He says he completed Nursing School, and graduated and everything. But right aroud the same time, his unit was disbanded. And he says that during this process, they lost his file, including certification that he had graduated from Nursing school. He wrote to the state in which he had been certified, asking if they could provide a copy. The state’s response was to the effect of “You’re telling us you have no proof that you graduated. So please send us your license, as it is therefore not valid.” So this person lost his license. And now he is being assigned to go to Nursing school again.
It happens to be the case that this person I’m talking about has a well established history of telling only barely plausible lies to cover up screwups on his own part.
But others with indirect familiarity with the Army have told me that bureaucratic screwups such as this are not uncommon.
People who are actually directly familiar with the way things work in the Army: Do you have an opinion as to whether this story sounds plausible?
My own suspicion is he just failed and has to take it again.
Anyway, now he’s telling us how he’s getting top scores on various tests having to do with his position as a “medic” and is being asked to be an instructor due to his high scores and so on. His family is just brimming with pride over all this. (Prior to his joining the Army, he was the family fuckup.) I am afraid they are in for a terrible disappointment, but I want to be wrong.
My direct experience was USAF in the 1980s. Even back then, 100% of our starting, attending, progressing through, and graduating from a school was recorded on central computers at personel HQ. The base I was on could have been nuked & my records as of a few days ago would have been intact in some computer half a planet away.
I have to believe that today’s Army is at least as administratively advanced as USAF was 25 years ago.
well if we assume he was lying and he did fail, there would be records of that somewhere. So his story could very well have that fatal flaw.
Or maybe he just never went to nursing school in the first place. There would also be records of what he had been doing instead of that.
Again, this all assumes he’s both lying and you’d want to take the time and effort track down the truth on your own. Otherwise, I say just nod, smile and wait for him to either graduate this time or find a new story on why he’s not a nurse.
The way one becomes a nurse is, after graduating from an accredited nursing school, he/she takes State Board exams. The nursing school sends the graduate’s transcripts to the board. The board keeps a copy of those transcripts.
State Board exams are given once a year at a given location. It takes one to three months for the scores to be sent to the graduate. A passing score earns a nursing license for that state.
The board keeps a record of those scores.
As long as one’s State Board scores are acceptable, the test scores are transferable from state to state. When applying to a new state, the individual sends documentation proving a valid license in the other state, then the new State Board communicates with the old State Board, then a new license is issued. That process can take a month or so.
When someone goes to nursing school through the military, they go to a civilian, accredited school. The government pays for the training, in exchange for a commitment to serve for a specified period of time.
If he is saying he went to nursing school as part of his military training, he’s talking about med-tech school. (Med tech I is 8 weeks, tech II is another 8 weeks) That training translates to a certifcation as a nurse’s aid in the civilian world.
When I was in the army, they had a 40-week course that resulted in a certification as a licensed practical nurse. Google says that it’s now MOS 68W (ASI M6).
The Army keeps multiple copies of personnel files. My unit clerk lost mine back in 1992 and we got a complete copy to replace it within six days. Sounds like your friend is making shit up.
I have a separate question about the (obviously false, IMO) story: at what time has the military ever decided that a course had been missed or failed and chosen to re-send the serviceperson back for training, again?
The general presumption if one has been unsuccessful is that one is not cut out for the job. If the Army had no record that he had attended nursing school, I’d have thought that they would have presumed him to be AWOL–not a situation that would prompt them to send him for (more) training.
And there is the odd claim that the state demanded that he return his “undocumented” license–and he returned it rather than fighting them.
Is he saying he went to a university for his nursing degree or through a military course?
If he went to a university, all he has to do is ask them for his transcript. He might have to pay a small fee - say $5 to $15 - but he’ll get it, and with that in hand, he would be able to prove to the state that he had earned his degree. There’s no way they would yank his license.
No way in hell is this line correct, no one right out of AIT becomes an Instructor. You must have on the job training and experience. AIT only teaches you enough to start learning at your unit. And unless he reinlisted he doesn’t have the rank to be an Instructor. Much less not haveing gone through BNOC, ANOC or PLDC.
One of my instructors at the Army Signal School did just that. It didn’t hurt that he had a EE degree from his native country. He may not have had the rank or field experience, but he was an excellent teacher.
While I agree the story is complete and total BS, I don’t see why an instructor would have to go through BNOC or ANOC. Many instructors are E-5s which does not require them. Nor would he have to reenlist, I made E-5 in my first enlistment.