I will be a hospital corpsman in the navy how much time will i get to finish college to become a nurse?

NAVY HOSPITAL CORPSMAN i am leaving for boot camp in feb to be an HM but my goal is to go to college to become a nurse so i can move up to an officer in the navy as a nurse.. i was wondering how much free time do you get?? so that i can do my schooling while still doing my job in the navy as an HM bc i hear that being a hospital corpsman can be a pretty busy job my goal is to get it done asap will that be possible?

honestly? won't happen. for one, you cannot do clinicals while enlisted and all you could conceivably get are the gen ed. courses taken care of. between your militray duties and the extremely real possibility of a 12 month deployment to Iraq or GITMO.. you will NOT have the time to complete a BSN while on Active Duty. you would have to do your time and then use the GI Bill after getting out before you could pursue the BSN.

Wow. You're not going to have much "free time" at all unless you become the most lucky guy in the navy and find yourself stationed at Bethesda or some other choice duty station right out of the box.

If you wanted to attend college you should have done so. The navy is a full time job, and I do mean full time. If you want to be an RN in the navy then go to college, get your degree, pass the NCLEX-RN and then look into officer programs.

dont enlist once enlisted always enlisted

wait until after you graduate from nursing school then go to officers school


enlisted guys arent allowed to go officer

My hubby is a Corpsman, so we've explored all his options for career progression, including nursing. Its HARD to get all your nursing classes and clinical hours if you are thinking of doing this on your own on the side.

My suggestion for you is to get some time in service and some rank, then apply for a commissioning package such as STA-21 that will allow you to take time off to go to school full time. Then, once you have graduated, you'll be commissioned into the Nurse Corps.

Make sure to do a lot of research on all your options for commissioning. There are a lot of pre-reqs and other requirements, so good luck. In the meantime, make the best out of your time as a Corpsman.

Btw, there have been a lot of recent changes to the Nurse Corps requirements and other STA-21 programs, so keep on top of your research until its time for you to submit a package.

And, if you aren't wanting to do nursing in the Navy, I suggest you do a short time in service then head back to school.

Good Luck.

It will depend on what command you go to. You could get stationed on a ship or maybe on shore. You could get sent to a Marine Base and be deployed. Or you could go to an OCONUS billet There is no way to tell where you will go because it will depend on the needs of the Navy. Then there is all your schooling first. Plus when you do report there is the hours you have.

Going to college will be limited as well as the hours by the money. You can't use your GI Bill until you have been in the military for 3 years. You can use Tuition Assistance but that is limited to 12 credits per year. So you can try to get the basics out of the way, but other than that unless you get accepted into the Seaman to Admiral Program you will have to wait until you have served some time or even completed it before going into the area of Nursing.

You seem to be a candidate for the Navy Medical Enlisted Commission Program. It's a way to move from Hospital Corps to a commission in the Nurse Corps and be able to finish your degree on the Navy's time and the Navy's dime. The source below is the web site that gives the pre-requisites, etc.