Mike95

It wasn't a problem at all. I had to wait a little while for a background check before going to basic training, 2-3 months extra than a regular person. And during basic I had to do an interview with a background investigator. All you need is to serve one day of active duty to apply for citizenship. I'm in the background check stage of my N-400 application, they expedite military applications. You don't have to go active duty, you can get it in the National Guard as well, just speak to a recruiter!

ddsrph

After active duty the active reserves can be a great deal as a augmentation to retirement. For one they now provide excellent health insurance for reservists and family. I retired before that came into effect but got great insurance post retirement for myself and wife. I am now on Medicare but get a free supplement that pays everything Medicare doesn’t pay. My wife at 63 has free Tricare with $150 yearly deductible. At 65 she will which to free Tricare for life Medicare supplement.
During my years of weekend drills and a few weeks active duty that money was significant part of my income. Retired as 06 with great pension. The military also has a lot of recreational areas free or low cost to reservists and retirees. A good example is the Hale Koa hotel on Waikiki beach in Honolulu. We went for a week in November. Sixty five acres of super expensive park like acreage and one of the largest/nicest hotels with 1/4 mile of beach frontage.

Mike95

For my contract I have to do two years of guard or reserves. If I enjoy it I will probably stay in reserves for a long time but I want to change MOS and move to Florida so hopefully they have opportunities available.

ddsrph

I found the reserves very accommodating. I was a Navy Dental Officer and I became the guy to call if the Navy needed a dentist to fill a short term gap. I went all over making many trips to Japan and over a dozen to Bahrain plus any other overseas trip that came along. All this extra duty plus my 8 active years added up to a great pension. The reserves is made up of people who can’t hack active duty which included me.

Jayman916

I am registered nurse with a bachelors degree . I’ll go talk to a recruiter so see what my options are . I’ll prefer to do the reserves versus active duty . I’ll keep you guys updated .

Jayman916

Thank you so much for you reply !

ddsrph

I highly recommend the Navy. I did four years enlisted in Air Force and after college got a 100% scholarship from Navy to attend Dental School. Promotions are easy in Navy and as a medical person ship board duty is very limited. If you are young even one active duty stint wouldn’t be bad and greatly increase future retirement pay.
opportunity for graduate training also. A friend of mind who was an enlisted Navy Corpsmen got a Navy scholarship to attend nursing school and now is a Lieutenant Commander on active duty.
As a reserve Dentist promotions were almost automatic. When I made 06 (Navy Captain) in 99 they had authority to promote 45 and only had 43 candidates. Pretty much the same for all medical types.

ddsrph

If you do check with the Navy be sure to go to a recruiter for Officer Programs. It will be an officer with knowledge of Officer recruitment procedures. You will get a direct commission with no requirements for basic type training except maybe a two week Officer Indoctrination course in Pensacola. The Unofficial Navy name for this is “knife and fork school”

scottyvisa

One thing to consider is unlike enlisted, officers must be US Citizens, and US Citizens alone, to earn their commission. You'll need to be a citizen already and renounce any other citizenship to commission.

ddsrph

Good point. In that case I would , in the case of the nurse, sign up for an enlisted medical corpsman position probably in an advanced E-5 pay grade and after citizenship apply for commission. GO NAVY.

scottyvisa

Smart move. Go Navy indeed!

Mike95

Small update, N400 has been processed and interview scheduled, awaiting a letter to give the date.

Mike95

I became a US citizen today, thanks to everyone who helped and answered my questions along the way!

lizzyq

Congratulations! What sort of ceremony did you have - drive through or socially distanced in a larger room?

Pulaski

Congratulations!