Are you thinking of becoming a social worker that wears a
uniform?
Army Officer: Social
Worker (73A)
If you want to go the officer route and have no military
experience contact the ROTC department at your nearest university for a chat
with someone in the field. If none of
the ROTC instructors are from the mental health field then they should be able
to put you in contact with ROTC instructors from other universities and/or
those in active duty /National Guard /Reserves. To find out about the military commissioning process contact your local recruiter.
Review the following pdf document for more general officer information. Army Regulation 135-156
Army Enlisted: Mental Health
Specialist (68X)
Here is a link to the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) description.
MOS Book 68X is on page 342. This document describes the duties,
expectations and a brief description of the Advanced Individual Training (AIT) that a
68X would receive.
Consider the following when going through the enlistment
process with your local recruiter. It is important to consider the
type of work you are looking. Is this
occupation in high demand, does it require a higher aptitude, does it require a
team or is it independent. The answers
to these questions will give you a good estimation of how many slots will be
available. Considering the close of many
combat operations there is a high demand for Mental Health Professions for
Active duty, National Guard, and Reserves.
So we could safely assume that slots are being created to meet the needs
of the military. Now study to get as
high an ASVAB (Armed ServicesVocational & Aptitude Battery) test
score as you can. 68X requires a score of 101 as of 2004. After you have established
as physically capable you and taken your ASVAB you will be given a print out of
the MOSs that you qualify for. They don’t
make it that obvious that that list changes depending on the current needs of
the military. You can increase your chances of getting the MOS you want by
getting to this point of the process near the beginning of the Fiscal Year, and
when the military needs have been reevaluated.
I believe that the results of the ASVAB are good for 2 years so keep
going back.
How about some uniformed Social Workers in Action? Here is a
list of articles that describe Combat Stress Control (CSC) Teams.
Placement
of Combat Stress Teams in Afghanistan: Reducing Barriers to Care (free downloadable)
Additional Sources of information:
Document that helps sort out some codes for the enlistment
process and MOSs AR
611-201
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