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Question
I am an active duty Army nurse (1LT)currently serving in Iraq. My scholarship commitment requires me to complete at least 4yrs active and 4yrs reserve (either active or inactive). I would like to switch to the Air force for my reserve time. If it is possible to make the switch, what steps do I take to begin this process?
Hi Cara,
Sorry, but you cannot simply switch from one service to another.
Having said that, everyone who joins a military service for the first time incurs a total 8 year service obligation. Whatever time is not spent on active duty must either be spent in the active or inactive reserves.
Once your complete your active duty time, you owe the Army four more years of inactive duty time. That IRR time must be spent in the Army, *unless* you join another service for active duty, or another service for *active* Guard or Reserve time.
In other words, you cannot spend the rest of your Army commitment in the Air Force IRR, but if you want to swap IRR time for Air Force active duty, Air Force active Reserve, or Air National Guard time, that's most certainly possible.
In order to do so, simply see an Air Force active duty, Air Force reserve, or Air Force National Guard officer accession recruiter (actually, there are special recruiters for medical professionals), after (or right before) your discharge from the Army.
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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