Spouses: mil to mil career considerations

[Lemming]

I am having real problems getting any answers to my questions from our AF recruiter. Maybe there is no answer. I understand the the AF needs are the #1 priority. That said, I am looking at taking an HPSP scholarship, and my soon to be wife, an orthodontist, would be commissioned also and enter immediately. I've heard about the program to keep military spouses together, which seems, from what I can gather to work fairly well. The real question however is, since we will both be in very similar professions, and she is ortho, which is much less in demand, would both of us joining severely limit: 1) opportunties to be stationed at our top choice stations 2) ability to advance in a military career b/c of command conflicts . We are serious about being stationed together aside from deployments, does this shoot our military career dead, or are their plenty of opportunities for a gen dent./ortho pair? From my point of view, both of us would have to join, b/c neither one of use can just follow the other around and get a new job every few years in our profession. Any comments would be appreciated.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SNOZBERRIES]

Tough choice. Here is the low down. Disclaimer: I do not work at AFPC, but I know many who do. They are good, honest people who will not steer you the wrong way. Here are some issues to consider. I would need some clarification on your status to answer better, i.e. are you just starting dental school? Is your fiancé already an orthodontist or is she in her residency?

Orthodontists are a very rare specialty in the AF. State side there are only a handful of bases that would support an orthodontist. These are the AEGD bases. Not all of them, but a few. I know that Wright-Patterson's is leaving, Travis AFB has two, Sheppard AFBs' just left with no expected replacement to date. Lackland has an ortho residency, but no AEGD-1 program. This is not all of them.

If you decide to do an AEGD-1 after dental school, keep in mind you will only be at that base for one year (some exceptions may apply like having a spouse who is say...an orthodontist). This is by no means a guarantee..

A lot of orthodontist are stationed overseas at bases like Lakenheath, Kadena, Ramstein, Elmendorf, etc. These are big bases and probably have a need for general dentists. Unless all the dentists in the military quit, an orthodontist should never deploy. They are too valuable at there bases, but stranger things have happened.

The AF tries its best to accommodate for joint spouses, but obviously there are no guarantees. It would be a great bargaining chip to have. I am pretty sure the AF would take another trained orthodontists.

The moral of the story is 1. DON'T ask the recruiter ANYTHING about the profession. They simply are not in the know. Their job is educate you on the benifits of Air Force and its residencies, not answer specific questions. Mine used to call me when I was in the residency to ask questions that other applicants had. Call someone who knows. 2. The AF tries to accommodate for its people, especially Drs. but there are no guarantees.

 

[Lemming]

Thanks to both of you, that information is very valuable. We are currently experiencing some difficulties getting my fiance signed up. She will be finishing her Ortho residency (not Mil.) in December, and is trying to get signed up now, ASAP, so I know which school to go to. I will be starting in the fall, and we would like to at least have a PAO before I make my choice of schools. The only problem is that our recruiter can hardly get any information for us at all. First he tells us there is a position open at Travis AFB (I would be going to UCSF), now he says that there one of the bases just cut 3 Ortho positions, so there are no authorizations. He made it seem from the start that they really needed Orthos, so we have been researching making a decision really well. Now, he is saying that she may not even be able to sign up until the next fiscal year (October), and we won't even know until then if they will need Ortho at that point either, much less anywhere close to San Fran. Anyway, I will call the above listed numbers to talk about the previous issues. Any idea of who might be in the know as far as the real situation for Orthodontist authorizations/requirements in the AF. I have to make a decision on a school very quickly, and if I decide on UCSF, my fiance will have to take the WREBs and more than likely be out of a job for quite some time in a very expensive place, living on loans...not a good scenario. Should we consider Army or Navy? It seems like they would take us up in a heartbeat, but the whole being married but one of us on a boat doesn't seem like much fun...oh well. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, I just wish we could get some straight answers about whether the AF actually needs Orthos or not. Thanks again for the help.

 

[UOP_Dentist]

Thanks to both of you, that information is very valuable. We are currently experiencing some difficulties getting my fiance signed up. She will be finishing her Ortho residency (not Mil.) in December, and is trying to get signed up now, ASAP, so I know which school to go to. I will be starting in the fall, and we would like to at least have a PAO before I make my choice of schools. The only problem is that our recruiter can hardly get any information for us at all. First he tells us there is a position open at Travis AFB (I would be going to UCSF), now he says that there one of the bases just cut 3 Ortho positions, so there are no authorizations. He made it seem from the start that they really needed Orthos, so we have been researching making a decision really well. Now, he is saying that she may not even be able to sign up until the next fiscal year (October), and we won't even know until then if they will need Ortho at that point either, much less anywhere close to San Fran. Anyway, I will call the above listed numbers to talk about the previous issues. Any idea of who might be in the know as far as the real situation for Orthodontist authorizations/requirements in the AF. I have to make a decision on a school very quickly, and if I decide on UCSF, my fiance will have to take the WREBs and more than likely be out of a job for quite some time in a very expensive place, living on loans...not a good scenario. Should we consider Army or Navy? It seems like they would take us up in a heartbeat, but the whole being married but one of us on a boat doesn't seem like much fun...oh well. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, I just wish we could get some straight answers about whether the AF actually needs Orthos or not. Thanks again for the help.

Hey guys,

Like i said before, it would be hard for the Air Force to accommodate both joint spouse and Ortho/GD, however it is not impossible. Talk to Maj. Robert Bogart (i'm not going to list his email address as it may violate privacy/comsec issues, so PM me for his contact info).

Also, i'm not going to debate about AF vs Army vs Navy. Each branch will offer different experiences and it all depends on what you want out of the military. Before you make a decision (and remember it is a BIG decision) think it throughly over. Don't be rushed by any means. If you're being forced to make a decision on which schools you must accept, do that first and put off the military at another date. Remember, you can always quit/leave dental school. Once you take that Oath of Office you cannot leave until you serve your tour.

 

[jmill0]

I don't really think it would be much of a problem. GPs are needed at every base. I'm almost positive the officer who does assignments can find a slot for both an ortho and GP at the same base. If it's in Germany, then it may be very close by.

In the army, we had a perio/endo spouses in at the same time. They only were split up once for a year as one finished their residency a year before the other. One went ahead to the post and served a year before the other got there.

I would think you'd have a better chance on being apart in the Navy (going to sea for 6-12 months) or the Army (deploying for 12 months), but it also depends on where you're stationed.

Ortho is a desired specialty in all branches. However, not many active soldiers and sailors get braces. The vast majority cannot guarantee that they will be at a certain post/ base for 24 months, let alone be deployed.

This leaves the dependents. Military only sees dependents overseas, therefore most pedo and ortho are overseas as well.

As I said, I don't think it will be a problem, I would be the biggest problem would be while in dental school. Probably not many ortho slots right next to a US school!

JKM

 

[SNOZBERRIES]

Dr. Bogart would know. I was eluding to him earlier

 

[Lemming]

Dr. Bogart would know. I was eluding to him earlier

I just sent an email off to him. Hopefully he'll get back to me and fill me in, as I'm in need of info asap. Thanks for the help from all!