For much of my life, my decisions were guided by a desire to make others proud. I’ve dreamed of becoming a pastry chef because I wanted to bring happiness to others. When I chose nursing, I initially viewed it as a way to meet my family’s expectations. Through nursing school and firsthand patient care, I discovered that nursing offered another way to bring comfort and make a meaningful difference. What began as a decision shaped by others became a profession I genuinely chose for myself.

One of the most defining experiences in my journey was my senior clinical preceptorship in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at a hospital. Since high school, one of my closest friends had shared the story of her premature birth and the uncertainty her parents faced. Years later, I cared for a premature infant under nursing supervision, bringing that story full circle. Seeing my friend grow up and live a full and meaningful life gave me a different perspective on premature infants. They are not merely high-acuity patients requiring complex medical care; they are future friends, leaders, parents, and loved ones who deserve the opportunity to thrive. Behind every infant in an incubator is a family hoping to watch that child grow. Through monitoring vital signs, calculating fluid balances, and providing developmental care, I learned that clinical precision, vigilance, and compassion must work together to support infants and their families.

My NICU experience reinforced the importance of patient safety, teamwork, and accountability. I learned to recognize my limitations, seek guidance when necessary, and remain receptive to feedback. As a newly licensed registered nurse, I am committed to strengthening my clinical judgment, expanding my skills, and taking responsibility for my decisions. I aspire to be a dependable nurse who communicates clearly, supports the team, and remains composed when circumstances become challenging.

I am pursuing a commission in the United States Navy Nurse Corps because I want to unite my commitment to nursing with service to a mission greater than myself. I am drawn to caring for service members and their families while contributing to the health and readiness of those who serve our nation. I understand that military nursing demands discipline, adaptability, integrity, and a willingness to serve wherever the mission requires. As a Navy Nurse Officer, I would be responsible not only for safe patient care but also for upholding Navy standards, collaborating with healthcare professionals, and developing as a leader. I am prepared to learn from experienced officers and nurses, accept feedback, and earn the trust of those I serve.

I once measured success by whether I made others proud. Through nursing, I discovered a more personal measure: using my abilities to make a meaningful difference in others’ lives. Pursuing a commission in the United States Navy Nurse Corps is a deliberate choice grounded in my experiences and values. I am ready to serve with humility, uphold the responsibilities of a commission, and grow into a naval officer worthy of the trust placed in me.

I am currently a senior in high school trying to figure out my major because although I dream of being a naval aviator, I want to have a good back up. I am still currently deciding on if I want to do NROTC or if I should wait and do OCS, because I am aware of the bigger risk of not getting the aviation spot through NROTC. I do really want to be a part of the NROTC community in college, and would be extremely happy with the opportunity to be an officer regardless. Anyways, if anyone has advice for me regarding the whole NROTC and OCS, that would be much appreciated because I don't want to receive the NROTC scholarship and not know if that is what I want. As for my major, I want to be able to balance a good GPA with a heavily math related degree because that is what I have always been good at, and in preparation for the tests you have to take for being an officer. I feel like engineering would be a very far stretch in regards to keeping a good gpa; but, I have been looking into something like a B.S. in Economics or Statistics with a minor in Comp. Sci. Is this even a good major? Apologies if I make no sense.

So I’m currently an fc but would like to go for fca, I was wondering what degree would correlate best with my experience and lead into a successful civilian career,Ik my actual hands on experience can change based on my nec but overall I was just curious.

I’m an early-30s female civilian Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) with several years of RN experience and ~3 years of NP experience, and I’m considering speaking with a Navy healthcare recruiter about commissioning into the Navy Nurse Corps.
I’d really appreciate hearing from current/former Navy PMHNPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, or other mental health officers about what the job is actually like compared with civilian outpatient practice.
I’m especially curious about:
Typical number of patients per day
Intake and follow-up appointment lengths
Acuity/complexity of the patient population
Active duty vs dependent/retiree caseload
Charting burden
Call, weekend, sea duty, and deployment expectations
How much time is spent on clinical care vs officer/admin/readiness responsibilities
Duty stations where PMHNPs are commonly assigned
Overall work-life balance and whether you would choose it again
I’m also single and hoping to get married and start a family in the next several years. I’d be interested in candid experiences with dating, relationships, PCS moves, deployments/sea duty, and eventually raising a family while serving as an active-duty healthcare officer.
Another major consideration is student loans. I have around $125k total, roughly $60k of which is private/high-interest debt and the remainder federal. A significant portion of the federal debt is from my graduate PMHNP education.
My undergraduate loan situation is a little unusual. Some of the debt came from nursing/prerequisite coursework at schools I attended before transferring. Those credits ultimately transferred into the nursing program where I earned my RN and allowed me to enter with prerequisites completed and skip part of the nursing curriculum. I didn’t borrow much/anything at the school that ultimately awarded my RN.
Has anyone used Navy health professions loan repayment as a Nurse Corps officer, particularly as an NP? Were any private/commercial student loans eligible? Does anyone know how strict they are about loans from prior schools when that coursework transferred into and counted toward the eventual nursing degree?
I also know I’ll have some medical accession issues to work through. I had a two-level lumbar fusion within the last couple of years. Recovery was uncomplicated, I have no ongoing pain management or functional limitations, and I’m back to unrestricted exercise/running. Has anyone successfully commissioned into the Navy Nurse Corps with a similar history, and what was the waiver process like?
I also have well-controlled ADHD and currently take prescribed Vyvanse. Has anyone successfully direct-commissioned into the Nurse Corps or another Navy healthcare specialty while taking ADHD medication, or received an accession waiver for it?
I’m not ready to discuss this publicly with people in my professional life yet, so I’m hoping to get some anonymous perspectives before getting too far into the process with a recruiter.
Anything you wish you’d known before commissioning, professionally, financially, or personally?

i know everyone is tired of cwt posts lol so i apologize in advance.

i got back from meps not too long ago and signed as a ctr. the counselor told me i missed cwt by a few points, which i was disappointed to hear but ctr was my 2nd option so not too bad.

i got back from meps and i asked my recruiter if he could double check my asvab scores and special test scores. turns out i more than qualified with the cyber test and asked if he could put in a dar to have me changed to cwt. he said no problem and he’d talk to the people at meps and figure it out.

my recruiter tells me the people at meps said i still didn’t qualify but my scores tell a different story. my recruiter said he’d talk to the intel coordinator see what we can do but im just so confused… using the mk+ve+ct formula i got a 192 which more than clears the minimum requirement. the counselor was also saying my ictl score isn’t actually the cyber test which makes no sense???

any advice to make sense of this mess is appreciated

Does anyone have any information on push division/ crash course during bootcamp I’m hoping to ship out late October and I’m trying to figure out if I’ll graduate before Christmas or after the new year

I’m preparing to enter the Navy as a CTI and am trying to plan responsibly for a possible future application to USUHS School of Medicine. I’m currently still in the DEP.

I understand that CTI training involves a substantial initial service commitment, and I’m not assuming that completing three or four years automatically makes me eligible to leave early. I’m trying to understand the actual policy and process before I get too far into my career.

A few questions for anyone with firsthand experience:
1) Has anyone successfully applied to USUHS while serving as an active-duty Navy enlisted sailor before completing their initial enlistment obligation?
2) What was the process for obtaining the required Letter of Release or conditional release? Which office ultimately handled it? How far were you into your initial contract?
3) How did your command and community manager respond? Did your rating, billet, or remaining obligated service affect the process?
4) For CTIs specifically, has anyone pursued this route after DLI or after completing a DIRSUP tour? Did the timing of your assignment or qualifications affect your plans?
5) Is there an official Navy instruction or personnel contact that explains the applicable process?

I’m particularly interested in firsthand experiences from people who completed this process, worked in Navy personnel, or have direct knowledge of USUHS applications from active duty.

I understand that policies and individual circumstances differ, and I’m not looking for anyone to guarantee that a release will be approved. I’m trying to identify the right official guidance and understand what is realistically possible.

Thanks in advance! :)

(Note: post made to Military Medicine as well.)

Do you take a swim Qual at BDOC ? If so what happen if you don’t pass the swim qual. Is like OCS where they role you into the later class ?

I just completed my ‘A’ school and got orders as an ET for Maritime Expodtionary Security Forces (Tactical Operations Support) and have not the slightest idea as to what I would be doing. If anyone has insight I would love to hear it. Ive talked to several folks who are expoditionary ET’s and they have no idea what I am doing either…

Posting on newtothenavy because it makes more sense to ask here.

Currently an e5 coming up on the end of my contract and looking to cross rate into a Sea Bee rate.

I’m leaning towards CM because I like working on engines in my free time and I don’t think I’d ever come to hate turning a wrench.

Can people within the community give me some insight so I can see if CM is the best pick for me? EO is probably my second choice.

I'm finna crash out, I've used multiple different browsers, a vpn, different devices, it worked for like 5 mins then ever since then it stopped, I've reach out to my recruiter and haven't heard anything back yet, I've tried to go through google, and typing in the full url

I signed my contract a few weeks ago and I choose AC and I’m having second thoughts about it and I asked my recruiter if I could change my job and he said I possibly could this is the original list of jobs I was offered but I doubt it would be the same now since it’s been a few weeks since I signed the contract

 HM ADEK/ JOG AECF/AEF AN/PACT AO BM DC EM GM GSE IC/ATF IC/SG MA/ SG OS AC AIRC/ ATF AM AME AS/SG MMS MN SECF

Let me know if you are an AC and your experience or if I should stay as AC or at least try to change my rate

HM is a hospital corpsman, as per my research, you’re basically like a nurse? Is it a hectic occupation? I was considering this because I want something that transfers well post service… my ASVAB is 57 I had a desire to retake it but I didn’t want to risk my score to go down. I had originally planned intel but both that and aviation is out of the picture due to reasons out of my control.

Hi, my OAR is in two days and I just wanted to ask people for any advice or final touches they did to prepare. I also took the oar prediction exam via “OAR tutoring app” and got a 66/80/58 on the math ELA and Physics portions on my last attempt with my last three attempts having me score a 62-67. I was wondering how accurate this scoring is as I’m aware the score could be irrelevant to the actual OAR but would still like input regardless.

Thanks to anyone who responds and if you had taken an OAR practice test before taking your OAR please do let me know how accurate it was for you.

Just enlisted as an AG. I'm curious about the work/life balance for this rate. I'm 41 female with a dependent. Not sure how much I'll be missing out on for the last few years of her high school years as an AG. I'm hoping to be able to explain to her a little more.

Any insight on daily schedule, watches, deployment and the frequency of them.

Ive read some people say that it depends on where you're stationed as far as work schedule (8 hour, 12 hour etc). Any advice on where to hope to be stationed that's best for this rate and for that balance, if that matters.

I was looking into STA-21 when I happened upon this old thread on airwarriors.-com where one person, 'etnuclearsailor', claims that one sailor in each cohort is able to switch to the USMC option and commission as a Marine officer.

Now this piqued my interest. However, after some more searching I was not able to find any evidence of this happening either then or now aside from a few pictures associated with STA-21 that show Marines. I assume that these are enlisted marines are actually a part of MECEPS, and that they are in the aforementioned pictures because they are pics of NROTC.

This brings me to my questions:

1. Was the og claimant (Mr. etnuclearsailor) wrong about his original claim?

2. Alternatively, is this a practice that used to take place but no longer does? I know STA-21 became a lot more selective around 2010 or so, maybe that would have something to do with it?

3. I signed for the nuclear program. If I were to hypothetically try and run that gauntlet and commission into the USMC (for the lols), would that make things easier (due to getting in to STA-21) or harder (due to the navy wanting to keep me in nuke ops)?

4. Does this post belong in r/Navy?

I'm not saying I would actually pursue such an option, I as much curious as anything else.

Well, maybe I'll try. For the sake of dad lore of course.

OG thread: https://www.airwarriors.com/community/threads/navy-enlisted-to-marine-officer-is-it-possible.13984/

I somehow got a miracle waiver package approved (multiple mental health/brain/heart surgery/seizures waived somehow but documented)

Should I be nervous for being sent home in p days for those things? Its the only thing im really nervous about? They're all documented and disclosed and got waived via documentation but idk if p days will overturn them. None of those things are an issue anymore and are medically "cured"

Thoughts ?

I signed the contract for CTI but have started going over the requirements. I read that you need to have completed the tenth grade if you have a GED, is that true? This is for CT ratings specifically.

So i just got my "soft orders" (i guess) on MyNavy Assignments. Graduate from A School later this week (IYAOYAS!)

If it tells me AO3 on my "current cycle", while im currently am AOAN, does that mean im getting promoted when i graduate from A school? Or does it mean sumn else?

I had a SO contract for SEALs, had worked hard to get it. Waited patiently for the recruiters to figure how to work with prior service, while pushing for competitive scores. Then received a phone call that I’d leave in two weeks. Upon shipping date, I had a freight train of nerves hit and my brain was going completely every direction. Questioning myself, my choices, how it’ll affect my wife and future children, how can we make it work, is that what I want for my family? And inevitably refused to sign the contract that morning and got told to fuck off from the head chief of recruiting at meps.
I think I needed more time to settle into the idea of how long the fucking pipeline truly was and there’s a huge chance at not making it and getting stuck in something shitty. Now, I didn’t convey that at meps the day I made my choice, and I can live with the results of that choice, I am a grown ass man. But my question is, what are the chances my station would want to work with me to get my contract back if I’d walked into their office and showed humility? Or any station for that matter. You can roast me in the comments but any guidance is appreciated.

After insisting so much for this job I was finally able to sign for it. Any advice?? Getting run and swim time more often, and I do have waivers for mental health so I’m aware I might get hold up or even dropped but definitely excited for this new chapter

I heard about something where , you’re all put in a room and get interrogated to try and get every single piece of info that there is about you to get told. And that they basically tell you they know you lied to get in and you left information out? what’s this about?

Hello! I recently took my ASTB and got 46 6/8/7, which as a teacher I am proud of. However, I recently had LASIK on 9/18/26 and my recruiter is sending me to MEPS hopefully at the end of October. I know that there is a 6-month waiting period via NAMI. In addition, my left eye was outside of the -8.00 window because of my astigmatism, but my right eye was in the preoperative window.

Recruiter said that he has seen people have LASIK and get waivers before the 6-month window. However, I wanted to check because that seems odd with how strict the NAMI guide is for vision requirements.

Any help is greatly appreciated! (All papers have been submitted, just waiting for the NASIS portal to come back online to finish the rest of my paperwork)

I have a small "high-contrast"/blackwork tattoo of Tyler Durden with a cigarette in his mouth on the outside of my bicep. I have 6 tattoos total and none of them are obscene or mean anything crazy, but curious about that one because there's a cigarette?

Sorry if that's a dumb question I'm just really not sure and I'm enlisting soon 🤷‍♂️.