Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

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FENDERSTRYKER75
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Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by FENDERSTRYKER75 »

Hello,
This topic is going to be pretty far fetched, but I thought I would roll the dice and see if I get any advice.

I'm a civilian Registered Nurse with no prior military experience. I have just come to learn that the Department of Defense hires civilians to work on pretty much every military branch's base in the U.S. and abroad. I have a strong passion for our military and our country, and would like to consider working for a branch of the military as a civilian RN. I'm wondering if there is anyone who could give me insight as to "good" bases to apply for, "bad"bases to avoid, which branches to consider etc. The more options the better. Currently, I'm looking pretty hard at the Air Force and the Navy. I know this ultimately comes down to my decision and exactly what I'm looking for (location, outdoor activities, weather, etc.), however I haven't done much traveling. So, I'm kind of clueless as to where I might want to consider. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my inquire.
Last edited by FENDERSTRYKER75 on Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
MishkaWorries
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Re: Changing career paths, not changing professions

Post by MishkaWorries »

Where do you want to go? Europe, Asia, Middle East, something more exotic like Kyrgyzstan (highly not recommended).

My personal first choice would be Sigonella in Catania Sicily or Aviano (close to Venice).
We plan. G-d laughs.
Cruise
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Re: Changing career paths, not changing professions

Post by Cruise »

You might want to change the title of your thread to something like "Which Foreign Military Base is the Best Location to Work?"
BrightEyes
Posts: 76
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Re: Changing career paths, not changing professions

Post by BrightEyes »

Hi, Retired military RN here, with history at both US and overseas bases.

It's really not a farfetched notion! It may be a fabulous adventure. I encourage you to keep exploring this idea, but I think if you can talk with people who have done it, and recently, that will be a big help. Also think a lot about what you want, and what is reasonable for you, in your particular situation, including where you are in your life's journey, and your journey toward retirement preparation. Also depending on these kinds of factors, maybe an active duty career is worth considering. There are some definite advantages!

First, the "Best" overseas location for one person is another person's version of nightmare, plus, the ops tempo and morale of any given base and facility changes as leadership changes, both locally and on a national level, and as various policies and political/mission priorities change, or events happen. So... you will need to do more research and ask more specific questions to get the granularity you will probably want before committing.

HOWEVER! Life at an overseas US Military medical facility can be an amazing experience! Good on you for looking into it. You may want to start by looking at what jobs might be specifically available, because it's not a global sort of application process, either for contractor or for Federal Employee (GS, mostly) positions. Familiarize yourself with the info that's out there to get an idea what you might expect. For example, MANY of these nursing jobs will NOT pay for you to move your household goods (HHG) as military service does. But some may. Some may pay for a small amount of HHG. There may or may not be a housing allowance. These things can make a big difference in the overall financial picture, and your personal comfort level! You may or may not be eligible for care in the base healthcare facilities and/or various facilities on base (Commissary, theaters, bowling alleys, hobby shops, libraries). It would be good to know what to expect in a given location. From what I heard from coworkers and dependent spouses seeking (or leaving) jobs in my overseas locations, some positions paid very poorly-- the agencies depended on hiring from the pool of dependent spouses who were essentially a "captive audience" if they wanted to work while accompanying their active duty spouse. But I also knew some contractors and a few GS workers who had come independently. Most of those, as best I recall, were in other positions, rather than RNs.

Look at USAJobs.com for GS positions-- I think the same site is used for overseas GS jobs as for stateside ones. However... based on my experiences trying to hire for very specific nursing positions, the people who actually POST the jobs just use the same generic job description for EVERY nursing position. So, trying to hire an experienced Diabetes Educator, I'd only get resumes from people who were ICU or ER nurses or who were looking for nursing administrator jobs to go with their brand new MSN/MBA! Arrrgh! It must be as frustrating from the job seeker's end! --

So don't expect to get all the information you would wish to have from these job postings. Also, and this is huge-- it takes FOR.EVER to get through all the hoops and get hired and actually get to the job and then, once there, to jump through more hoops to actually get clearance and computer access and be able to start work. It is painful for all involved, probably worst in the first job, before the clearance has been completed. No, they don't do the security clearance before the hiring: it's expensive. Let's not get into how expensive (or demoralizing) it is to pay for a worker who cannot work for months after arriving to the facility, but must be paid and must show up, even though they can't see patients and can't document even if they could see patients, and can't even do most of their pre-work mandatory training, because they can't get on a computer to do it! That expense is paid by a different source, and/or from a different bucket, so it is not the problem of the hiring agency...

Indeed.com seems to be the place where Stateside contractor jobs are advertised; there may be others, but in my last hiring position, that was where they seemed to be advertised. I don't know if it has overseas positions as well.

You are welcome to contact me via DM/PM, if you want further discuss. I can speak to living and working on overseas bases/ stateside bases, and to what working within the military system is like, as well as a little about the differences between the different services-- Army facilities have very few RNs compared to Air Force or Navy, for example. All the services rely heavily on our extremely well trained and responsible enlisted ancillary staff for direct patient care, but the training and roles vary between the services. The military perspective will not be identical to the contract or to the GS perspective, but it might be helpful to you.

Happy Hunting,

Bright Eyes
Topic Author
FENDERSTRYKER75
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2019 3:11 am

Re: Changing career paths, not changing professions

Post by FENDERSTRYKER75 »

MishkaWorries wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:14 am Where do you want to go? Europe, Asia, Middle East, something more exotic like Kyrgyzstan (highly not recommended).

My personal first choice would be Sigonella in Catania Sicily or Aviano (close to Venice).
Thank you for the reply. I'm honestly not sure. I'm open to the idea of foreign bases, however since this is all new I thought I would start in the U.S.
Topic Author
FENDERSTRYKER75
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2019 3:11 am

Re: Changing career paths, not changing professions

Post by FENDERSTRYKER75 »

Cruise wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:03 am You might want to change the title of your thread to something like "Which Foreign Military Base is the Best Location to Work?"
Thank you for the reply. I've edited the title.
Topic Author
FENDERSTRYKER75
Posts: 121
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Re: Changing career paths, not changing professions

Post by FENDERSTRYKER75 »

BrightEyes wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 1:48 pm Hi, Retired military RN here, with history at both US and overseas bases.

It's really not a farfetched notion! It may be a fabulous adventure. I encourage you to keep exploring this idea, but I think if you can talk with people who have done it, and recently, that will be a big help. Also think a lot about what you want, and what is reasonable for you, in your particular situation, including where you are in your life's journey, and your journey toward retirement preparation. Also depending on these kinds of factors, maybe an active duty career is worth considering. There are some definite advantages!

First, the "Best" overseas location for one person is another person's version of nightmare, plus, the ops tempo and morale of any given base and facility changes as leadership changes, both locally and on a national level, and as various policies and political/mission priorities change, or events happen. So... you will need to do more research and ask more specific questions to get the granularity you will probably want before committing.

HOWEVER! Life at an overseas US Military medical facility can be an amazing experience! Good on you for looking into it. You may want to start by looking at what jobs might be specifically available, because it's not a global sort of application process, either for contractor or for Federal Employee (GS, mostly) positions. Familiarize yourself with the info that's out there to get an idea what you might expect. For example, MANY of these nursing jobs will NOT pay for you to move your household goods (HHG) as military service does. But some may. Some may pay for a small amount of HHG. There may or may not be a housing allowance. These things can make a big difference in the overall financial picture, and your personal comfort level! You may or may not be eligible for care in the base healthcare facilities and/or various facilities on base (Commissary, theaters, bowling alleys, hobby shops, libraries). It would be good to know what to expect in a given location. From what I heard from coworkers and dependent spouses seeking (or leaving) jobs in my overseas locations, some positions paid very poorly-- the agencies depended on hiring from the pool of dependent spouses who were essentially a "captive audience" if they wanted to work while accompanying their active duty spouse. But I also knew some contractors and a few GS workers who had come independently. Most of those, as best I recall, were in other positions, rather than RNs.

Look at USAJobs.com for GS positions-- I think the same site is used for overseas GS jobs as for stateside ones. However... based on my experiences trying to hire for very specific nursing positions, the people who actually POST the jobs just use the same generic job description for EVERY nursing position. So, trying to hire an experienced Diabetes Educator, I'd only get resumes from people who were ICU or ER nurses or who were looking for nursing administrator jobs to go with their brand new MSN/MBA! Arrrgh! It must be as frustrating from the job seeker's end! --

So don't expect to get all the information you would wish to have from these job postings. Also, and this is huge-- it takes FOR.EVER to get through all the hoops and get hired and actually get to the job and then, once there, to jump through more hoops to actually get clearance and computer access and be able to start work. It is painful for all involved, probably worst in the first job, before the clearance has been completed. No, they don't do the security clearance before the hiring: it's expensive. Let's not get into how expensive (or demoralizing) it is to pay for a worker who cannot work for months after arriving to the facility, but must be paid and must show up, even though they can't see patients and can't document even if they could see patients, and can't even do most of their pre-work mandatory training, because they can't get on a computer to do it! That expense is paid by a different source, and/or from a different bucket, so it is not the problem of the hiring agency...

Indeed.com seems to be the place where Stateside contractor jobs are advertised; there may be others, but in my last hiring position, that was where they seemed to be advertised. I don't know if it has overseas positions as well.

You are welcome to contact me via DM/PM, if you want further discuss. I can speak to living and working on overseas bases/ stateside bases, and to what working within the military system is like, as well as a little about the differences between the different services-- Army facilities have very few RNs compared to Air Force or Navy, for example. All the services rely heavily on our extremely well trained and responsible enlisted ancillary staff for direct patient care, but the training and roles vary between the services. The military perspective will not be identical to the contract or to the GS perspective, but it might be helpful to you.

Happy Hunting,

Bright Eyes
Thank you, I'll be sending you a message.
ImpalaGuy
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by ImpalaGuy »

I'm not an RN nor a former contractor but a former Marine for whatever thats worth lol. I would consider whether there are parts of the US that appeal to you more in general. Personally I would target areas with lower cost of living and good weather and things to do to make the most of the GS pay. The Naval Air Station at Pensacola, Florida comes to mind. Lots of Navy opportunities in Southern California I'm sure but you have to live and pay taxes in Southern California. There are Army bases all over the place. I would avoid the Norfolk/Virginia Beach Va area as its somewhat expensive, and highly congested. Good luck!
brokendirtdart
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by brokendirtdart »

Not in the medical field, but I did spend almost three decades in the Army

One of my favorite places was Fort Richardson, AK. It has Elmendorf AFB right next door and about six years ago, it became a "joint base" under AF control. There is an AF run hospital over on their side. AF has a fighter wing and some cargo aircraft so you can deal with golf course related injuries, and the Army side has an airborne IBCT so you can also deal with training related injuries. Both services have their families there as well.

The location is great as you have all the city amenities you need just south of there in Anchorage and you have the rest of Alaska just a 20 minute drive in any direction. If you can imagine an outdoor activity outside of maybe surfing, you can do it there. Even better is you have the convenience of a US address and you can drive there. The drive is gorgeous. IMO, the best places to live are north of base.
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dratkinson
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by dratkinson »

If you want the Colorado experience, there are several bases (AF, Army) around Colorado Springs; USAF Academy and Peterson AFB come immediately to mind and lower cost of living that in Denver.

But would think younger folks looking for adventure should enjoy the experience of living overseas. Then return stateside when ready to settle down.

Having had experience with both military and (contract) civilian doctors in the military, I much preferred the civilians. Hope you find what you want.
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trueblueky
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Re: Changing career paths, not changing professions

Post by trueblueky »

BrightEyes wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 1:48 pm Hi, Retired military RN here, with history at both US and overseas bases.

It's really not a farfetched notion! It may be a fabulous adventure. I encourage you to keep exploring this idea, but I think if you can talk with people who have done it, and recently, that will be a big help. Also think a lot about what you want, and what is reasonable for you, in your particular situation, including where you are in your life's journey, and your journey toward retirement preparation. Also depending on these kinds of factors, maybe an active duty career is worth considering. There are some definite advantages!

First, the "Best" overseas location for one person is another person's version of nightmare, plus, the ops tempo and morale of any given base and facility changes as leadership changes, both locally and on a national level, and as various policies and political/mission priorities change, or events happen. So... you will need to do more research and ask more specific questions to get the granularity you will probably want before committing.

HOWEVER! Life at an overseas US Military medical facility can be an amazing experience! Good on you for looking into it. You may want to start by looking at what jobs might be specifically available, because it's not a global sort of application process, either for contractor or for Federal Employee (GS, mostly) positions. Familiarize yourself with the info that's out there to get an idea what you might expect. For example, MANY of these nursing jobs will NOT pay for you to move your household goods (HHG) as military service does. But some may. Some may pay for a small amount of HHG. There may or may not be a housing allowance. These things can make a big difference in the overall financial picture, and your personal comfort level! You may or may not be eligible for care in the base healthcare facilities and/or various facilities on base (Commissary, theaters, bowling alleys, hobby shops, libraries). It would be good to know what to expect in a given location. From what I heard from coworkers and dependent spouses seeking (or leaving) jobs in my overseas locations, some positions paid very poorly-- the agencies depended on hiring from the pool of dependent spouses who were essentially a "captive audience" if they wanted to work while accompanying their active duty spouse. But I also knew some contractors and a few GS workers who had come independently. Most of those, as best I recall, were in other positions, rather than RNs.

Look at USAJobs.com for GS positions-- I think the same site is used for overseas GS jobs as for stateside ones. However... based on my experiences trying to hire for very specific nursing positions, the people who actually POST the jobs just use the same generic job description for EVERY nursing position. So, trying to hire an experienced Diabetes Educator, I'd only get resumes from people who were ICU or ER nurses or who were looking for nursing administrator jobs to go with their brand new MSN/MBA! Arrrgh! It must be as frustrating from the job seeker's end! --

So don't expect to get all the information you would wish to have from these job postings. Also, and this is huge-- it takes FOR.EVER to get through all the hoops and get hired and actually get to the job and then, once there, to jump through more hoops to actually get clearance and computer access and be able to start work. It is painful for all involved, probably worst in the first job, before the clearance has been completed. No, they don't do the security clearance before the hiring: it's expensive. Let's not get into how expensive (or demoralizing) it is to pay for a worker who cannot work for months after arriving to the facility, but must be paid and must show up, even though they can't see patients and can't document even if they could see patients, and can't even do most of their pre-work mandatory training, because they can't get on a computer to do it! That expense is paid by a different source, and/or from a different bucket, so it is not the problem of the hiring agency...

Indeed.com seems to be the place where Stateside contractor jobs are advertised; there may be others, but in my last hiring position, that was where they seemed to be advertised. I don't know if it has overseas positions as well.

You are welcome to contact me via DM/PM, if you want further discuss. I can speak to living and working on overseas bases/ stateside bases, and to what working within the military system is like, as well as a little about the differences between the different services-- Army facilities have very few RNs compared to Air Force or Navy, for example. All the services rely heavily on our extremely well trained and responsible enlisted ancillary staff for direct patient care, but the training and roles vary between the services. The military perspective will not be identical to the contract or to the GS perspective, but it might be helpful to you.

Happy Hunting,

Bright Eyes
The part about "they may not pay for your move" is huge. It is very expensive to move household goods and a car.

Our agency paid for the move overseas (an allowance based on weight and one car) for civil service employees from the states who signed a three-year commitment. Commissary and PX privileges and a generous housing allowance can make overseas duty great for those who are suited. Living "on the economy" with no privileges can be very expensive.

Recommend Landstuhl. It's a major hospital in an area with a large number American military and civilians. You can drive to Luxembourg in 90 minutes, Paris in four hours, Amsterdam in five.
123
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by 123 »

Have you considered work at a VA Hospital as well? There's a VA Hospital in our area that always seems to be hiring so the same situations may exist elsewhere. I know that moving around the federal employment bureaucracy is easier once you are inside of it. Perhaps the VA is an easier first step to take.
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SueG5123
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by SueG5123 »

Naval Air Station Jacksonville has LCOL, naval hospital, proximity to other bases Sub Base Kings Bay, NavSta Mayport). Good place to learn about the service and opportunities while making a real contribution.

The overseas bases I served at in my 23 yrs Navy service (Keflavik Iceland & Subic Bay RP) are long disestablished, but I would think Aviano IT or Sousa Bay CR would be excellent — judging from my civilian travels!
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by radiowave »

OP if you like East Coast Atlantic Ocean beaches, check out Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Just a few miles to Topsail Beach and LCOL area. There is the issue of hurricanes however . . .
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DIFAR31
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by DIFAR31 »

SueG5123 wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:09 pm Naval Air Station Jacksonville has LCOL, naval hospital, proximity to other bases Sub Base Kings Bay, NavSta Mayport). Good place to learn about the service and opportunities while making a real contribution.

The overseas bases I served at in my 23 yrs Navy service (Keflavik Iceland & Subic Bay RP) are long disestablished, but I would think Aviano IT or Sousa Bay CR would be excellent — judging from my civilian travels!
Jax, Kef and Subic Bay - is there a P-3 connection there? I did two tours in Jax and a deployment to Kef. NAS Brunswick, Maine, unfortunately, is another Navy base that is no more.

For the OP, I echo an earlier comment that Sigonella (Sicily) would be a great overseas location to spend some time. Very nice climate, plenty to do/see relatively close to the base, a good jumping off point for further European excursions, and in my experience the Sicilians treat Americans well.
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warner25
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by warner25 »

You say that you are leaning towards Air Force and Navy, but over the last couple of years the services (Army, Navy, Air Force) have been transferring control of all Military Treatment Facilities over to the Defense Health Agency, so I wonder if there is much difference now between working at, say, Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg vs. Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Norfolk, VA.

One thing that I've learned in more than a decade of moving around on active duty is that a good place to visit is not necessarily a good place to live, and vice versa. And a good place for a single-income household is different from a good place for a dual-career couple. For example, Hawaii might be a fantastic vacation spot but living there can be tough with the high prices and heavy traffic, especially for a civilian who can't just move into on-base housing with a nice neighborhood close to work. The Washington, DC, area is fantastic for a dual-career couple because of the vast number of options for Federal employees and contractors, but it can be hard to compete as a single-income family. But go to a low-cost, rural area where working on-base is the only viable option, and you can probably live like a king among the general population as a single-earner Federal employee.
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by oldfort »

delete
Last edited by oldfort on Sun Aug 01, 2021 5:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
brokendirtdart
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by brokendirtdart »

dratkinson wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 1:33 pm

But would think younger folks looking for adventure should enjoy the experience of living overseas. Then return stateside when ready to settle down.
I don't disagree. I really enjoyed my time in Vicenza in the 90s. No hospital there-we shipped our folks up to Landstuhl. Germany is fun too.
rotorhead
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by rotorhead »

FENDERSTRYKER75, thank you very much from an old veteran for your interest in serving our uniformed service members. While this response does not answer your question directly, the link I've included may provide an avenue to information that could be useful to you in your quest. Check out this link - https://www.vacareers.va.gov/

This is primarily for positions in the VA hospitals around the country, where the the old "been there, done that" veterans receive care. The gist of your post was to work with current active military at bases, where you would be serving a younger demographic; and likely have not only service member patients, but their dependents as well.

Anyway, take a look at the link. You may find something useful there.

Thanks again, for your interest.
SwampDonkey
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Re: Which U.S. military bases are the best locations to work as a civilian RN?

Post by SwampDonkey »

There isn't a good way to answer your question because there are too many unknowns about your specific situation. Single? Dependents? Hobbies? Like to travel? Food adventurous? Willing to be 1/2 the world away from friends and family? Warm, cold, or 4-seasons? Mountains? Ocean? Trying to save most of your paycheck or use it to "play" in your new area?

Once those questions are answered, it would be a LOT easier to answer your question.

As far as DoD MTFs go, you can throw a dart at a map of America, Europe, and several countries in Asia, and probably be close to a MTF - we have them everywhere.

My recommendation: Base your search on the area of the globe you want to work. Once you've narrowed that down to 2-3 locations, then research the MTF options in that area.
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