2009-2010 Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Application Thread

[teacherman84]

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is anyone else still waiting for an interview? things seem to be taking longer than i expected....

come on USU, i want to hear from you!!

Ive been complete since mid-july and still waiting...

And I agree, there is nothing bad-ass about the NWU...they look ridiculous.

 

[grotto]

Which uniform are you talking about? From what I've seen all the short sleeved uniforms we have, so does Army. Plus our SDBs undershirt is not short sleeved while you all can wear a short sleeved shirt under your class A jacket. So what's our advantage?

He's talking about summer dress whites.

BT

What Commander Hernandez told us was that "the NWUs are replacing the coveralls and we don't wear coveralls, so we won't wear NWUs" which seems like a valid point. However, I know areas that also don't wear coveralls (ex. OCS) that has transitioned from khaki's to NWUs.

NWU's are not replacing coveralls - they are replacing working (longsleeve) khaki for officers and dungarees for enlisted. Coveralls will still be worn on ships for surface and submarine officers and enlisted, just as flight suits will still be worn by aviators. There is general confusion here about what a working uniform is - khaki is an officers working uniform in the Navy, whereas BDU's are a working uniform for Army and the Marine Corps (don't know about chair force).

Anyway, this makes no sense - so Navy students are still going to wear the old green woodland fatigues at a non-combat shore command when the Navy provides a newer working option that the rest of the fleet is wearing?

I know I will wear khaki's (given the choice) every day - NWU is hideous and a an embarrassment to the Navy, no wonder region DC doesn't want to roll it out until the last possible moment.

 

[silverhorse84]

NWU's are not replacing coveralls - they are replacing working (longsleeve) khaki for officers and dungarees for enlisted. Coveralls will still be worn on ships for surface and submarine officers and enlisted, just as flight suits will still be worn by aviators. There is general confusion here about what a working uniform is - khaki is an officers working uniform in the Navy, whereas BDU's are a working uniform for Army and the Marine Corps (don't know about chair force).

Anyway, this makes no sense - so Navy students are still going to wear the old green woodland fatigues at a non-combat shore command when the Navy provides a newer working option that the rest of the fleet is wearing?

I know I will wear khaki's (given the choice) every day - NWU is hideous and a an embarrassment to the Navy, no wonder region DC doesn't want to roll it out until the last possible moment.

Yeah, I found out from most priors that they're not replacing coveralls, but that's what our company commander said, so that's why I passed it along.
I actually like the old woodland uniform - I think it's better than what the Army and AF wear, and it's definitely better than the NWUs. 🙂

 

[AnnaBananax]

And I agree with you. While I thought my Senior Chief looked a bit scary in the NWUs on the first day of ODS while yelling at us, I think he would have looked scary no matter what he was wearing. I don't consider them bad ass at all, but rather a large blueberry and I'd feel stupid wearing them 😉

I meant "bad ass" in the sense of "ha! look at the newest piece of awesomeness the Navy kids get to add to their already crammed uniform closets"

well, i mean, as awesome as blue digi camo with gold embroidery can be...I'm sure the village people would be down
😍

 

[caniac]

ok, so the military must be relaxing their DoDMERB standards -- they just qualified me 🙂

In 2004, I had to provide my ENTIRE medical history to both the Air Force Academy and AFROTC. Being a military kid, I went to at least a dozen different doctors, so it took forever to get my entire history together...glad I don't have to go through the rigamarole again this year!!!

 

[dru2002]

ok, so the military must be relaxing their DoDMERB standards -- they just qualified me 🙂

In 2004, I had to provide my ENTIRE medical history to both the Air Force Academy and AFROTC. Being a military kid, I went to at least a dozen different doctors, so it took forever to get my entire history together...glad I don't have to go through the rigamarole again this year!!!

They digitize everything you send them and store it. So they already had the info the asked for last time.

Congrats on being qualified!

 

[NavyCy]

Yeah, I found out from most priors that they're not replacing coveralls, but that's what our company commander said, so that's why I passed it along.

You're going to have to trust me when I say, you don't want NWU to replace coveralls. I love my coveralls, especially the engineering coveralls with no belt.

Grotto, I'm a little bit surprised that you guys haven't switched over yet. Are they issuing NWU to the new classes during Indoc?

Finally, while most Navy folks seem to hate the NWU, there are some who are finding the hidden uses of this new uniform.

 

[grotto]

You're going to have to trust me when I say, you don't want NWU to replace coveralls. I love my coveralls, especially the engineering coveralls with no belt.

Grotto, I'm a little bit surprised that you guys haven't switched over yet. Are they issuing NWU to the new classes during Indoc?

Finally, while most Navy folks seem to hate the NWU, there are some who are finding the hidden uses of this new uniform.

You got that off sailorbob didn't you? Looking for answers on NWU on a boring day at work? Great minds think alike because I was looking at that exact picture about 2 minutes ago.

Coveralls are the greatest uniform in the history of the navy. I like the belt though- but only with the biggest belt buckle possible and my low cut Die Hard boots (plus I'm an OPS guy and they never gave me the engineering ones). And if anyone thinks that I'm not still going to roll my huge belt buckle with khakis at usuhs they are sorely mistaken. I might even get one of those huge obnoxious SWO belt buckles to mix it up a little bit.

By the way, our little people still wear the old woodlands. Did you know they don't even wear whiteworks anymore, except for once in a while during the summer? I don't want to wear ANY cammies, unless I'm attached to a combat (hopefully marine) unit and they buy them for me. I'm so tall that I look like an absolute dope, the pants are too short to have a good inseam so they always come unbloused, and the shirt sizes are always wayyy too wide.

 

[caniac]

They digitize everything you send them and store it. So they already had the info the asked for last time.

Congrats on being qualified!

Thanks! I don't think they were using the same data though -- if it had, I would've been "waivered" like the last 2 times, right? And it's been 6 years -- there's no way they were digitized back then.

 

[NavyCy]

Thanks! I don't think they were using the same data though -- if it had, I would've been "waivered" like the last 2 times, right? And it's been 6 years -- there's no way they were digitized back then.

Same thing happened to me. Took me 7 months to get a waiver in 2000-2001, but I cleared DODMERB this time with no waiver required. I have no idea why they cleared me this time and not last time, but I'm not about to argue with the decision.

You got that off sailorbob didn't you? Looking for answers on NWU on a boring day at work? Great minds think alike because I was looking at that exact picture about 2 minutes ago.

Sailorbob is the source of all good information about the Navy and the first place I look for answer to my questions. And yes, I'm bored out of my mind. Our students are playing firefighter this week so I don't really have a job.

It will be a sad day when the little people can't explain the difference between whiteworks A and whiteworks C and have no idea what getting sent to the quarterdeck entailed. Ahh, the memories.

 

[dru2002]

Thanks! I don't think they were using the same data though -- if it had, I would've been "waivered" like the last 2 times, right? And it's been 6 years -- there's no way they were digitized back then.

Mines at five years and they had all mine digitized. Maybe they did change their standards then. Who knows. I'm just glad I'm qual'd.

 

[mslall]

Which uniform are you talking about? From what I've seen all the short sleeved uniforms we have, so does Army. Plus our SDBs undershirt is not short sleeved while you all can wear a short sleeved shirt under your class A jacket. So what's our advantage?

you get to roll your BDU sleeves in summer.....we don't, which is not fun in san antonio at 100+......at least its not iraq

 

[xmsr3]

Which uniform are you talking about? From what I've seen all the short sleeved uniforms we have, so does Army. Plus our SDBs undershirt is not short sleeved while you all can wear a short sleeved shirt under your class A jacket. So what's our advantage?

I am referring to what 2 of the Navy priors were wearing when I interviewed on Sep 17 and I was told that is what Navy students get to wear when not wearing Class Bs.

By the way, what is the difference between ACU and BDU? I was told that we would need to buy 3 uniforms for USUHS, the ACUs, the Class Bs and the formal dress. So is BDU a 4th kind of uniform, one we need only for OBLC? Is the BDU something we will need when we are finished with USUHS, say during residency?

 

[dwb8p]

I am referring to what 2 of the Navy priors were wearing when I interviewed on Sep 17 and I was told that is what Navy students get to wear when not wearing Class Bs.

By the way, what is the difference between ACU and BDU? I was told that we would need to buy 3 uniforms for USUHS, the ACUs, the Class Bs and the formal dress. So is BDU a 4th kind of uniform, one we need only for OBLC? Is the BDU something we will need when we are finished with USUHS, say during residency?

For Army you only need two sets of uniforms-- ACUs (the digitized light green uniform) and ASUs (army service uniform -- the "blues"). The ASUs as a set contain both the Class A's and B's depending on which parts you wear.

However all you need for OBLC are ACUs. You can worry about buying ASUs (blues) once you get to OBLC.

As a general rule, the Army tries to minimize the number of uniforms while the Navy tries to maximize.

 

[xmsr3]

For Army you only need two sets of uniforms-- ACUs (the digitized light green uniform) and ASUs (army service uniform -- the "blues"). The ASUs as a set contain both the Class A's and B's depending on which parts you wear.

However all you need for OBLC are ACUs. You can worry about buying ASUs (blues) once you get to OBLC.

As a general rule, the Army tries to minimize the number of uniforms while the Navy tries to maximize.

Thanks for the info, would you mind clearing up something for me?

What do you mean we buy ASUs once we get to OBLC? Does that mean we are expected to purchase ACUs prior to arriving at Ft. Sam or can we purchase both uniforms there?

Also, regarding the ASU, so the formal dress uniform is the class A ASU? On the day of my interview I saw the students wearing class Bs, (my host was Army as well) which appeared to be a dress shirt. I also saw at least one person wearing a full jacket, (at the lunch Q&A). So is the difference between class A and B ASU the Jacket and the regalia, (the thing worn on the jacket that looks like medals).

So basically in terms of uniforms, we need ACUs, which is all we wear at OBLC, and most of our time at USUHS, (except for thursdays and our introduction to clinical medicine class) and class B ASUs, which consist of the pants and dress shirt, with the Class A Jacket and regalia being something you just need to buy one copy of and break out for super special occasions? Is my understanding correct?

 

[kcmedic]

I wish I could join in on this discussion with you guys but I am anxiously awaiting a certain phone call! ... sigh.

 

[ummmcam]

I wish I could join in on this discussion with you guys but I am anxiously awaiting a certain phone call! ... sigh.

...same

 

[dwb8p]

Thanks for the info, would you mind clearing up something for me?

What do you mean we buy ASUs once we get to OBLC? Does that mean we are expected to purchase ACUs prior to arriving at Ft. Sam or can we purchase both uniforms there?

Also, regarding the ASU, so the formal dress uniform is the class A ASU? On the day of my interview I saw the students wearing class Bs, (my host was Army as well) which appeared to be a dress shirt. I also saw at least one person wearing a full jacket, (at the lunch Q&A). So is the difference between class A and B ASU the Jacket and the regalia, (the thing worn on the jacket that looks like medals).

So basically in terms of uniforms, we need ACUs, which is all we wear at OBLC, and most of our time at USUHS, (except for thursdays and our introduction to clinical medicine class) and class B ASUs, which consist of the pants and dress shirt, with the Class A Jacket and regalia being something you just need to buy one copy of and break out for super special occasions? Is my understanding correct?

Your understanding is correct. With regard to OBLC, you are expected to have purchased at least one pair of ACUs prior to arrival, but if not you will still have a couple of days to do so on post; however, uniform supplies often run dry quickly so it behooves you to come with 2-3 pairs upon arrival. During your six weeks at Ft. Sam, you will have plenty of time to be fitted for and purchase the ASUs that you will need starting in August once you get to USUHS. Most of the first three weeks of orientation at USUHS is in ASU Class B's. You are not required to have the ASU Class A jacket until September or October (I forget exactly).

 

[silverhorse84]

I am referring to what 2 of the Navy priors were wearing when I interviewed on Sep 17 and I was told that is what Navy students get to wear when not wearing Class Bs.

I don't know what they were wearing, but I think it may have been summer whites. I think in the 6 months I've been in the Navy (so not long) I've worn that uniform half a dozen times, and that's it - it's only a summer uniform. Yeah, they're short sleeved, but so are your class Bs. It's a little confusing because we do have so many uniforms so they don't all correspond to Army equivalents. We wear khaki's and BDUs to school - if you're like me, it's khaki's only when I have to and BDUs the rest of the time. 🙂

We can wear our BDUs with sleeves rolled up - it's nice sometimes, but it can be annoying because it's a requirement. Not like AF who can do whatever they want. We roll them up during summer and down in winter. Unless we're in the field - then we can't roll them up - so if we did the same training as Army at OBLC we'd have them down sometimes too (I think you all go into the field at times, right).

 

[xmsr3]

Your understanding is correct. With regard to OBLC, you are expected to have purchased at least one pair of ACUs prior to arrival, but if not you will still have a couple of days to do so on post; however, uniform supplies often run dry quickly so it behooves you to come with 2-3 pairs upon arrival. During your six weeks at Ft. Sam, you will have plenty of time to be fitted for and purchase the ASUs that you will need starting in August once you get to USUHS. Most of the first three weeks of orientation at USUHS is in ASU Class B's. You are not required to have the ASU Class A jacket until September or October (I forget exactly).

This is what I had read previously but I am a bit confused about how we can go about buying ACUs prior to arriving at OBLC. Are we allowed to purchase ACUs prior to being commissioned, (isn't there a federal law against civilians wearing military uniforms)? And aren't we commissioned 1 or 2 days ahead of OBLC, (in fact I heard someone say that you get commissioned AT Ft. Sam)?

Silverhorse, yes we have 3 weeks of field training, which I hear is nice in that it breaks up the monotony of all those power points but as has been pointed out, San Antonio in July is hot, hot, hot!😀 I choose to look at it as part of why I joined the Army, to do and learn things that most people never do, like how to done protective suits against chemical and nuclear weapons and firing an M-16😀

ummmcam and KCmedic, best of luck to you. Which services are you trying for?

 

[ummmcam]

Navy.
Interviewed 10/8

I know its filling up fast too

 

[0919mmk]

Navy.
Interviewed 10/8

I know its filling up fast too

Did you get a call today? That would sort of debunk the "1st/15th" thing.

 

[BluSkye712]

I think ummmcam's response was to xmsr3's question about what service they are trying for.
I am also waiting to hear about Navy... interviewed 10/1.

 

[silverhorse84]

This is what I had read previously but I am a bit confused about how we can go about buying ACUs prior to arriving at OBLC. Are we allowed to purchase ACUs prior to being commissioned, (isn't there a federal law against civilians wearing military uniforms)? And aren't we commissioned 1 or 2 days ahead of OBLC, (in fact I heard someone say that you get commissioned AT Ft. Sam)?

Since I'm not Army, take this with a grain of salt. From what I remember from these boards and such, Army got their commissioning paperwork more than a day or two before hand. What people were doing was taking their orders to a base, using that to get on, then obtaining an ID and buying uniforms. However, yes, this does require you to have the paperwork prior to leaving for OBLC.
I'm sure you can get commissioned at Ft. Sam. The year before me, the Navy didn't get the commissioning paperwork and orders out to people until the Friday before they were supposed to be at ODS (you have to get to ODS by noon Sunday). This lead to last minute flights and they all were commissioned at Newport. For us, they got the paperwork out about a week and a half before ODS, and if I remember correctly Army got theirs before we did. Navy is the slacker in this regard - Army and AF tend to get them earlier 🙄

That said, I know you're super excited about acceptance (I would be/was too), but it's only November. Don't worry so much about all this. In reality, it'll all happen about a month before you leave, and while a plan is good, you don't need to figure it all out now 😉

 

[ummmcam]

I think ummmcam's response was to xmsr3's question about what service they are trying for.
I am also waiting to hear about Navy... interviewed 10/1.

That's right. No call yet.

 

[ftrflyr29]

I am referring to what 2 of the Navy priors were wearing when I interviewed on Sep 17 and I was told that is what Navy students get to wear when not wearing Class Bs.

By the way, what is the difference between ACU and BDU? I was told that we would need to buy 3 uniforms for USUHS, the ACUs, the Class Bs and the formal dress. So is BDU a 4th kind of uniform, one we need only for OBLC? Is the BDU something we will need when we are finished with USUHS, say during residency?

Don't know if this was answered, if it was sorry....BDU stands for Battle Dress Uniform and are the old school cammies the army doesn't wear anymore--think Desert Storm or early OIF/OEF--before ACU's came out.

I just love how the militaries have no money, but have enough to spend a ridiculous amount to contract out, develop, design, test, re-develop, re-design, re-test, then re-re-develop, re-re-design, re-re-test new uniforms and it's a trickle down effect. The Marine Corps comes out with digital cammies, then the Army thinks "oh no, we need a new uniform....and lets put thousands of pieces of velcro on it," then the Air Force thinks, "wait, me too, me too, but congress we need more money because we are currently building some golf courses, so please allocate another $2.8B for our new uniform design," then the Navy says, "hey we want our OWN aquaflage" hope nobody falls off the boar in those--they sure will blend in well with the blue ocean water. 😀

 

[xmsr3]

Since I'm not Army, take this with a grain of salt. From what I remember from these boards and such, Army got their commissioning paperwork more than a day or two before hand. What people were doing was taking their orders to a base, using that to get on, then obtaining an ID and buying uniforms. However, yes, this does require you to have the paperwork prior to leaving for OBLC.
I'm sure you can get commissioned at Ft. Sam. The year before me, the Navy didn't get the commissioning paperwork and orders out to people until the Friday before they were supposed to be at ODS (you have to get to ODS by noon Sunday). This lead to last minute flights and they all were commissioned at Newport. For us, they got the paperwork out about a week and a half before ODS, and if I remember correctly Army got theirs before we did. Navy is the slacker in this regard - Army and AF tend to get them earlier 🙄

That said, I know you're super excited about acceptance (I would be/was too), but it's only November. Don't worry so much about all this. In reality, it'll all happen about a month before you leave, and while a plan is good, you don't need to figure it all out now 😉

Thanks for the info. Hopefully this year is like last year and I can get my orders 2 weeks ahead of time. I can do the commissioning at my local Army health recruiter and I live 3.5 hours from Fort McCoy.

But like you said, its early and for now I'll just focus on training for a 300 on my PRT. It should come in handy for the marathon and Triathlon I hope to do before leaving for Ft. Sam.

 

[pombeMD]

I interviewed on 10/29, is there still a good chance of me hearing something positive back from the Navy?

 

[NavyCy]

then the Navy says, "hey we want our OWN aquaflage" hope nobody falls off the boar in those--they sure will blend in well with the blue ocean water. 😀

Lets be honest, if you fall off the boat it doesn't matter what you are wearing, you are going to be dang hard to find even in good conditions. Plus, the alternative to NWU is coveralls, which are blue too. Having done hundreds of simulated MOB recoveries (and watching a large number of Oscar dummies meet their demise after being run over by overzealous young SWOs), I highly recommend staying below decks if you think you are going to have a problem staying on the boat.

I interviewed on 10/29, is there still a good chance of me hearing something positive back from the Navy?

Yes, I would say it is too early to hit the panic button yet. Nobody has even been put on the wait list yet and if previous years are any indication, a large number of people will be accepted even after being waitlisted.

 

[AnnaBananax]

Thanks for the info. Hopefully this year is like last year and I can get my orders 2 weeks ahead of time. I can do the commissioning at my local Army health recruiter and I live 3.5 hours from Fort McCoy.

I'm an MS2, so I can't speak for how things went last year. I had enough time to buy uniforms prior to going to Fort Sam...if you have orders or commissioning paperwork and an ID you should be able to get on a base. Alternatively, if you have a recruiter you worked with, he/she (or anyone else with a CAC card) can bring you on post (you'll still have to flash some sort of credentials to buy the uniforms). I would actually recommend that you find someone to go with to get your uniforms, as there are a whole bunch of bits and pieces and doo-dads and I made about 4 trips to clothing and sales before I had everything I needed (I lived 10 minutes from Fort Myer at the time, so no biggie...three hours is a different story).

Also, ask your sponsor (when you get one) to send you the USUHS unit crest for your ACUs...unless things have changed at Fort Sam, these are really difficult to come by...you are authorized to wear the AMEDD (army medical department) unit patch, but it's kind of fun to be able to pick out your future classmates at OBLC (a whole mess of HPSP kids will be there too)

If you have free time, deal with your ASUs at Fort Sam, but (at least during my year) we were alotted a good 7-10 days for moving and whatnot (after we were in Bethesda) before we actually had to report in uniform at school...so if you get on it as soon as you get to town, it can be done.

 

[ftrflyr29]

Lets be honest, if you fall off the boat it doesn't matter what you are wearing, you are going to be dang hard to find even in good conditions. Plus, the alternative to NWU is coveralls, which are blue too. Having done hundreds of simulated MOB recoveries (and watching a large number of Oscar dummies meet their demise after being run over by overzealous young SWOs), I highly recommend staying below decks if you think you are going to have a problem staying on the boat.

We actually had a guy jump off the boat in PT gear, but only from the hangar deck vice the flight deck. So...what's that 20 feet instead of 63 feet? He did get picked up by the HS guys, but it still took about 20min. I always wondered if as he was heading toward the water he was thinking, "nooooooooooooo.....I was just kidding."

 

[clanafanatic09]

Hi, I am new to the forum.

I plan on commissioning through Air Force ROTC within the next couple years.

AIR POWER.

Does USU have a weekly military leadership lab?

 

[xmsr3]

I interviewed on 10/29, is there still a good chance of me hearing something positive back from the Navy?

No worries mate, only 23 members on the Uniformed Services University class of 2014 facebook group. Now, perhaps not EVERY SINGLE person who gets an acceptance will join, but I would imagine that the % is very high, maybe 80%, (I am assuming that 80% are young, ie in their 20's, the key demos for facebook).

Thus I would estimate that 29 spots have been handed out, meaning 133 or so are still open. Though I totally know how it feels to be in your shoes, (I was the epitome of neurotic fear a couple months ago)😀 I wouldn't panic until Jan 1 or when people on this forum start announcing getting wait listed, whichever comes first.😀

By the way PombeMD, have you gotten accepted into any other med schools? I know that no other school can give offer what USUHS can, but it will certainly decrease your anxiety to have a back up.

 

[pombeMD]

I am not worrying too much about acceptance. Although I have yet to be admitted to other schools, I am feeling pretty good about USUHS.

Nevertheless, I am slightly concerned about what branch I will ultimately go into. I have my heart set on Navy, but I will not be dissapointed if I end up in the Army or Air Force. However, after hearing about how great the Army is, I do wish that I had put Army as my second choice instead of Air Force.

 

[xmsr3]

I'm an MS2, so I can't speak for how things went last year. I had enough time to buy uniforms prior to going to Fort Sam...if you have orders or commissioning paperwork and an ID you should be able to get on a base. Alternatively, if you have a recruiter you worked with, he/she (or anyone else with a CAC card) can bring you on post (you'll still have to flash some sort of credentials to buy the uniforms). I would actually recommend that you find someone to go with to get your uniforms, as there are a whole bunch of bits and pieces and doo-dads and I made about 4 trips to clothing and sales before I had everything I needed (I lived 10 minutes from Fort Myer at the time, so no biggie...three hours is a different story).

Also, ask your sponsor (when you get one) to send you the USUHS unit crest for your ACUs...unless things have changed at Fort Sam, these are really difficult to come by...you are authorized to wear the AMEDD (army medical department) unit patch, but it's kind of fun to be able to pick out your future classmates at OBLC (a whole mess of HPSP kids will be there too)

If you have free time, deal with your ASUs at Fort Sam, but (at least during my year) we were alotted a good 7-10 days for moving and whatnot (after we were in Bethesda) before we actually had to report in uniform at school...so if you get on it as soon as you get to town, it can be done.

In that lies the rub. No commissioning=no id, no id, no base access. With Ft. McCoy being 3.5 hours away I can't ask my Army Med Recruiter to go with me, (he's maybe a bit miffed to have done all that paper work and lost me to USUHS). Is there anyway to get ACUs online? If not what about arriving a day early at Ft. Sam? Would they allow me on base to purchase my ACUs if they had a copy of my orders?

Regarding orientation at USUHS, (which begins around Aug 5 I believe) I noticed that this year classes didn't start until Aug 21. So does this mean that the orientation is really spread out? For example, first day check in. Days 2-10 find apartment, day 11-15 tour school, see where classes are, pick up books, ect? Or is there some other big thing you do during this 2 week period?

Finally, thanks Annabanax for the advice about the Unit Crest, I will be sure to pass this along to the Uniformed Service University class of 2014 facebook page at the appropriate time so that those of us at OBLC who are USUHS can find each other. When it comes to bonding and making friends with the service colleagues you'll be working with for the next 4 years, you can never start too early.😀

 

[xmsr3]

I am not worrying too much about acceptance. Although I have yet to be admitted to other schools, I am feeling pretty good about USUHS.

Nevertheless, I am slightly concerned about what branch I will ultimately go into. I have my heart set on Navy, but I will not be dissapointed if I end up in the Army or Air Force. However, after hearing about how great the Army is, I do wish that I had put Army as my second choice instead of Air Force.

Pray tell, what have you heard that has raised your opinion of the Army relative to the AF?

 

[pombeMD]

Pray tell, what have you heard that has raised your opinion of the Army relative to the AF?

Simply because you are going to be in that branch 😛

Nah, it is mostly because the Army has significantly more specialties compared to the Air Force. Plus, I am terrible at golf, so I don't think I will fit in with other officers in the Air Force.

 

[silverhorse84]

Regarding orientation at USUHS, (which begins around Aug 5 I believe) I noticed that this year classes didn't start until Aug 21. So does this mean that the orientation is really spread out? For example, first day check in. Days 2-10 find apartment, day 11-15 tour school, see where classes are, pick up books, ect? Or is there some other big thing you do during this 2 week period?

Orientation wasn't on August 5th - that was our check-in date. Orientation was less than a week long and right before we started classes. So you're on your own between check-in and orientation. It's time used to move in and get settled and such. Generally, there are a few parties and get-togethers. They tend to be service specific because no one really knows other people from other services, but if someone had a roommate fro a different service they would tag along. 🙂

 

[SirGecko]

Hi, I am new to the forum.

I plan on commissioning through Air Force ROTC within the next couple years.

AIR POWER.

Does USU have a weekly military leadership lab?

We have military studies but it isn't every week. (sometimes it is more, sometimes less) Most of the stuff is pretty medical centric but some of the stuff falls into the "playing grunt" territory. It isn't really like ROTC in that they waste less of your time. (at least for me NROTC tended to waste time and we don't do as much of that here)

 

[clanafanatic09]

Thank you.


Does anyone know the likelyhood that USUHS will change their admission pre reqs?

For those who are currently at the school or get accepted...what type of math did you have on your transcript?

 

[NavyCy]

Does anyone know the likelyhood that USUHS will change their admission pre reqs?

For those who are currently at the school or get accepted...what type of math did you have on your transcript?

Not very likely. Possible, but not likely. I've been in the application process since 2003 and the only thing that has changed at all is the dates on the form emails that they send out.

I had 3 semesters of calculus and differential equations, but you are only required to have one semester of calculus for USUHS. The extra math wasn't by choice. It was required by my undergrad institution.

 

[AnnaBananax]

In that lies the rub. No commissioning=no id, no id, no base access. With Ft. McCoy being 3.5 hours away I can't ask my Army Med Recruiter to go with me, (he's maybe a bit miffed to have done all that paper work and lost me to USUHS). Is there anyway to get ACUs online? If not what about arriving a day early at Ft. Sam? Would they allow me on base to purchase my ACUs if they had a copy of my orders?

I'm sorry, I should have been more specific. A copy of orders or commissioning paper work and any state or federal ID (proving you are the person on the paperwork) will get you on post and allow you to buy uniforms.

I don't know if you can order uniforms online if you aren't commissioned, but you REALLY should get your boots at the very least in advance (so you can break them in)...also, the ACUs are fairly inconsistent size-wise, so it's good to try them on. You can probably get to Fort Sam a day early, but that is where the entire medical service corps trains, so they have a ton of new people going through there all the time, so it's possible (not super likely though) that they won't have something in a size you need...I wouldn't want to find this out the day before.

XMSR, I appreciate that you like to have all the details nailed down in advance (I'm the same way), but I wouldn't get too concerned about this just yet. I'm fairly certain that you will have ample time to get your stuff together before you go to Fort Sam...if you don't, PM me closer to the date and I'll figure something out for you! 😀

 

[xmsr3]

I'm sorry, I should have been more specific. A copy of orders or commissioning paper work and any state or federal ID (proving you are the person on the paperwork) will get you on post and allow you to buy uniforms.

I don't know if you can order uniforms online if you aren't commissioned, but you REALLY should get your boots at the very least in advance (so you can break them in)...also, the ACUs are fairly inconsistent size-wise, so it's good to try them on. You can probably get to Fort Sam a day early, but that is where the entire medical service corps trains, so they have a ton of new people going through there all the time, so it's possible (not super likely though) that they won't have something in a size you need...I wouldn't want to find this out the day before.

XMSR, I appreciate that you like to have all the details nailed down in advance (I'm the same way), but I wouldn't get too concerned about this just yet. I'm fairly certain that you will have ample time to get your stuff together before you go to Fort Sam...if you don't, PM me closer to the date and I'll figure something out for you! 😀

Thanks for all the help AnnaBanax, its good to know that I will be able to get my ACUs at Ft. McCoy after all, (yay roadtrip!😀).

 

[AnnaBananax]

Nah, it is mostly because the Army has significantly more specialties compared to the Air Force. Plus, I am terrible at golf, so I don't think I will fit in with other officers in the Air Force.

That is true, but it might interest you to know that when AF people get stationed at Army bases, they get extra pay because the Army standard of living is significantly below the AF's. I guess when you factor in the extra cost of joining a golf club you've got to increase pay 😉

 

[clanafanatic09]

I am so in love with the United States Air Force.

I understand that from the medical aspect the Army and Navy seem to have a better deal, but I honestly want to be an Air Force Officer first and Physician second.

To those of you who have been accepted or attending...do you think military clinical experience is an edge over civilian?

 

[xmsr3]

That is true, but it might interest you to know that when AF people get stationed at Army bases, they get extra pay because the Army standard of living is significantly below the AF's. I guess when you factor in the extra cost of joining a golf club you've got to increase pay 😉

Would you mind expanding on this? In what way is the Army standard of living lower than AF?

 

[AnnaBananax]

Would you mind expanding on this? In what way is the Army standard of living lower than AF?

So, I have no personal experience with this (priors lurking out there, step up!), but my understanding is that this stems from discrepancies in the standards used to determine "Hardship Duty Pay" between the two services. I don't think this happens in CONUS (contiguous US) settings, but in certain OCONUS (outside the contiguous US) settings, you can be given hardship pay if it is determined that the conditions are sub-standard. I've heard from some of the prior service kids in my class, that some of the OCONUS Army bases which are perfectly suitable as far as the Army is concerned, are below Air Force standards to the degree that AF people stationed on said bases receive hardship pay. I have no idea what this means...I did a quick google search and it doesn't seem that the criteria are publicly available. Maybe it's a golf course thing? You'll kind of get the gist of it as soon as you cruise around an AF base for the first time after being on Army posts...it's kind of like going to a country club.

 

[ruiner]

Ruiner would you please be so kind as to elaborate? What does it say? Does it have the words unconditional acceptance in it? When did you do your DODMERB physical and when did your paperwork get sent in, (that info is on the Concordia DODMETS website).

Anyone else get unconditional acceptances? Or on the flip side, anyone get notified that they need a waiver?

Nevermind it was just the congratulations letter. I know I am UC accepted though....my secruity clearance was done last year when I applied for NUPOC and i had already got the DODMERB qualified form.

 

[mslall]

Thanks for all the help AnnaBanax, its good to know that I will be able to get my ACUs at Ft. McCoy after all, (yay roadtrip!😀).

buy your uniforms online. the sizing charts they give you run true.

 

[Tenbusu]

Did anybody else here interview on 19 Nov? We had a pretty friendly group of people, but I didn't ask anyone their SDN names. One guy I asked had never heard of SDN!