Even being prior service I had to fight tooth and nail to get military observation hours. At first I was told that only current military ID card holders were allowed to volunteer. I had to work some back channels and I eventually convinced someone to pretty much "sponsor" me. While I was there security procedures started to tighten up though and I think it became even harder to get base access. I drove about an 1 1/2 hours each way a couple of times a month to get my hours which was a huge pain, but in the end I think it helped my application. It's not required but it's definitely highly encouraged. With that being said, the faculty (who are also pretty much the admissions staff) understand that getting hours on a base can be difficult for many folks. I'm willing to bet half my classmates weren't able to get military clinic hours. Some people were able to get VA hours as well, but they are also restricting access in many places. I was able to get some hours at a VA as well, but in retrospect I probably didn't need to. The population there is so different (lots of geriatrics with chronic issues vs a younger population with more acute, sports type injuries) that it really doesn't give you an idea of what a military clinic is like. Military clinics do have a much different feel than civilian clinics so I can why they want to see those hours. With that being said they always ask incoming student what difficulties they encountered when applying and obtaining military hours is always near the top of the list. If you don't get those hours, however, it will be slightly more difficult to convey why you want to be a military PT vs a civilian PT, especially if you don't have prior service.
