Active Duty Army to OCS

[mlounz]

I'm currently an active duty soldier in the United States Army. I will be completing my B.S. in Health Care Management this April. The problem is I will miss the Army's OCS board deadline, and will not be eligible next year because I will be turing 28 this year. Not willing to give up on earning a commision, I thought I'd consider "jumping ship". I contacted a Navy Recruiter, and he says I could put in a packet for OCS, but being active duty I would have to get a conditional letter of release. He didn't know too much else, but promised he would research it.

I would like to be a medical officer. Can anyone tell me what the board deadlines are for OCS (for the medical service corps). Also, has anyone heard of people from different branches going into the navy's OCS?

 

[BackOrdered]

OCS is not offered for Medical. You would want a direct commission as well as an advanced degree.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I have put enlisted active AF and Army into Navy officer programs,

If you want to go medical you need a graduate degree unless you are going Nurse, MSC Health Care Admin officer used to take BA/BS degrees but no longer, and to be blunt to get into HCA now you almost need to walk on water, HCA's are a dime a dozen.

On the plus side the age limit for most medical programs is 41.

 

[eas7888]

I'm currently an active duty soldier in the United States Army. . .

Army to Navy here. I made the transition a little over a year ago. As you already have been told, step zero is getting the ball rolling on your conditional release. Without that piece of paper, you can't really do much.

I don't know about applying for the MSC, but NavyOffRec covered that pretty well. He could probably also tell you that things are very tight as far as recruiting goes, not a lot of slots open, and a ton of applicants. Though, if you have plenty of things working in your favor, anything is possible.

My suggestion to you is find the local Navy officer recruiter in your area. They may be a Chief (or higher) or an officer themselves. They will be able to walk you through the specifics. After your first meeting with the recruiter, make sure that you talk to your chain of command, and let them know your intentions. Being a platoon sergeant, I went straight to my 1SG, and he had a sit down meeting with myself and the commander while we talked about what I wanted to do. After finding out how sincere I was about my desire to serve in the Navy, and agreeing that it was the best way for me to further my career, the CO agreed to sign my DD-368. Basically, if your chain of command isn't on board with you joining up with the Navy, you won't be able to do it, so get their approval. It will have to be signed off by the first O-6 in your chain of command (I believe). It's been almost two years since I've worked on this, so some of my memory is fading on the subject.

Best of luck to you, and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask.