Paramedic College Student - Military RESERVE...

[Handsome Robb]

redacted

 

[MackTheKnife]

Can you elaborate or link me to a source? Every recruiter I have talked to has told me that I am not guaranteed a rating. I have also been told that my ASVAB scores are very high. What is OBLISERV? Can't find any information on it.

Unless the program is gone, you could get a guaranteed A school if you did "obligated service" for an agreed upon minimum four years. At one time it was called "Prime".

 

[Luno]

As mentioned by Aidan, I personally don't think this is the best option. Emergency response IS different in the military, no matter how you look at it. Yes, you qualify for your Basic at the end, but the "courses" were still different. The only analogy I can think of here is taking AP Statistics or Statistics in college. Either way, you get what you want, the credit, but the courses are certainly different and each have their pros and cons. I think it is safe to argue that EMT-B school may lean more towards Medical, while training to be a 68W or Corpsman leans more towards Trauma. As well, missing the first few weeks of AIT (if that really is the case) may save some time, sure, but will also put you at a disadvantage among your peers at first because you haven't a clue how emergency medicine is taught in the military setting. All of this is speculative, yes, but its what I'd be thinking if I were in that position.

Speculation is all well and good, however you are wrong. This does not put you at a disadvantage among your peers, and utilizing the ACASP option actually promotes you over them. Using the ACASP option you do skip several weeks of AIT (very good) and you are an insta-specialist (more money, very good).

 

[Luno]

(Non-military guy here...take this with a grain of salt)

I can't think of any reason to do the fast track. Why not score well on material you already know, have the same time in as your peers (so they don't get promotions before you) and learn the military way of doing things, like using gear you'll be issued, etc? Why not spend that time exercising, cleaning, etc, with your peers so you can continue to perform well, on through the harder material, rather than being in a tough class while worrying about your physical fitness or passing an inspection of one sort or another. I know these should be way, way easier than basic, but I do believe you still have to do a few things outside of the classroom. Why not learn to do them while you're in the easy learning phase, rather than the hard one?

Grain of Salt, got it... But seriously, the reason is that anyone who has/is been in the Army knows that TRADOC sucks, especially as IET. The sooner you're out of Phase 3, the better your life gets. There is no realistic reason to "do well on what you already know," while grinding out the suck of AIT. Get there, get it over with as quick as possible, move on to the next objective. Like they say about doctors, you know what they call the person who graduates first out of AIT and the person finishing last in their class.... They're still both called MEDIC...

 

[CFal]

Only disadvantage for me for not doing the first 7 weeks is that it is seven fewer weeks of active duty pay, but everything else makes up for it.

 

[Handsome Robb]

You're being paid more though...also, you may end up waiting around for a bit to be fit into a class ahead of you and that's active duty pay without having to redo stuff you've already done.

I was heading for a Guard MEDEVAC unit until I got hurt then they relocated south and the requirements for the unit are more than the one weekend/two weeks so it made no sense anymore. As a Paramedic I would've gouged my eyes out with a plastic spork if I had to redo EMT-B before the combat component then F2 school.