ChristianPrePA 1 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 Anyone currently in or interested in serving within the National Guard as a PA, specifically Special Forces? (20th or 19th regiment) I'm a non-military college student looking to enter the National Guard after graduation and enter special forces. Any tips or feedback? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dphy83 63 Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 You want to be a PA, enlisted, or an 18A in SF? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BLM8867 42 Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 (edited) You're best bet is to take this question to the professional soldiers fourm: http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/. I highly suggest you look up as much information on your own before asking any questions. SF guys have little tolerance addressing questions that can easily be answered by a little bit of research. Here are my 2cents: Pick one path and pursue it. PA and being SF are 2 different things. You can do both, but not at the same time. It's not uncommon for SF 18Ds to go to PA school after they get out of AD or NG. Haven't really heard of PAs going through the SF pipeline after all of their training but i'm not doubting they're out there. Also take into consideration the NG route. The pipeline is a littler more stringent for these guys because of funding (state vs federal). Typically the states that send candidates to SFAS will only send candidates that they know FOR SURE will get selected and complete the Q course. This typically means multiple mini-selections with the the NG SFG. Do your research. good luck. Edited December 15, 2020 by BLM8867 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheFatMan 305 Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 In my experience, I would say a PA or doc who was assigned to a SF unit most likely would not be doing any of the high speed stuff the rest of the guys do. You'd most likely be working for headquarters and running sick call while your medics are out playing in the field. You'd probably help with training and such. On deployment I imagine it would be the same, with you probably managing the BAS and handling casualties as they come in rather than being on the front lines. If you want to do high speed stuff and also do medical stuff, I'd recommend Army 18D or Navy SARC, then transition to PA. I know in the Navy if you are a SARC or an IDC, that waives about half of the requirements for IPAP. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Matthewtanner Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 It’s competitive, especially with no military experience. If you want to chat about it email me. Matthew.a.tanner1@gmail.com Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PK808 6 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Contact an SF recruiter if you're really serious, its their job. Just an FYI, you won't be a PA in the Army if you want to be SF. If you want to be a shooter on the teams and practice medicine than tryout and become an18D. If you want to be a PA in the Army you can be but just realize that PAs work through AMEDD in support of SF and are not members of SF. Use this site below for reference and information on how to become SF in the NG. Good luck. http://specialforcesrecruiter.com/ 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChristianPrePA 1 Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 On 12/14/2020 at 9:21 AM, dphy83 said: You want to be a PA, enlisted, or an 18A in SF? PA Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChristianPrePA 1 Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 On 1/7/2021 at 8:57 PM, PK808 said: Contact an SF recruiter if you're really serious, its their job. Just an FYI, you won't be a PA in the Army if you want to be SF. If you want to be a shooter on the teams and practice medicine than tryout and become an18D. If you want to be a PA in the Army you can be but just realize that PAs work through AMEDD in support of SF and are not members of SF. Use this site below for reference and information on how to become SF in the NG. Good luck. http://specialforcesrecruiter.com/ This is what I've heard, but have also had some conflicting information regarding this. Not seeking active duty, that's why I'm going the National Guard route as I plan to have a civilian career as well as a PA. Thanks for the information. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dphy83 63 Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 SF has preference for PAs that are former SF. That info is even mentioned in some military memo. You may be able to find it if you Google. National Guard may be different? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChristianPrePA 1 Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 57 minutes ago, dphy83 said: SF has preference for PAs that are former SF. That info is even mentioned in some military memo. You may be able to find it if you Google. National Guard may be different? My research has been primarily NG so not sure. I'd assume they prefer former SF, not direct commissions. I plan to work a few years as a PA and garner some experience in EMed so I have that experience. My understanding is as a NG PA I could lead a SF unit, but wouldn't be a part of SF technically. I'm okay with that, I just want to be as much as a part of the "forefront" of medicine/emergencies as possible, specifically in response to national disasters/humanitarian aid (I understand these assignments may be rare). I feel there's a lot of conflicting info out there, and would like to know the best route from here. I don't think a SF recruiter would be interested in a Pre-PA, so don't want to waste their time at this moment. As far as regular Army recruiters go, I know they just will say what they can to get me to join ASAP as a 68W (trust me, been there). I think my best option would be an AMEDD recruiter, does this sound like a good idea? Would they know about direct commission PA and SF NG (19th/20th)? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dphy83 63 Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 Hopefully someone with first hand experience comes along and clarifies, but I think the process would be two-fold: you definitely need to talk to AMEDD because you want to be a PA, but you would also need to contact SF to see if they have any PA slots at the NG units you are interested in. I would imagine PA in NG SF would be competitive, and they may even want you to be a Captain or have experience in a regular unit prior? But you don't have to be SF to be at the forefront. You'd have just as much, if not more, impact staffing a big field hospital in a combat zone. But if SF is your goal I'd make it a long term plan. Honestly I'd try to do the trauma fellowship at Intermountain Med Center. That would be great experience an applicable for your combat aspirations. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChristianPrePA 1 Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 5 minutes ago, dphy83 said: Hopefully someone with first hand experience comes along and clarifies, but I think the process would be two-fold: you definitely need to talk to AMEDD because you want to be a PA, but you would also need to contact SF to see if they have any PA slots at the NG units you are interested in. I would imagine PA in NG SF would be competitive, and they may even want you to be a Captain or have experience in a regular unit prior? But you don't have to be SF to be at the forefront. You'd have just as much, if not more, impact staffing a big field hospital in a combat zone. But if SF is your goal I'd make it a long term plan. Honestly I'd try to do the trauma fellowship at Intermountain Med Center. That would be great experience an applicable for your combat aspirations. My planned route right now would be experience in family medicine/emergency medicine immediately post-grad (1-2 years experience - staying in contact with AMEDD recruiter), then apply for NG and gain some military medicine experience (and focus on my fitness, leadership and practitioner skills - be in contact with SF recruiter). Then, hopefully apply for a SF position. I know it's not an easy path, I also know I'm incredibly naïve right now as a Pre-PA, but I'm willing to turn it into a long-term goal and work for it. Thanks for the information, greatly appreciate it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ohiovolffemtp 619 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 This wouldn't be in the military, but if you want to do disaster and humanitarian missions, you could consider joining a D-MAT team. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moderator EMEDPA 7,544 Posted January 19 Moderator Share Posted January 19 2 hours ago, ohiovolffemtp said: This wouldn't be in the military, but if you want to do disaster and humanitarian missions, you could consider joining a D-MAT team. Also civilian NGOs like NYCMedics, Globalhealthteam, etc Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.