Military Duty as a Registered Nurse

Aloha,
I'm in the process of joining the military as a nurse. Particularly a family nurse practitioner. Anybody has any advice or anything to say about military nursing as a family nurse practitioner? Not too many. I've been told by the navy recruiter that I am able to join now as a Navy reservist and obtain a commission as a Ensign, an equivalent to a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force. Yes the navy has different names for their ranks by tradition. Then, I could get active duty recall when it's within 6 months of my graduation from my masters FNP program and get a Lieutenant Junior Grade rank (1st Lieutenant) since I would have my masters in nursing. Experience in the military, will definitely give me the experience I would never get in the civilian sector. So I feel special.

While in the navy reserves, the recruiter would get me into the Medical In Training (MIT) program. This will allow me to continue school full-time and get a monthly salary of reservist pay (about $750 a month as a Ensign in the navy reserves). All military branches pay the same base salary because it's all about what rank you are and years of experience. This program will also entitle me to other extra pay I believe. I would go to officers training for only 2 weeks in Rhode Island to learn about the military, navy, and how to put on a uniform basically. No bootcamp since I'm not going to be enlisted, I'm going to be an officer in the Nurse Navy Corp. Two hospital ships: Comfort & Mercy. One is based for the Pacific fleet in San Diego and the other is the Atlantic fleet based in Portsmith in the east coast. I chose the Pacific Fleet to stay on the west coast.

After getting active duty recall, I would have a 4-year commitment and get paid well actually. Alright, all this sounds great. Just one barrier. I lost my proof of citizenship in the December 2008 house flood while I was away in New York City! :( Now I have to cough up $380 for a replacement. I guess since I absolutely need it, I will have to get it and pay big for it. I'm glad my girlfriend is alright with all this military joining and stuff. She'll support me all the way! Whoohoo! I believe that is also important in making decisions like this. After 4-6 years of active duty, I may come back to Hawaii to work as a nurse practitioner and go back to the Navy reserves to be based at Pearl Harbor. Cool huh?