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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Older enlistees???
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Question
I am 36 (will be 37 in December.) I am prior service 1989-1992 (Desert Storm Vet) active duty Army, honorable discharge. I will graduate college in 2009 with my bachelors in science in nursing and am interested in returning to the military. Would anyone take me back at this age and, if so, would I be required to repeat basic training?
Hi Pat,
Are you wishing to come back in as a prior-service enlisted member, or as a registered nurse, commissioned officer?
The Army, Army Reserves, and Army National Guard are accepting enlisted (even non-prior-service) up to age 42. The Navy Reserves will accept non-prior service up to age 39. "Constructive Credit" is given to your prior service, in such cases, so you can subtract your previous active duty time from your age to see if you qualify.
See: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/enlstandards.htm for details.
The active duty Air Force Navy, and Coast Guard, are taking almost no prior-service enlisted at this time, so those are probably "out" for enlistment purposes. The active duty Marine Corps the maximum enlistment age is age 32, after subtracting your previous active duty time, so that is also out.
Whether or not you would have to repeat basic, as an enlisted member, depends on the service (see page 2 of the article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/priorservice.htm).
Have you considered becoming a registered nurse? If so, the age-limit for joining in much higher in all the services, and you would only have to attend a two-week OCS/OTS course for commission as a Registered Nurse.
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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