W and have been working with my recruiter for quite some time. I just recently reserved a 68Q slot, my recruiter had to call ROC in order to get them to open up a slot and even then he had to fight with them to open it. Now, jobs change on an hourly basis as it's a live system so if that's what you absolutely want and time is on your side. Tell them that's the only job you want and won't enlist unless it's for 68W it may be a quite some time before you can enlist. If you're EMT-B certified that may help them persuade ROC to get you a slot. It'll also cut down some of your time in AIT.

Now, I don't know if you want Active Duty or Reserves but from what I've gathered the Reserves are looking for prior service while Active Duty is only taking prior service that want an 18X contract. Now, like I said this is only stuff I've gathered from doing plenty of research while waiting til I can enlist. Our resident recruiter will come in and lay down the law.

**papachop** · 10-17-2011 05:57 AM

Mitch, my advice would be to decide what exactly it is you want to do. If you want to go 68W, get in touch with a recruiter. If you're seriously considering nursing, you'll want to get in touch with an AMEDD recruiter. They handle recruiting for all nurses and doctors, and it's a whole different beast from the 68 series.

Recruiting for Military Positions

**Mitch.Payne** · 10-17-2011 07:26 AM

Thanks for the responses guy!

Time is definitely on my side, as I am about 3/4 way through my associates degree. My concern with the RN program is the extremely competitive process to be selected for the nursing program in my area(North East PA).

My thought was that by going to a recruiter with an associate degree that I would be more of an asset to the Army, but I could be wrong. If I were to go Army Reserve, would that get my 'foot in the door' so to say, thus making it easier to transfer to active duty?

I also should add that upon leaving the Navy, I have gotten married and my wife and I have a son. Not sure if this would be more of a burden to the Army due to the increased cost of insurance for the family rather than just myself.

Once again, thank you guys very much for your input and taking the time to read these posts.

**MSG Glenn** · 10-17-2011 07:33 AM

An associates degree won't get you a commission as a nurse. You'll need a bachelors for that.

As KTK has said - as far as I know the only MOS being offered to prior service is 18X - Special Forces.

**papachop** · 10-17-2011 07:34 AM

If you want to go Active Duty, do NOT go AR (Army Reserve) or NG (National Guard). Trying to switch to RA (Regular Army) is nigh-impossible.

I hear ya' on the competitiveness of nursing programs. How long will it be until you can apply for a nursing program?

Your AA (or AS) wouldn't really affect your joining chances, I don't believe, but I'm sure our resident recruiter can talk more about that. Also, your wife and son aren't a burden at all, and in no way a bar to enlistment.

**Mitch.Payne** · 10-17-2011 07:41 AM

I can apply for the nursing program following the spring semester in 2012, at which time I SHOULD have a little over 60 credits. My grades aren't barring me from applying or anything like that but I would say about 60% of the students attending my school are trying to apply to the RN program.

**Mitch.Payne** · 10-17-2011 07:44 AM

To be honest, it kind of sucks because when I was active duty, there were more people that wanted to finish their 4-6 years and be done with the military, whereas I KNOW I want to make a career of it. Guess I should have just re-enlisted while my EAS was upcoming, but my crystal ball wasn't working haha.

**MSG Glenn** · 10-17-2011 08:13 AM

It seems that it's getting harder to enlist each month. The Army is in the process of downsizing, we're pulling out of Iraq soon, Afghanistan a little later & the civilian job opportunities stink. The Army in particular & the military in general now have the luxury to choose the pick of the litter.

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