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Either is fine. You can address them as CPT Doe: or Sir:. You can also throw in a sir/ma'am in the text of your correspondence as appropriate, avoid doing so with rank (e.g.: "I'll do so at the first opportunity, sir" sounds fine, "I'll do so at the first opportunity, CPT" does not).
You need to indicate your rank, but there's no requirement that you sign with it. My default signature actually reads something along the lines of:
I am an ROTC commissionee-turned-ASR... I was required to access (pronounced "assess") along with the other ROTC cadets during the fall before graduation, even though I had an acceptance early on. There wasn't an option to access Medical Corp (MC) straight out of ROTC, and so I branched into the Medical Service Corp (MS). I accessed into the ARNG, and but not into the state where I would be attending school, and so I was required to Interstate Transfer (IST) less than 6 months into my commission in order to get ASR funded. As an MS officer I was required to pass through the USAREC and FEDREC boards again because I was transferring branches, MS to MC. I was re-oathed at that time. In other words, despite the fact that I was already fully commissioned, I was required to build an ASR packet from scratch, just as though I was a fresh recruit.
I'm curious if this is something we weren't expecting or not. After November's board, I was told we were down around 30 for the year. I'm wondering if they're just forecasting out that those spots are now full and we're done for the year, in which case, the program's closed.
I'd contact your AMEDD recruiter and see what they say. If they send you application materials, sit on it for a week and see if there is more definitive news. You'll hear it here first.
Sure. Ask your recruiter, but I'd also recommend posting questions here. I've found folks give extremely unbiased, honest opinions on here. We don't give two cents whether you go for the program or not since you're not being recruited to our particular state.
I'm afraid that the state-by-state thing is the way the information rolls out. The purse strings are largely federal.
Then how are you serving? If you're interested in helping folks but not run the risk of being deployed, I'd recommend looking into volunteering one weekend per month with the Red Cross or at the VA.
There is a large policy memo posted somewhere on this thread (search or dig and you'll find it) that has a specific mention that National Guard folks undergoing residency training are exempt from deployment as are medical students.
At this point, even if we hadn't heard the funding news from punkiedad and BaseballSensei, folks applying now would be a real longshot. I think December would eat up the last of the slots. We'd be counting on recycled seats from folks leaving (which I haven't seen confirmed in writing) and new spots opening next year (which I haven't heard discussed yet).
The current National Guard deployment tempo (for docs) is 3 months boots-in-sand every 22 months.
That's exactly what we are.
Yep. That's why the National Guard is a perfect choice for many of us. You're a soldier only part-time.
Like I said, the tempo is one 90 day overseas deployment roughly every two years, but most docs I've talked to are deploying less than this in the Guard.
If you don't know of someone in MI, let me know and I can send him the guy who does this nationally. He's fast, attentive, and responsive, which is more than I can say about some of the AMEDD recruiters folks have met when cold dialing...
Depends on your age. Max weight for someone 6'1" is (folks can find their height/weight requirements here):
Keep in mind that if you fail to meet height/weight requirements, they do a tape test and have a calculation they do to see if you qualify. Google Army tape test for height weight and you can find out how they do it.
Whoops. That was supposed to read 28-39 for the 205lb weight limit. I'll edit it.
Your call. If you're at all borderline, I'd shoot for getting in under the 205 limit. Over that, you're reliant on the folks measuring you with the tape, and you're not always dealing with varsity there. I wouldn't want my fate in their hands. And again, there's no waiver for not making weight at MEPS.
Nothing is for sure until you hear it from your recruiter. I still don't have confirmation that we're out of slots in my state. We'll all probably know more in the next couple of weeks, but if you're still in process, definitely keep your application going.
That's definitely a judgment call based on your particular goals.
If you're overweight, you're given the tape test I mentioned a few posts ago. If you fail that, you're done. No waivers for weight.
If you fail your weight (or other aspects of your twice yearly Army Physical Fitness Test), they put you on a fitness regimen and give you 90 days until you restest. You are ineligible for promotion and all other sorts of perks while you're in this status. It's not where you want to be.
