Army Dentistry

[milman]

Hi Jmill,
I want to know about anything cool one could do in the military, anything that you couldn't do as a civilian. Did you and that guy assigned to the special forces both do the 2yr aegd program? Did he go to any military schools such as airborne,etc? Did he get any opportunities to train in some military skills such as sharpshooting,rapelling from helicopter,etc? What countries did he get to travel to, work at? What countries did you get? What kind of interactions did you have with other military officers, such as physicians, aviators, infantry officers?
Thanks a lot!

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[jmill0]

There's a lot of things you CAN do in the military. I know guys that went to Air Assault school that were dentists. Here's the deal though.... the army has just so many slots for these schools. Would they rather send an infantryman or a dentist to Airborne school? Who is more likely to use it? There is a dental company out of Fort Bragg, NC that is Airborne qualified. They jump out planes and they likes. Not many of them though. Might be possible to get a slot there if you make it known you want to do that.

The SF guy and myself did the 1yr AEGD. I think the 2yr is new, because I don't remember that being an option for us.

I was assigned to a field unit for two years and qualified annually on my weapon (9mm). Only time I fired it. No other weapons qualifiations done for me. The Army isn't about to send me out to learn to do stuff I'm never going to use when I can be getting their soldiers ready for war by taking care of "bombed out" mouths. Every dentist spends most of their time doing dentistry, that's how we're most valuable!

I'm not sure where the SF guy went. I think I heard Thailand for some training, but I can't be sure. I don't knwo where else he went. I know I didn't go anywhere outside the country with the military. Lucky me I guess......

Finally, as for interaction with other military officers. I had relatively none at Fort Lewis. I was a student and spent a lot of time hanging with the other nine in my class.
When I got to NY and the field unit, I started to spend some more time with those in my unit. Still good friends with a Medical service officer three years after I got out. I was also goods friends with an Ordinance(sp?) Officer and some Physicians, PAs, and Nurses in my unit. It's going to be what you make of it. I doubt any of the Infantry Officers were looking to "hang out" with a dentist though.

Just my thoughts....

JKM

 

[milman]

Thank you!

 

[BuckeyeDent]

Jmill,

Thanks for providing feedback on your military experience. I am a dent I student at Ohio State and I am on HPSP. I have many questions, but one that my wife wants me to get answered is this: Do they really try to match your base location with your "top 3" list? Some say this is true, that they will task you to choose 3 possible locations and match you with one of them. Others say that is bogus. Can you elaborate?

 

[jmill0]

I truly believe they try to match you with what you want. That being said, you have to be realistic. There are several posts that are "highly desirable". Fort Lewis, Fort Carson and Hawaii are a few. The odds of being sent to one of those posts straight out of school if you choose to not do an AEGD there are small. They only have room for so many captains. A lot of those posts have captains that "made deals" to get there. For example, they went to Korea for a year if they could go to Fort Lewis afterwards. If you try to "make a deal", get everything in WRITING. Don't take their word for it.

When you get closer to entering (maybe February right before you graduate), they will send you a list of places that need 63As (General Dentists). Look at the list and see which ones have a "high" priority. If you request those posts, you probably have a good shot at going there. If you give them a bunch of requests that are "low" priority, you may find yourself somewhere you don't want to be.

Things change at the last minute though. I was told that I was going to Fort Bragg by the placement officer (we both agreed that I could go there). When the orders came out though, they said Fort Drum in NY. I was okay with it as it was one of my top three (and I chose form the "high" priority list).

I hope this makes sense. Just remember that when you get in the army, you're the bottom rung on the ladder.

BTW, I truly believe ANY post can be a good assignment if you go into it with a good attitude. 3 years in Fort Riley, Kansas may be the best time of your life!

JKM