Posted on Aug 28, 2018
What advice do you have for an Environmental Health Officer looking to direct commission with the Army or the USPHS?
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I was wondering if there are any EHO's out there who could lend me some tips. I am currently an Environmental Health Scientist for a local health department and I want to apply for a direct commission with the Army (possibly) or USPHS if they'll have me. I have a B.S. in Microbiology, one year experience as an EHS, and my REHS license. I realize that many of the candidate officers have graduate-level degrees, but, simply put, I don't want to go into debt in grad school if I can serve (if I'm worthy of course) for education benefits. I've contacted the Navy and they seem confident I qualify as a line officer, however, I'm 33 and OCS is rather intimidating. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Posted in these groups: Environmental Officer
U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 3
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The Navy and Army would both probably take you. Don't fret OCS. Be optimistic. USPHS is confusing to me and I dont really understand their commissioning process. Use LinkedIn to contact current t Army 72D ESEOs and Navy EHOs for more firsthand advice.
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USPHS is an attractive option if you can get it, but our problem is that we seem to make it pretty hard to apply (or even to get any kind of information to see if you would quality to apply).
One current barrier is that outside of a few categories, we do not have any open application periods at this time and I don't know that we are anticipating opening up any additional categories in the near future. If and when we do open up any categories, you need to find out if you meet the basic appointment standards based on education and experience. This information can be found here:
https://dcp.psc.gov/ccmis/ccis/documents/CCI2_3_1_03.pdf
I don't know if you would quality as an Environmental Health Officer, but you might still qualify as a Health Services Officer (which is kind of a catch-all category for people who don't fit neatly into any of the other boxes). Give that document a read, and see what you can figure out through there.
Other than that, be prepared that commissioning with the USPHS is a long and drawn out process, although I don't know how it compares to any of the other services. After going back to school to earn my qualifying degree I waited 11 months for the category to open up for applications, and then it took me 23 months from application to attending OBC.
One current barrier is that outside of a few categories, we do not have any open application periods at this time and I don't know that we are anticipating opening up any additional categories in the near future. If and when we do open up any categories, you need to find out if you meet the basic appointment standards based on education and experience. This information can be found here:
https://dcp.psc.gov/ccmis/ccis/documents/CCI2_3_1_03.pdf
I don't know if you would quality as an Environmental Health Officer, but you might still qualify as a Health Services Officer (which is kind of a catch-all category for people who don't fit neatly into any of the other boxes). Give that document a read, and see what you can figure out through there.
Other than that, be prepared that commissioning with the USPHS is a long and drawn out process, although I don't know how it compares to any of the other services. After going back to school to earn my qualifying degree I waited 11 months for the category to open up for applications, and then it took me 23 months from application to attending OBC.
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The Coast Guard uses commissioned USPHS officers as their medical/health care staff (with the exception of their own enlisted Health Services Technicians
and their own officer Physician Assistants). You work through a Coast Guard medical specialty recruiter to attempt to get a direct commission for a Coast Guard career path position. See GoCoastGuard.com for further guidance.
and their own officer Physician Assistants). You work through a Coast Guard medical specialty recruiter to attempt to get a direct commission for a Coast Guard career path position. See GoCoastGuard.com for further guidance.
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