Prior US Army Ranger...

[RangerD]

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I am prior service. I was a Army Airborne Ranger for my prior enlistment. I was in combat, earned a purple heart, CIB, combat jump wings, etc, etc. Served 3 years active, ETS'ed at E4. What, if any, benefit would my prior military experience provide me if I went the HPSP route? Also, what is the shortest HPSP available...is a 2 year scholarship available (with 2 year commitment)??

Thanks,
RangerD

 

[kaikai128]

I am prior service. I was a Army Airborne Ranger for my prior enlistment. I was in combat, earned a purple heart, CIB, combat jump wings, etc, etc. Served 3 years active, ETS'ed at E4. What, if any, benefit would my prior military experience provide me if I went the HPSP route? Also, what is the shortest HPSP available...is a 2 year scholarship available (with 2 year commitment)??

Thanks,
RangerD

As far as I know, the shortest payback is a 3 years. The AF is beginning a program this year to offer 2 year and 1 year scholarships; however, the payback time for these shorter scholarships will still be 3 years.

 

[oceandoc]

hi,

I just finished Army OBC and there were two former airborne ranger/lots and lots of badges guys here with all of the rest of us (who know nothing). You can get a 1 or 2 year scholarship to gain a 2 year commitment. Also, you are not required to do an Army residency, but you do have to apply for the Army match, and for every year you do as an army resident you pay back one of your scholarship years but you gain a year of commitment. So, if you did a 2 year scholarship but a, say, 3 year residency, you'd end up owing the army 3 years instead of 2....just something to think about.
You obviously know how the army works, and with your prior service the HPSP's 6 week OBC (this includes private hotel rooms and air conditioned tents in the field) would be a breeze. You'd almost certainly be a platoon leader during OBC, and get a lot of respect from your classmates. Also, you've got all of that previous time to count towards retirement (if that interests you). I personally really appreciated having those two guys in texas with us so that I could use them to learn about the army and about what it really means to be a soldier - they had some amazing stories and I'm sure you do, too. They also got a little more respect from our instructors than the rest of us did. I do think that prior service like yours would certainly help you to be selected for an HPSP scholarship.
Of course, it always comes down to what is best for you and your family. I have no prior service so I don't really know where you're coming from, but good luck and God Bless.

 

[Mirror Form]

hi,

I just finished Army OBC and there were two former airborne ranger/lots and lots of badges guys here with all of the rest of us (who know nothing). You can get a 1 or 2 year scholarship to gain a 2 year commitment. Also, you are not required to do an Army residency, but you do have to apply for the Army match, and for every year you do as an army resident you pay back one of your scholarship years but you gain a year of commitment. So, if you did a 2 year scholarship but a, say, 3 year residency, you'd end up owing the army 3 years instead of 2....just something to think about.

Just to clarify, internship is a wash. So if you have a 2 year comitment and do an internal medicin residency (1 year internship then 2 year IM resident) you'll still only owe two years afterward. However, that somewhat limits your residency choices if you're serious about only paying back two years. You could always try and just do the two years as a GMO as well. Just definitely don't bank on getting a deferment.

Also, you've got all of that previous time to count towards retirement (if that interests you).

Yep, that's key. If you decide you want to do a long residency, all that time will still count as active duty. So you may come out of residency and want to finish up your 20. For example, let's say you do ortho at walter reed. That's 6 years training (including mandatory research year), and 5 years minimum payback (due to the accumulted time from being an ortho resident for five years post internship). So you'll have 11 years active duty on top of what you already have.

 

[fullefect1]

Well I think the Army would have to be crazy to turn you down for the scholarship.