Should I continue to serve as an IT specialist (25B) or reclassify to a 68W?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 09:06:58 -0400

I’ve always wanted to be a medic but I have been advised by my peers to just stay as a 25B

Response by 1SG Morales Mata made Aug 18 at 2018 12:46 PM

1SG Morales Mata — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 12:46:01 -0400

Stay IT if you are in for the money/skill set, if you really care about taking care of people become a medic, I was a medic for 23 years retired and unexpectedly became a 2210 IT SPC, it is like night and day in relation to dealing with people,

Response by SSG Warren Swan made Aug 18 at 2018 1:31 PM

SSG Warren Swan — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 13:31:04 -0400

You didn’t mention if you were going to stay in and retire, what is your goals with either one, and what is your five and ten year plans. I came in as a MP. I loved the MOS, kinda regret reclassing, but became a 25B being it was new(74B back then), was growing fast, and promotions were crazy. The MOS’s couldn’t be more different, but I had goals and milestones to hit in each. Didn’t make em all, but there was a plan. Get one, study and revise it, and talk to folks who are civilians doing the job. We all drop that uniform one day and we see it’s different on the outside. As a 25B, if you have certs, not many jobs will match your pay especially if you have a current clearance. If you reclass and become a NCO and find that you don’t like being a medic, sucks to be you. AD won’t let you go back, your clearance will also be gone. Study long, but don’t study wrong.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 18 at 2018 2:09 PM

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 14:09:39 -0400

Do what you want.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 18 at 2018 11:40 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 23:40:36 -0400

Like others have stated above what is your end goal? I was a EMT B civilian side before enlisting as a 68W. I learned some awesome things on fort Sam but currently hate every day in the military medicine world. In garrison you will either belong to a unit or MEDAC but ultimately you will be tasked "temporarily" to a clinic or SRP site. You basically take vitals all day and type up patient encounters. Every now and then you remove a cyst and suture it up or clean a wound. This is torture for me. I worked in a very busy 911 system and got to help a lot of very sick and injured people daily and every day was different. The pay just sucks at 9-10$ an hour unless you are a paramedic but still under payed at 13-16$ an hour. My daily life now consists of different degrees of lower back pain, knee pain, and treating STI's. If you're with your unit you'll be in the field handling out ibuprofen and pepto. If you want in the medical field to get a great medical career civilian side go 68C or 68P. Also I forgot to mention as a 68W you'll either be in control of medical readiness reports or contributing to it so First sergeants can make people goto dental or do PHA's. Medpros is very mind numbing and never works when you need it too. This is my personal experience. I've had a couple buddies I graduated with goto the stan and treat civilian casualties that walk up but those deployments are rare. If I could go back I wouldn't do it. But everyone's military career is different along with differing personal goals.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 20 at 2018 5:04 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 17:04:05 -0400

As others have said it depends on what you wish to do. I’m always a proponent of being a medic so here is my pitch:

1. You can get put in a variety of units, whether active or reserve/guard, combat arms and support, etc. Promotions and mobility are nicely available generally as well.

2. Yes as a medic you can get stuck doing a lot of stupid medpros stuff and preventative medicine but you also can get awesome opportunities to go places and do fun stuff as well. Some of your trainings will be top notch and if you ever deploy to a combat zone where you have a high chance of casualties you’ll be glad you had those opportunities. And trust me Even if you are at a FOB like Bagram doing S1/S2/S3 stuff in an office stuff happens and you could be doing your job very quickly.

3. if you are serious about a jump to a healthcare career it’s a good jumping point for paramedic, nursing, PA, MD/DO, etc., and looks good on a civilian resume.

Hope that helps a little.

Response by SGT Victoria Belbusti made Aug 23 at 2018 8:31 AM

SGT Victoria Belbusti — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 08:31:51 -0400

If you want to make it a career then stay in your field and go warrant or commission. They direct comisson for IT now. Honestly medic is a jump off point, if you get out with your EMT your options are limited. There are programs that recognize army medic training and use it towards a degree in nursing. Or you could become a paramedic.

If medicine is your passion, then go for it.

Response by CPL Chris Palmberg made Aug 26 at 2018 7:57 AM

CPL Chris Palmberg — Sun, 26 Aug 2018 07:57:21 -0400

As a medic, frankly, your marketability at discharge is extremely limited. As mentioned above, pay for EMS personnel is poor. Not mentioned is the overwhelming sense of frustration at having training & experience that rivals that of the vast majority of one's civilian counterparts, but neither the tools nor the protocols to use them... in terms of traumatology, our military at war tends to be more innovative than all but the most proactive research hospitals... honestly, you'd be better off picking up EMT-B as a civilian course after hours and looking into a VFD or other civilian service while staying current on IT... in the long run, it'll do you more good...

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 26 at 2018 1:42 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 26 Aug 2018 13:42:34 -0400

Being a 68W is fun depending where you end up

Response by MSG Les Amaya made Aug 27 at 2018 2:34 PM

MSG Les Amaya — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 14:34:15 -0400

What do you want to do after you leave the Army?

Response by SPC Rachael Verhoef made Sep 10 at 2018 5:27 PM

SPC Rachael Verhoef — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 17:27:41 -0400

Depends on what you wanna do when you get out, tbh it’s thanks to my 8 years as a 25B that I got the great IT civilian job I have now that the pay is great and I love my work
But if you don’t wanna go to that field, and considering how hard it can be for 25Bs to promote in many units, go for what you’ll enjoy more and what you’d like to peruse in the future

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 7 at 2019 11:41 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 23:41:34 -0500

As a 68W trying to reclass to 25B, I would not recommend 68W at all, if you are really interested in the medical field, why not just start your IPAP packet then becoming a PA.