Posted on May 27, 2018
PO2 Medical Readiness Nco
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I have been pondering around the idea of pursuing a direct commission through the Army Reserve as a 70B or 70A. Currently, I'm a HM3 in the NAVY Reserves serving as a medical liaison and medical readiness representive for a NAVY Construction unit. I oversee a total of about 50 sailors and make sure that everyone in the unit is fully medically ready to deploy. I am the only HM within the unit so this gives me the edge in recieving leadership experience, along with lower competition when it comes to evals. I just graduated with a double major in Public health and Healthcare Management and right now I'm pursuing a Masters in Health Administration from Walden University which I'll be done with by next summer. I currently work for the Veteran Health Administration as a Advanced Medical Support Assistant for skilled nursing and Rehabilitative services. My job entails making sure all the nursing units within the building are up to code,responsible for changing patient movement codes, and handling all work orders through nursing services.

However, currently I have a low undergrad GPA of about 2.5 for my undergrad. I had to work fulltime during my whole college.... which is not excuse but I'm giving you guys an idea on why it's so low. With that being said, I have loads of healthcare experience outside the military which can hopefully give me a edge if I do decide to pursue a direct commission through the reserves. I"m about to receive my healthcare yellow LEAN belt and then soon after I'll go get my green belt which will hopefully contribute to making my officier package more competitive. But heres my question.

will having a low undergraduate gpa ruin my chances of becoming an officier even though I'll have a master degree?
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Responses: 9
CPT Board Member
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If you are pursuing a direct commission, then yes unfortunately, your undergrad degree for 70B is the qualifying degree and the current guidance is a 3.5 or higher. Go talk to an AMEDD recruiter. They can give you advice either way. Best of luck!
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CPT Enrique M.
CPT Enrique M.
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As CPT (Join to see) said , it will be tough with that GPA. Only a recruiter might be able to work some magic.
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MAJ Battalion Executive Officer
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I was a 70B Direct Commission back in 2009, then I was an AMEDD Recruiting Company Commander from 2014-2017 and what HSD and the Medical Recruiting Brigade we’re looking for was between a 3.0-3.5 GPA and prior enlisted service, usally as an E-5 or above. Your Bachelor Degree is your qualifying degree. You want your undergrad to be above a 3.0 or you will not be competitive for LTHET (graduate programs in the AMEDD). The board will try to decide your trainability and future potential as an officer. No one is able to remain a 70B and most of the areas of concentration require a specific graduate degree. All things to consider when applying. But agree with the previous replies that you need to work with a current AMEDD recruiter to get guidance, additionally the 70B Board is only once per year, usally in October.
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COL Deputy G2
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Edited 6 y ago
Direct may be an issue, but otherwise-like OCS or ROTC it may not be.
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